Date Night with the Husband

This past weekend was a great one as I got to spend it alone with James. It may seem strange that this is a big deal but while we are still staying with family, alone time is hot commodity.

There was no big event over the weekend but all of the little things we did together were great. One evening we made dinner together and James thought it was time that I try escargot (snails). A common Christmas meal here in France includes escargot, salmon, oysters, and other seafood. So he thought it would be nice for me to try the escargot before the big family Christmas gathering (I thought one of the foods he had me try last spring was snails, it wasn’t). So we made dinner and for the appetizer had escargot and wine.   

The escargot with some herbs and butter

The wine portion of the evening

Oysters and escargot (neither of which I have tried) are some of James’ favorite foods. So while he would be happy that I find them tasty he is equally happy if I don’t as that means more for him.

Can you tell he is happy to be eating them?

I gave the escargot a try but before doing so made sure that he wasn’t going to be totally offended if I ended up spitting it out. He said, “no, just go for it!”

Proof that I tried them

While I didn’t find them disgusting, I am not really sure what the hype is all about. I mean when I hear someone say that are having escargot it sounds like a big fancy deal (remember the Pretty Woman scene?)!  James said that these were just average ones and wait until I try some REALLY good ones. Okay, I guess I will try some "really good ones" sometime down the line. Until then I am fine with him eating them all and I will just drink the wine!

I think I will stick with the wine, it's always good

The mystery bus trip home

I was scheduled to work today until about noon. However, my task of completing some assessments of student's language level was completed early which meant that I could go home and be able to see James before he left for work.

I arrived at the train station and found the next train headed to Chartres. Depending on the time of day there are options of a more direct train or the ones with multiple stops. As it happened to be midday (and not a high commute time of day) this train was one with multiple stops.

The train left Paris and I was quickly all up in my Kindle reading my latest book. The train made it’s first stop at Versailles and then we stopped at Rambouillet. As the train is becoming more familiar to me I pay less attention to the stops and the people coming and going.

After still being at the stop at Rambouillet after a few moments I realized that we still hadn’t departed for the next location. I started to look around and quickly realized no one else was on the train, which was pretty strange. I continued to look around and remembered that a few moments earlier a woman that was getting off the train may or may not have been speaking to me “Madame, blah blah blah.” I had not paid attention because I had no reason to think someone was speaking to me. I got out of the train and found the nearest SNCF (railroad company) employee. In French, I asked if he spoke English, which he didn’t. I then reverted to simply saying “Chartres,” to which he pointed in a direction and spoke to me in French (ah buddy, did you not just figure out 2 seconds ago that I don’t speak French all that well, or did you think I just wanted to speak in English to you for fun?)!

I followed in the direction of all of the other people. I heard a gentleman ask another person about Chartres and figured he was headed to the same spot as me so I kept following him. The next thing I know I am outside of the train station and looking at groups of buses. I again attempt to find out more information and approached another SNCF employee. He again pointed towards the buses and gave some direction in French. I approached the 2 buses and saw signs, one that said “Omnibus Chartres” and the other “Direct Chartres.” I figured that the direct Chartres must be me. I boarded the bus and said a little prayer that I was about to head in the right direction.

I quickly text James to fill him in on the my little “situation” and let him know that if he got a SOS call in the next 30 minutes that he would know that his wife was somewhere between Paris and Chartres and needing to be rescued.

The bus left Rambouillet and I attempted to watch the signs to see if we appeared to be heading in the right direction. The windows of the bus were pretty fogged up so I wasn’t so successful in gaining reassurance of this. However, I was momentarily soothed into my younger years with some “red, red wine” playing over the radio. Yeah, that’s right folks, no one speaks English in this little situation but ALL of the music on the radio is in English.

After about 30 minutes I was able to see some familiar sights and realized that I was in fact headed for home and in some miraculous way had boarded the correct bus. The bus took us right to the train station and I then did my routine 10-minute walk home. I still have ab-so-lute-ly no idea why I had to get off the train and get on a bus.  I guess it will just stay a little mystery. 

The bus upon arrival in Chartres

We all feel a little sigh of relief to make it home at the end of our workday.  This however brings on a whole new meaning of that. I don’t think I was ever more excited to be home from work and see James than I was today.

So much to be thankful for

As most of my friends and family are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, I am preparing to go to work in the morning.  The French are known for having many “holidays.” When I was still in the states it felt like James was on holiday every other week or so (maybe a bit of an exaggeration but not by much). Unfortunately for us Americans living in France, Thanksgiving doesn’t make the cut. I think if they knew what they were missing (amazing food surrounded by family and friends and followed up by Black Friday shopping) they would find a way to celebrate with everyone on the other side of the pond. It seems a bit strange to embark on my first holiday season in a foreign land.  While I may be missing out on one of my favorite holidays of the year, I am still reflecting on things I am grateful for.

Here are some things I am thankful for (in no particular order):

1.     Technology!!! I have no idea how I would survive without it. I seriously have no idea how the world functioned prior to the technology era we are in today. I rely so heavily on skype, viber, email, and free phone calls from the home phone to the states to stay in touch with my family and friends. I also spend a great deal of time on the internet keeping myself busy (TV in French is just a wee-bit challenging to understand still, big surprise). 

2.     My family! Moving ½ way around the world wasn’t only life changing/scary/difficult for me; it affected them too. They have been so supportive and encouraging. I have also loved the packages that I have received to try and bring some comforts of home here to France. 

3.     My kindle. That thing is a lifesaver. There is a lot of empty space to fill while using mass transit and reading on the train also makes the journey go by much quicker. 

4.     My husband! Moving to France is the biggest life change I have ever experienced.  I would have never made this leap if it wasn’t for his love and the future I see us building together. There are many mediocre things in life, those don’t challenge us to take big risks but they also often don’t result in reaching amazing new places either.  So I feel lