It’s currently 10 of midnight and I’m an idiot for not starting my blog until now. I guess it just sort of slipped my mind. It’s ok though, I don’t have to work till 3 tomorrow, so I can sleep in as long as I want. This morning was the same; didn’t have to work till 3. Well, I got up at 10ish and had a bowl of cereal upstairs. David was heading out the door with the kids to go to Decathalon to buy new baskets (sneakers) and new balls to play with in the yard. Geraldine didn’t have to work till 1:30, so she slept till 10:30. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve yet to see her sleep that late. Anywho I had a quiet hour to myself to eat my cereal and banana and watch the news. At 11 I went upstairs to clean. I figured out today that I only have to clean once more before I leave! Only one more time of sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and cleaning the bathroom! Woo hoo! I finished around 12:30 and then went downstairs to shower and get dressed for the day.

Knowing we had Katja’s surprise going away party tonight I decided to wear a dress today. I figured a bunch of pictures would be taken of us, and I wanted to look cute. Haha, I know, I know. I’m such a girl. Well, I was happy to have worn a dress today because like yesterday it was in the 80’s again! For lunch, when everyone got home, we all ate cheese croisant rollups. Yum, I love them. When lunch was over Geraldine rushed out the door for work and David took Salome to her ropes course “stage” (camp). Though he didn’t have to work today, he wasn’t home this afternoon. He went to a friends, so I was with the boys. No big deal though because Noa napped and Sacha didn’t feel good so he watched a movie on the couch. Both boys took two hours doing their thing, which was perfect because it was just enough time for me to iron all the kid’s clothes in the laundry.

When 4:30 rolled around David was home and I headed up the hill (1/2 hour walk) with Katja to get the girls. There wasn’t much singing today walking them home, but it was still fun just the 4 of us for the 1/2 hour. It’s sad that today was our last day to do that, since Kat leaves in the morning. Well, when we got home David had brought the boys to the park and Salome and I (with Katja and Zoe) went and met them there. Though it was nice out today, it was too hot to play. David, Katja, and I shared a blanket in the grass and talked politics and about all the wars going on. The kids played, mostly in the shade, but nonetheless played in the heat till 6:30. When we left we told Kat ’see you in the morning’ even though we were going to be at their house in an hour for dinner and her party. She had no clue what was coming her way!

When we got home I gave the boys a bath really quickly and Salome showered and changed clothes for the party. David cooked dinner for the boys and Salome and I left at 7:30 for the party. Walking to their house Salome corrected my card that I wrote Katja and of course, the 11 year old found mistakes in my card. Oh well. I’m always going to be a French student. I’ve come to accept that. When we got to the house she was so surprised! She had no clue we were coming over. Lucie (Kat’s host mom) had invited her mom and sister, brother in law, and nephew over as well. It was more of a family party but me, being Kat’s closest friend here was of course also invited. Salome and Zoe played together most of the time but did well carrying on coversation with the adults too. Lucie’s mom, thinking more people were going to be at the party, made 40 crepes for dessert. The funny thing is, after eating the tomato and tuna keish for dinner, we ate all 40 crepes. No joke! We couldn’t believe it. We left around 10 after Kat had read all her cards and opened all her presents. She got a hit CD and Lucie, who loves to dance, cranked to speakers and we all had a dance party in the yard. It was fun! At 9:30 all the family left, and at 10 I left. Salome decided to stay and spend the night, but I had too much of a headache to stay any later.

When I got home, I went to get my laundry out of the dryer and Geraldine, being as sweet as she is had taken all my clothes out, sorted them, folded the ones that could be folded, and left the ones that needed to be ironed on the ironing stack for tomorrow. She’s too nice! I did laundry today because tomorrow I have to pack for Disney! I’m so excited! Well that was at 10, and it’s now midnight. You’re asking “so what have you been doing the past two hours?” Well that’s easy…FCA stuff. I love being VP of such a big campus organization (club), but boy oh boy it’s a lot of work. I’m excited for school to start so all my “summer homework” (as I call it) can be put into action. Oh, here’s a funny thing though. When I was in the process of sending emails and whatnot I realized I had gotten a post on here (my blog) from a journalist doing an article for the “paris plage”. She had obviously read my “paris plage” blog from the other day and wanted me to answer some questions on my first impression of the event for her article. I of course emailed her back saying I’d love to answer her questions. How cool would that be, y’all? To get my opinion printed in a French magazine!?! Too cool. Ok that’s all. That was my day. Night!

Oh, this picture is from last night after dinner. I don’t have any pictures from Kat’s party tonight (my camera was being stupid) but Katja said she’d email me the pictures she took tonight, so hold tight! (P.S. For anyone feeling generous…my birthday is next week, and I could really use a new digital camera.)

So today was great! But first let me recap last night. Funny things happened after I had finished blogging. So, I failed to mention that last night during dinner with the boys (since David and Geraldine weren’t eating with us due to their dinner party) David yelled “ee” (well that’s all I heard) and I thought he had said “Erin” (remember that here my name is pronounced “ereen”) so I yelled back “oui?”. He came into the living room where we were and laughed saying “No, I said “cherie” (the word in french means hunny or dear)”. A minute later Geraldine walked in the room from the bathroom and laughed saying “Erin, did you forget that I was home? You can’t answer my husband when he says “dear” when I’m home. Haha.” (Ok, so I know some of you are thinking “Erin that’s not something to joke about” but you had to have been here. It was funny and not at all an uncomfortable/inappropriate situation.)

Well continuing on with the story: Late last night, after having finished the movie, I went upstairs to get a drink of water before really going to bed. Everyone (the adults) was outside on the back deck finishing their meals and laughing and having fun. Well they saw me come into the kitchen through the window and once again I heard David’s voice “ee” “ee”. I didn’t answer back but walked outside saying “I didn’t answer you because I was scared you were saying “cherie” and not my name”. He laughed and so did Geraldine and then explained the story to everyone at the table. They all start laughing and the David offered me some really good icecream-cake-dessert-thing. They had all eaten it, but they gave the leftovers to me. I told him he was lucky I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet or I would have said no.” They people at the table said “aww listen to her cute accent” as I walked away. I laughed to myself while heading back inside. Ok, the end of my little funny story.

So today I got up at 10ish and when I went upstairs, no one was home. The blinds were still shut too. There wasn’t a note left for me, so I thought maybe Geraldine took the boys to the park. So I had breakfast and showered and got dressed. I watched the news and when 12 rolled around and no one was home I decided to make myself lunch. Well, finally I glanced at the computer and saw “mappy” (French version of Mapquest) on the screen with a route routed out for an hour north of Paris. Then it all came back to me. Geraldine had mentioned something about having a big picnic at a park and I thought “that must be today”. Well, since I had the day off, I had the house to myself and nothing to do. I read for a little while, and then watched a movie on TV. When I finished it was only 2 and I didn’t have to get Salome from camp till 5. (This is a new camp this week. She’s doing a rope’s course camp in the woods this week. Gymnastic’s camp is over.) I figured I’d have to leave at 4:30 though with Katja to walk and get the girls. Gosh, life is so easy with cars – I’ve definitely taken for granted being as lucky as I’ve been to have a car since I got my license at 16. I hate having to walk everywhere here.) Well I decided since it was only 2 and no one was home I’d put on my bathing suit and tan in the backyard. So I grabbed my book and Ipod and made myself an iced coffee. I decided to call Kat to make sure we didn’t have to leave an earlier than 4:30 and when she said no she said “but if you want you can come over at 4 and we can have a cup or tea or coffee before we leave”. I said ok and said “see you at 4.” So I got two hours of tanning in and boy oh boy am I tan! I’m super excited. You should see all the freckles on my face.

When I got to Katja’s, she already had the coffee made. It’s so fun to go to her house and have a cup of coffee. (When we don’t have the kids and I’m at her house) I feel like we’re rich housewives who just drink coffee and gossip all day long. Not that she and I gossip; we don’t know enough people here to do that. We normally just talk about the kids, or what we want to do on our next day off. Today’s topic of conversation was how she has so much to pack before she leaves Friday. It’ll be so sad when she leaves but I’ll only have 11 days by myself then. So, c’est pas grave (it’s ok). We left at 4:30 to walk up to where the gymnastics’ camp was, and then another 5 minutes past it. It really was a 1/2 hour walk. When we got the girls they were so happy. The whole way walking home we sang songs together (in engligh, french, and german..haha) and the girls continually squirted us with these water-mist-things. It felt really good though, because it was over 80 today. Chaud chaud chaud! (hot hot hot!) Tomorrow Kat and I get to walk to together and again to get the girls but on Friday it’s just me getting both girls (because Kat will have already left for the airport).

Tomorrow night there’s a going away party for Katja. It’s a surprise and she has no clue. Even though I have to work Geraldine said I could go when it started with the kids (because the whole family’s invited) and then when she gets home she’ll come get the kids so I can stay as late as I want. So anyway, when Salome and I got home today we went to the park because it was only 5ish and the rest of the family was still out and about. I brought my book and read some because it was just Salome and she spent the whole hour playing with Kenza (a close friend) and doing cartwheels the whole time. When we got home everyone was back. The kids all took baths and Geraldine made dinner. Salome and I ate leftovers from what David had made for all the adults last night. It was a type of sea-food stirfry and it was so good. It had shrimp, mussels, crab, calamari (whole ones..they looked disgusting), lobster, and more. It was delicious. The mayo-sauce that you’re supposed to mix in was a little spicy, but still good. During dinner I found out the best news. But let me preface: So my schedule for tomorrow and Friday are do-able. I work from 3-9 both days. But from Saturday to next Thursday I work from 9-7 everyday (and that’s with 5 of the 7 kids because they’ll be back from their vacay in southern france (2 will still be in camp)). Well…here’s the good news. At dinner Geraldine told me that Saturday morning we’re leaving for 3 days to go to Disney World! I’m so excited! I’m going to the DisneyWorld France! I haven’t even been to our DisneyWorld since I was little, so I’m super excited. I know that sounds crazy but doing kid things, with kids, is always fun. So we leave Saturday and we stay till Monday/Tuesday. The family has rented two villas for all of us. Like the kids, I get an unlimited pass, so I can go on all the rides with them and stuff. They said that where the villas are there’s a community pool and lots of fun things to do. So I have a feeling I’m going to be in charge of the girls: just Salome and Lily Carla. Luckily they’re both old enough to not have to worry about too much. I don’t think I’d want to be in charge of Amelie Rose and Noa (the 3 and 5 year olds) at an amusement park. I’d worry too much. But will see, I’ll probably be in charge of them at some point during the trip.

Anywho, that’s been my day. It’s now 8:30 and I’m going to go do laundry and then go to bed when I finish.

So last night when Katja and I were walking home we decided to figure out who was going to bring what to the “beach” with us for our lunch picnic. She said she had the bread and cheese covered. So I said I’d bring the fruit and drinks. Well, last night when I got home, Geraldine was still up working on the computer so I didn’t want to bug her by rambling around in the kitchen making a huge fruit salad. I told myself to get up a little earlier and make it then. Well, after blogging last night about yesterday and reading a little I finally went to bed around 1:30. I got up at 10 and told myself “go up right now to the kitchen and do the fruit!” I know my family too well; someone was going to already be in the kitchen working on lunch. And I was right. Geraldine was up making some huge gormet thingamajig, so I just decided to grab a big tupperwarer container and all the fruit I wanted and just put it in a bag. “I’ll cut it all up at Kat’s house” I told myself. So after gathering my snacks for the day, I ate some toast and coffee for breakfast. I got in the shower around 10:30, not to really take a shower (knowing I’d be gross and sweaty after tanning a few hours..so it was pointless to beautify myself) but just to wake myself up.
I left the house at 11:30 to head to Katja’s and after realizing just how much food we had ended up with together, we decided to eat some then and bring only the leftovers. So we made a pot of tea and ate some really good bread and cheese. Katja cut up some other fruit from her house (since I had made a fruit salad already out of all the fruit I had brought) and me snacked on that too. At 1:30, after talking forever and having literally brunch together we headed for the bus and then the metro. When we got to the metro though it was ridiculous. We had to wait for a 1/2 hour for the next train. We’ve never had to wait that long for a train. Well finally we made it into Paris around 3. We got off at the Notre Dame/St. Michel stop and walked from there to the Seine where all the “beaches” were set up. We found a grass beach where we could lay out our towels (all the comfy lawn chairs were taken). We stayed there for 3 hours and really really enjoyed ourselves. We both had books, Ipods, and our huge fruit salad that I had made. There were a bunch of highschoolers sitting next to us with their typical French picnic consisting of bread, cheese, and wine in dixie cups. Gotta love the wine in dixie cups! On our other side was a group of American girls. They were all pretty ditzy and didn’t speak a lick of French. At 6 we left and headed home.

When I got home I took a real shower and cleaned my room. When dinner rolled around we had homemade “chinese food”. Only a chef himself can create chinese food at home. It was just me and the boys because Salome was spending the night at Zoe’s (Katja’s house). David and Geraldine were having their own dinner with friends tonight at the house so David was busy outside firing up the grill and Geraldine was busy in the bathroom doing her hair and choosing a cute outfit to wear. After dinner I came downstairs and watched “There’s Something about Mary” while blogging. So, now I’m done blogging so I’m going to finish the movie and then go to bed.

Today was an easy day. I didn’t do all that much either. Let’s see though…I got up at 10, had breakfast, showered, got dressed, etc. I messed around on my computer for most of the morning till lunch. For lunch we had lasagna. After lunch I pondered what to do today. It was really cold out, so I wasn’t really wanting to go into Paris, but realizing that there was nothing to do at the house, I searched online for indoor things to do in Paris. I suddenly remembered someone telling me that since I’m American, I need to go to the cafe “Breakfast in America”. It’s a cafe in Paris that was built to resemble an American diner. I read online that you can buy a bottomless “mug of joe” and since that’s unheard of here in France, I thought “Ok I’ll go there, order a coffee, and read my new book. If any of you reading have suggestions for me of things to still do in Paris, or the surrounding areas, please tell me. I swear I’ve explored almost everything in this city.

I left the house around 2 and got into Paris around 2:45. I spent a little time checking out the “Paris Plage” which David told me about and it was really cool. They had sprinklers that shot out water for kids to run under, icecream stands, long beach chairs, real sand, volley ball nets with people playing, etc. I thought “I really need to come back and do this!” It looked so fun. Too bad today was so cold. Well, I found the cafe “BIA” and it was too cute. All the waitresses were student at the University of Paris and originated from England, America, or Australia and all spoke English. They were very nice (the ones I talked to). I spent hours there reading, and doing some FCA retreat planning. In the meantime, I drank 3 cups of coffee. But guess how much I paid? Only 2.50! That’s right. Incredible! Three cups of coffee anywhere else in Paris would have been 12 euro. No joke. The place was very quaint with menus in English with funny names for everything. The walls were covered in American posters and photos of celebs at cafes. There were Rt. 66 signs as well as other American street signs. I read the cover of the menu explaining the story about how a boy from CT came to work in Paris and while he was here he fell in love with Paris and France. The only thing he missed from the US was a good ole American breakfast. So he created the cafe and it serves American breakfast food all day long. It’s the closest thing Paris will ever get to a Waffle House! For lunch they have burgers, fries, chili, nachos, etc. All American things. And the best thing was…they have American TV channels. (It probably costs them a fortune!) But today, while I was there, the Yankees/Athletics game was on. Though I hate the Yankees, being a Boston native, I was happy to watch baseball on TV!

When I left the place I was about to head home when Katja called me. She said that she knew I had the day off because she called my house, and said to stay in Paris because she was on her way. She said “let’s do the Seine boat tour!” We’ve been talking about doing it for a while, so I said “ok”. I called Geraldine telling her I wouldn’t be home for dinner and when Katja showed up, we ended up going to the movies to waste a few hours. We wanted to do the tour of the Seine at sunset. The movie which we thought was a French movie turned out to be in English with French subtitles. It’s called ‘Broken English” and it’s about a woman from NY falling for a man from Paris. It was a cute romance-comedy, but it had a stange ending that left to you saying “that’s it?”. There were a ton of American actors in it.

When it was time for our boat cruise it was 9pm. It was still light out, but when we ended it an hour later it was dark. It was a nice tour, and I’m kind of glad I waited till the end of my summer to do it. I knew all the places that the tour guide talked about, so I wasn’t frantically listening like most of the tourists desperate to learn about each and every building and statue. Katja and I really enjoyed it, though it was a bit chilly. When we left it was 10, and we got back to Enghain at 10:30. We had to walk home, since the buses were done for the night, so I got home about 11:15. We decided since we both have tomorrow off, and because it’s supposed to be warmer, we’d go back in Paris for the “plages” (beaches). It’s probably going to be Kat’s last day in Paris since she leaves Friday and is working Wednesday and Thursday. Anywho, we’re going to pack a ton of food and have a picnic and try to tan a little. It’s now 12:30 and I’m going to bed.

Pictures: Notre Dame (the back side) at sunset and me and Kat on the boat tour.

So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

Those lyrics have a lot to do with this morning. I’ll come back to them though. So, like I wrote in yesterday’s blog, I left a note for Geraldine since I went to bed before she came back from her party. Well my crazy alarm went off at 7:30am and before hopping into the shower I ran upstairs to check the kitchen counter. Like I had thought, there was new note awaiting me. It said “Erin, ok for tomorrow. David isn’t working so you can return later — 18h works fine for helping with the baths. Thanks and have a good day!” Do I not have the best French family in the world?! Not only did they say “yea, sure, go visit Van Gogh’s house” but also “while you’re at it, stay out another few hours…we don’t really need you till dinner time”. I was so happy. I went back downstairs, took my shower, got dressed, and then came back upstairs for breakfast. I had some toast and coffee and made a nutella sandwich and gathered other snacks to put in my purse for later today.

I met Katja at the bus stop at 9 and we took the train at Enghain at 9:30. We took the train the opposite direction than usually because today we weren’t going into Paris. No ma’am, no sir. We were going North…to the country side. The c-o-u-n-t-r-y! (I’m getting there though.) So we had to switch trains after about 10 stops and when we got off the train to find the second train, we couldn’t find it. We highly doubted a person would be inside the “Gare” (station) because it was Sunday, but God’s little gift to us was indeed a person inside the train station. He laughed when we said we wanted the next train to “such and such” (I can’t remember the real name) and told us it’d be over an hour. Katja looked at me and said “Up for walking?”. The man laughed at us again saying “girls, you can’t walk. It’s a ways away.” She told him that we’d be there before the next train even arrives. Well, we set off for walking since it was only one stop away, but it literally took us an hour. No joke. We walked for an hour in “le campagne” (the country). It was pretty, don’t get me wrong. But there was nothing. We passed by a good many houses, but no stores, restaurants, hotels, or anything like that. The only thing that we saw besides each other, fields of wheat and grass, and an occasional horse, was bicyclists. We probably saw close to 50 bicyclists.

At first we thought no one was around because people were at church (today was Sunday). Second guess was that’s it’s summer and everyone’s on vacation. But then we just realized we’re in the country….even on a Tuesday in the springtime we still wouldn’t have seen anyone. We decided to pretend the bicyclists were part of the “tour de france” since that’s going on right now, and when they passed by we quietly encouraged them. Many of them said “bonjour” as they sped past us. After an hour we made it to the town we were looking for. As soon as we crossed the town line we saw a huge picture of Van Gogh. He is the reason this town is even on a map! We walked passed a grocery store (that was open!) and decided to come back there later to buy some things for lunch. We passed by a farmer’s market that reaked of fish but was bustling nonetheless with at least 20-30 people (that’s a lot considering we hadn’t seen a soul for the past hour while walking). After passing by 2 or 3 houses we finally found the sign that said “this way for van gogh’s house/museum.

Ok, sorry everyone it’s late. Je vais au lit. (I’m going to bed.) I’m off tomorrow though, so I’ll finish this blog then.

Picture #1 – Kat and I a little nervous to leave the train station and walk into the wilderness. Check out the picture, there’s nothing behind us but trees! That was it! Picture #2 – Should we really do this?!?

Ok, so it’s now 12 hours later and I’m fully awake. Back to yesterday….So we finally found his ‘house’ (which was really an Inn where he had rented a room for a really long time). We watched a video and listened to a lady give a lecture on his life and time in “Auvers sur Oise” (the name of the town). When that finished we took a tour of his room and then that was it. We thought, that wasn’t really worth 5euro, but oh well. We from there walked to the cemetary where he and his brother are burried. It was really plain and considering how well known of a person he is/was, no one was there in the cemetary. We had the place to ourselves. On a way walking to the cemetary we passed by miles and miles (ok, maybe not that much) of fields and just pure countryside. It was gorgeous. I don’t know why, but the song that I left the lyrics for above kept running through my head. ( I’ll Stand …go there to listen to the song) It’s funny to because recently the only songs I’ve had stuck in my head are French songs; not songs in English. I don’t know why I but I was literally in awe yesterday of the natural beauty surrounding me. I really wanted to just stand there and put my arms high in the air and spin aroud like a little girl in a twirly dress. (Unfortunately I was wearing pants, so I didn’t do it. But I wanted to.) The sky was as blue as blue could be, and the clouds that were placed perfectly above were whiter than snow. There were flowers scattered between the fields of grass and wheat (I think it was wheat) and it was breathtaking. Now the funny thing is everyone, is that I’m not at all the type of person to get all excited about pretty flowers or landscapes, but yesterday was just a different story. I literally had to stop and take a minute to thank God for creating the world the way He did. He did a good job. Coincidentally enough, while walking back down the hill from the cemetary and fields upon fields of nature, we came to a church. It was the church that Van Gogh made famous in his painting “the church at auvers”. See the resemblance? We didn’t go inside in fear that church might still be going on but took a bunch of pictures outside. Our next stop was the chateau in town. We never did figure out why it was there or whom it was built for back in the day. It was closed, so we couldn’t go inside, nor get our questions answers. Nonetheless it was pretty, but plain. (I’m still obsessed with the chateau at Musée Rodin.)

When we had finished walking the grounds of the chateau (where the only thing we found that was remotely cool was an orangerie) we headed back to the train station. Across the street from the train station was the Van Gogh park (which was tiny, but cute) and beside it was the farmer’s market. People were taking down tables and storing them for next week, but Kat ran over really quick to see if we could still buy some bread. She and I are obsessed with French bread. AH, it’s so good! (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. We tried to go back to the supermarket but it had closed. I know it was Sunday people, but come on…stay open a little later past noon!) So she bought a huge loaf of bread, and I ate my nutella sandwich and snacks I had packed on a bench inside the park. We were exhausted from all the walking we had done and Kat nearly fell asleep. I wrote a quick letter to Stephen (Haha, I just realized I never finished it. I need to do that today and mail it off.) and then at 2:15 we walked across the street to catch our train at 2:30. Three hours in that town was plenty of time to see everything and then some!

On the train ride back (since we had about 15 stops) Kat slept. I read my book, and when we got off at Enghain les Bain, I was down to 14 pages. I wanted to know the ending so badly. Kat invited me to her house for a cup of coffee and an hour of reading in the garden before we both had to begin work for the evening. Well we had huge cups of coffee. We really needed the caffeine! And though we read for a little while, the last 1/2 hour was spent creating her a Facebook page on the Internet. Since she leaves Friday to head back to Germany, I needed to make a easy way to keep in touch with her. Email’s fine, but Facebook’s better. Well I left her house at 5:30 to walk home. When I got back everyone was still at the park. So I read for 15 minutes and finished my book. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was appropriate! I am very proud of myself for having read a French novel in less than a month. A big French novel for that matter….it was over 400 pages! When I finished reading and the kids and David still weren’t back from the park, I decided to iron. I was ironing when they got back but stopped to give the kids baths. Well no one wanted a bath, just a shower, so they were in an out in 10 minutes. I watched a little TV with them while David made dinner, and after dinner I did the dishes while he put the two of the three to bed.

David told me all about this thing going on (I think for the next month) in Paris called “paris plage” (literally “paris beaches”) The city itself transforms the Seine into a sea and puts sand and beach chairs and umbrellas, etc. all up and down along the river. He told me that I need to go before I leave because “it’s the place to be” for the kids my age. I thanked him for telling me and said I would definitely go sun bathe one hot day coming up. I headed back to the basment to finish the laundry and then work on some FCA stuff for school. I cannot believe that schools starts in less than a month. AH! I’m going to be a senior….in college! Where has my life gone? Seriously, I’m so old! Well, I did some retreat planning and then blogged about the day before (which I was behind on). Then I went to bed. The end.

…me and Van Gogh’s statue in the park.

Ok so yesterday (day 75) was a pleasant day. Like I had hoped, I got up at 10 and read till about 11. After an hour I took a shower, got dressed, etc. I saw the kids for a little while but then they left with David to go somewhere. I wasn’t sure where they were going but after assuming they were going out to lunch decided to reheat some food in the fridge for my lunch. Before I could get the cold plate of food into the microwave, Geraldine came running into the kitchen “Non, non”. She explained that they had all gone to get take out and that they were bringing me back food too. She said not to get my hopes up too much though because knowing the kids they’d all want McDonalds and that’s what they’d bring home for everyone. Well folks, they don’t call it “women’s intuition” for nothing. Geraldine was right. The kids begged their dad for Mickey D’s so that’s what we all had for lunch. It was nice outside, chilly, but the sun kept us warm enough to eat outside. After lunch Geraldine left for work and told me that though she’d get home at 9, she’d be “resortiring” (going out again) for a friend’s party. I said that’s fine and that I didn’t have any plans with Kat or anything so babysitting wasn’t an issue.

Noa went down for his nap at just about 1 and the rest of the afternoon was spent with “les deux grands” (the two big kids). Salome and I read a little and played some hand games. Sacha watched a movie on the couch and at 3 David left for work. He was catering last night on one of the boats that runs along the Seine. He said it was a wedding reception that was going to be taking place so when he left he said “a demain” (see you tomorrow) knowing no one would be awake when he got home. When Noa got up we all went to the park. Salome’s friend (who I think is really a crush – even though she won’t admit it) Justin was going to the park too. He loves me. He thinks me, being a foreigner, with a funny accent, is the best thing in the world. He’s very polite for an 11 year old boy and always “bisous” (kisses) me when he sees me. Anywho, he was really happy to see me at the park. I think he thought I was leaving to head home when school got out, so needless to say, he was glad to know I’d still be in France till the beginning of August. I decided to nickname him “le petit bonhomme” and Salomé thinks that’s the funniest thing. It’s our girl “codename” for him.

The boys spent the whole time playing futbol with other boys and Salome and I sticking to her summer “homework schedule” read some more. She’s really happy that I read as well when she has to read. It doesn’t feel like such a punishment to her knowing I like reading and I’ll willingly do it alongside her each afternoon. When we left the park at 6:30 to come home for dinner the kids were really good about bathtime. It was very timely. So timely, that at 7 (only 30 minutes later) when everyone was dried off, in pj’s, with hair combed, I did a little dance. I love when things go smoothly. I was then in such great of a mood that I started singing. Salome rolled her eyes at me but then after realizing the song I was singing (dis-moi…a big hit right now in France) starting to sing along with me. I decided to change the lyrics to “dites-moi ce que vous voulez manger?!” (tell me what y’all want to eat?) and they all laughed and then gave me suggestions for dinner.

We ended up with colorful kid pasta, steak (yes, I made steak!…check me out, huh?) tomato chunks (for sacha) and crab meat chunks (for salomé). When I called everyone “a table” (to the table) Salome told me she had a horrible stomach ache. She still came and sat down with us, but didn’t touch her food. I tried calling Geraldine at work to ask which medecine I should give her (because reading the French on the back of medecine packets isn’t exactly something I want to misread). Well, Geraldine didn’t pick up her cell, and no one answered at the hospital number either, so I ended up just going downstairs and giving Salome a “tums” that I had in my room. I felt skeptical at first giving her medecine, adult medecine, but then didn’t really care after hearing her moan and moan in pain. I felt so bad too because Salomé isn’t one of those kids that fakes things. She was really sick and in pain and I could tell. Well after a 1/2 hour she was feeling much better! Yay for Tums!

Though she didn’t eat any of her dinner “c’etait pas grave” (it wasn’t a big deal) because Sacha ended up eating her plate as well. Talk about a 5 year old with a big appetite! Salome did eat the fruit salad I made for dessert, so at least she got a little food in her. I put Sacha to bed at 8:30 and when Geraldine got home she put Noa to bed. Salomé was allowed to stay up with me since it was the weekend and she didn’t have gymnastic’s camp this morning. We decided to watch a movie together and when she brought down her stash of girly DVD’s from her room I almost died. She had the movie “la boum”! My highschool French teacher was obsessed with this movie and whenever she wasn’t there and we had a sub, we’d watch the movie in class. Anywho, it’s a funny French movie from the 80’s about highschool students throwing a big “boum” (party). Well, Salomé, who also had the second video, said we should watch the sequel. I said “deal”!

Two hours and many laughs later we were done. She asked me what I thought of it and if I liked it better than the first one. I told her I like this one better. (My French is much better now and I could understand a lot more than I could in the first one when I saw it in highschool.) Salomé went to bed at around 11, and me after reading a little more (desperate to finish my book…yet still not finishing it) went to bed at 12. I left a note for Geraldine and David saying I was going to visit Van Gogh’s house with Katja this morning since I didn’t have to work till this afternoon. I said if that didn’t work, then to leave me another note for the morning saying “go have fun” or “no, we need you back sooner than that”…..to be continued! (check day 76)

Wow, today’s been a cool day. As far as nannying goes, it was same old same old. I started at 8, but only Salome was up then. She and I had girl time for a half hour and ate breakfast together. The boys came down around 8:30 and amused themselves with cartoons. At 9:15 I left to walk Salome up the hill (I clocked it this morning, it’s a 20 minute walk uphill (18 downhill coming home).) to gymnastics camp and left the boys with David. He had the day off but was in and out of the house running errands and doing yard work. When I got back at just about 10 I helped the boys finished getting dressed. You know, it’s funny…some mornings both boys will say “non ereen, c’est moi qui fait…tout seul” (let me get dressed by myself) and then there’s other mornings when they’re literally in tears asking “peux-tu m’aider?” (can you help me). Normally it’s just with socks and shoes that they want the help but today Noa was insistent about me dressing him.

At 10:30 we left for the park, but boy was it chilly. The boys hate wearing jackets because normally they end up playing “futbol” together which causes them to “transipire” (sweat). But this morning everyone wanted to keep their jackets on. I got a little reading in while the boys played and I became engrossed in my book. I swear I’m going to finish it in the next day or two. I want to hurry up and find out the ending and what happens. Well, after an hour we came home and I made lunch. We had pasta, hamburger meat, and cut up tomatoes since the boys love eating those. After lunch I put Noa down for his nap and Sacha helped David outside with yardwork. Sacha was so cute wearing nothing but an undershirt (to show off his tiny muscles) and jeans. It had warmed up by then, so not wearing a jacket, or real shirt for that matter was allowed.

Since David was occupying Sacha I got to spend the afternoon “tranquille” ironing in the basment. After an hour or so I head footsteps above me and fearing that Noa had woken up went upstairs to find Geraldine. She said since she was home I was done. Though my planning said I was supposed to work till 5 today I finished at 2. Well I continued doing the laundry for another hour and then went online to check emails. I had a “friend request” by a French woman on Facebook and having no clue who she was clicked on her profile page to investigate. I had no clue who this lady was or why she wanted to be my “friend” online. Come to find out, it’s the author of the book I’m reading right now: Tatiana de Rosnay. I couldn’t believe it! I got so excited and then thought “how the heck did she find me/know I was reading her book?” Well, after taking a minute to think things through I realized that I had marked on my Facebook profile that I’m currently reading the book “Elle s’appellait Sarah” (her book). Well, I guess she saw that and then wanted to be friends with me. So, I sent her a quick message saying hello, nice to meet you, I love your book, etc. She lives here in Paris even though she’s originally from England. She’s young (in her 40’s) and her kids are my age. It was kind of funny making a contact with an author living and not ancient in age.

Having planned at 2 when I realized I was done working for the day to go into Paris and get a new book (since I’m almost done with the one I’m working on now) I thought I should looked into Madame de Rosnay and she if she’s written other books. Well, she has and after looking up a few titles decided to head to Paris and find a book store. There are bookstores in my town, but they’re small, and don’t have a very large selection for that matter. In the book (since I was in such a “elle s’a[ppellait sarah” mood) TdR always mentions where in Paris the characters live, eat, play, etc. I decided to go find a certain cafe mentioned in the book and to my surprise when I got there it said “Le Select: American cafe”. I laughed really hard that it was an American cafe. Nontheless I went there, ordered a coffee and got in a ton of reading. Y’all it’s crazy. I never believed I’d be able to read as fast in French as I currently am. It’s like I’m reading an English book; a page turner for that matter that keeps me going and going and going. Well, after reading 50 pages or so, and knowing I was less than 100 pages from its ending, decided to stop and go find a bookstore. Well, I found one on the same street as the cafe and found more of TdR’s books. After reading the backs of them though, they didn’t really interest me. I ended up asking the girl at the counter for another “best seller” recommendation and she handed me a few books. After a little while I chose and new book and I’m excited to start reading it once I finish this one.

I got home around 7ish and after going on Facebook quickly, had a message awaiting me from TdR. She seemed very nice and wrote in English since she figured out it was easier for me. Her book is originally written in English and called “Sarah’s Key” (you all should go buy it and read it). Anywho, I just thought it was cool that I made an acquaintence with a Paris celeb. I don’t have to work till 2 tomorrow afternoon, so I think I’m going to try to finish reading it in the morning. I would read more tonight, but as soon as I’m done eating I’m heading to Katja’s to watch a movie. She leaves in a few days to head home so we’re trying to do a lot together this last week while she’s still here. Ah! I’m going to be lonely my last two weeks here. There’ll be no more “jeunes” (youngins) my age. Ok, well I’m off to eat dinner! A demain! (Until tomorrow!)

Today was a nice day. Though I had to get up early, I only had to work till 2. Kind of. I had to clean today as well, so that took me till 3:30. But it was still an early day. I started working at 8 and when I got upstairs, no one was home. Well, the kids were, but they were still sleeping. I decided to head back down to my room and check some emails since the kids weren’t up. I soon heard footsteps so I came back upstairs. It wasn’t the kids though, it was Anna, the cleaning lady. She apparently knew both Geraldine and David would be working so she came early in the morning. Well shortly after she started cleaning, the kids woke up. I got them breakfast and dressed and a friend’s mom picked Salome up for gymnastics camp. The rest of the morning was just me and the boys. Knowing I had to clean the upstairs today, but also knowing I wanted to go into Paris with Katja this afternoon, I did some of the cleaning early. I did the whole bathroom before leaving for the park with the boys at 10. When we got home, we had frozen pizza for lunch.

While preparing the pizza, David came home and told me not the eat with the boys. He said he’d make lunch for us. I love when he cooks because his meals are always so good. And today, like always, it was. We had pasta, drenched in a creamy tomato sauce with pieces of steak, chicken, and hamburger. Oh, it was so good. After lunch, Noa took his nap, and David wishing he could take a nap too rested with Sacha for an hour or so. Well, I was free. Not really, but kind of. All the boys were napping, so I headed to the basement to do laundry. After an hour Geraldine came home, which woke Noa up early, which was great. As soon as he was up, I could finish cleaning the upstairs. When I was done I called Katja and we met at the bus.

We spent the evening seaching through the cemetary of Pere Lachaise. It’s a huge cemetary on the east side of Paris and famous people like Ediath Piaf (French singer), Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, etc. are all burried there. We saw some of the graves but after getting kicked out for closing at 6 decided we’d have to come back another time to see everyone we wanted to. We then went to the petit parc on “l’ile de cite” (just for you mum) and stayed there for a little while. We had each bought a French magazine at a nearby stand and read for a little while. When 7 approached we found the metro and headed home.

When I got home at just about 8 we had dinner (ham and pasta) and then Salome taught me a funny French song. I really liked it and can’t wait to teach it to my roommate when I get home. I know she’ll get a kick out of it. When the kids went to bed I headed back downstairs and talked to Stephen for almost an hour (yay!) online while he had a afternoon break from working. Now I’m blogging and now that I’m done, I’m going to bed. I have to work again tomorrow at 8, so I want to get some sleep. Today was my 5th day in a row in Paris, and my feet are killing me from all the walking.

So like yesterday morning, I did not want to get up this morning; however at the same time I was excited to see Dr. Jacks again and go explore Paris together. She told me to be at her hotel (other side of Paris from me) at 9. I got up at 6:40 and was out the door at 7:40 – fed and dressed. I missed the 7:46 bus from my house by literally seconds and had to wait for the one at 8:03. I wasn’t worried though, I still had left way in advance to be there on time. I arrived at “Enghain” and took that 8:15 train to the Gare du Nord arriving at 8:30. Now here’s where things got tricky. Not thinking with my head on straight I took the blue RER line (the big metro line (there’s only 5 of them) that go faster and stop less frequently) to the yellow RER line. The yellow line would have taken me right to Dr. Jack’s hotel. But after going all the way along the blue to the yellow a message came on the intercom saying that the yellow was closed for the next month for renovations. I knew this, but had completely forgot. Well, now it’s probably 8:45 and I’m thinking “oh my goodness I’m going to be late (comme d’habitude) and make her wait”. The worst thing was, I didn’t have a number to call her at, so I was just hoping and praying that she would still be there in the lobby waiting for me. Well when I finally got to her hotel it was just about 9:30 and she was still there! Praise God! I told her about the construction and she understood. She said that she had overheard someone come into the lobby and say something along the lines of running late due to the metro too, so she wasn’t worried about me being late.

Well, we left her hotel and took the metro towards Notre Dame. Our first stop (and only stop) was: Saint Chapelle. Well, due to all the construction we had to get off a few stops away and walk. It was ok though; she was in the mood to walk, and I didn’t mind walking either because the energy from exercising woke me up. It took us a little while to actually find the church (since Paris had built other buildings right around it) but after getting directions from some police officers we found it. We had to wait in a decent size line, and then go through security at the place too. The security was because the building that was built around the church was “le palais de justice”. In other words a courthouse. So there were two lines to enter: the first went to the church, the other went to the courthouse. We chuckled as we saw some people heading in the courthouse line…probably going to appeal a speeding ticket. (Haha. I don’t know why I just said that. I don’t think France (or Europe for that matter) gives speeding tickets! Everyone drives so fast!)

When we finally got inside it was small. I had read ahead about the church and all its stained windows, but we weren’t seeing any. I saw some people heading up a small stairwell and told Dr. Jacks I think there’s an upstairs. And there was. She was so happy I said something because she said she probably would have left without ever seeing the staircase (it was little) and would have missed the whole upstairs; the prettiest part. Well when we got out of the place it was just about noon, and she had told her daughter she meet her back at the hotel at 12:30. So, I helped her find a taxi and off she went. Though it was a short morning, it was still fun. After she left, I found a cafe nearby and ordered a coffee (since I had tea this morning at home) and a chocolate crepe. It was so good. When I finished I went off to search a “fake” soccer jersey. I heard back from Grant (the boy that wants the jersey) and he said get the cheaper, fake, one. So I got him his jersey.

I then continued on to the “Samarataine” (biggest department store in Paris) to find that it was closed for renovations. I really wanted to bring back perfume/cologne (I’m going to make this gender friendly because I’m afraid the person I bought it for reads my blog, so I’m not going to give away who I bought stuff for today.) for a close friend, so I opted for Sephora. I was a little nervous going into a store that we have in the States because I really wanted to find a uniquely Parisian “parfum”, but after talking to an employee, she showed me all the “made in Paris” fragrances. After hearing a long story about how the real Guerlain (name of Paris brand) store is along the Champs Elysees, I was happy to be buying their product at the store I was at (I figured it would be a little less expensive than the authentic boutique). I narrowed my shopping down to two fragrances and after the sales lady told me a whole story about how they’re made and why it’s named what it’s named, I knew I just had to get the one I got. So, I bought it, and I’m happy, because it was the last of my souvenirs that I had to buy! Yay. I can save all the rest of my money from here on out!

Well when I left, I headed to the Louvre and sat and read for a while. Since I have my student-access card, I can get in and out of that place for free. I love that stinkin card! I sat in a huge room next to two young (14-15 years old) boys on a bench in a room full of huge statues. The two boys next to me were sketching one of the statues nearby and boy oh boy were they good sketches! I almost wanted to ask them to draw another one,…just a really quick one that I could have to take with me. I never ended up getting up enough nerve to ask them. Well, anywho, we shared a bench together, in silence, for over an hour. I read so much of my book that I’m working on. I really want to finish it before I leave (within the next 21 days) so I can buy another French book before I head home. (It’s a little easier to buy French books here than it is at home.)

When I got home, it was early (early for a day spent in Paris). David was the only one home. I went to my room and found places for my souvenirs in my closet and then headed upstairs to get a start on cleaning. I supposed to clean tomorrow when I get done working at 2, but Kat and I want to go visit Van Gogh’s house in Paris, so I wanted to get a head start on cleaning tonight so it will take me less time tomorrow (so we can leave sooner for Paris). Geraldine had taken the kids to the movies today, and when they all got home the quickly took baths and then we had dinner. For dinner we had a really good tomato tarte (Kiesh), vegetable purée, and really fresh green salad. It was “délicieuse” as Sacha put it. After dinner I came downstairs to blog, and now that I’m done I’m off to iron some laundry and then go to bed.

Pictures: Me and Dr. Jacks on our way to St. Chapelle, and Saint Chapelle.

Ugh so today I did not want to get up at all. I knew I had to meet Katja at the bus at 10:22 but when my alarm went off at 9 I wanted the chuck the phone across the room. Haha. Really. Well after showering, eating a quick breakfast and explaining to David that I’d be home for dinner afterall since I had dinner with Dr. Jacks last night, I was out the door. We were on the bus, then the metro, and then at Musée Rodin around 11:30. It was a good little walk from the metro to the museum. Plus, when we got to the museum we had to wait in line forever. Katja, unlike me didn’t have the day off, she just had free the time her two kids were at camp, so she’d have to leave Paris around 3:30. We still had 4 hours for the museum and neither of us thought we’d spend that long there. But…we did. The museum not only was a museum, but also a garden. It was in a really old chateau that was gorgeous. I felt like I was on the scene of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or something. Picture one of those movies with their huge old fashion chateaus and gardens and gravel paths, etc. That’s exactly what it was like. It was a super nice day so we spent a good bit of time in the gardens.

I saw a man walking around with a Boston shirt on and said to Katja “look”. She asked if I was going to go over and talk to him and I said of course. Haha. Well after talking to him and his wife for a few minutes and taking pictures for each other I found out that his brother is the one that lives in Boston and that they are really from Charlotte, NC. I told them I went to school in SC and when I said Anderson University they knew all about it. Katja couldn’t believe that not only were these people Boston acquaintences, but also SC acquaintences. She said “the US is so big, how do you always make all these connections!?”. It was really funny. Well, after parting ways with them we spent a long time inside checking out all of Rodin’s sculptures. I would consider myself a really big fan of Rodin now. I really liked his work. Most statues were love related and those were my favorites.

When we left the museum it was about 3ish. Katja got on the bus to head home and I found Decathalon. A friend from school really wants a France soccer jersey, so I went to check out the prices of the “real” ones. They were expensive. I held off on buying it because I wanted to check the price with him before I got it (since he’s paying me back when I get home). Well I did some more window shopping; though didn’t buy anything. When I had finished I got on the metro and headed home. I was exhausted from last night and all the fireworks and getting in late, so I went home and took a nap till dinner. When I woke up, my family still wasn’t home. So I figured they had gone out to dinner after the water park (which is where they spent their day). Well, I reheated a huge bowl of rice and while eating they got home. Salome thought the rice smelled so good that she asked her mom if she couldn’t just have a big bowl of rice for dinner like me. Geraldine laughed but said “ok fine”. After dinner, I came downstairs and watched a little French TV and then went to bed.

Pictures:Me and Kat on the steps of the chateau. The chateau (new dream home!). Trying to be like the statue. Le Baiser (“The kiss”…I believe this is Rodin’s most famous piece). Me and Monsieur Rodin (new friends).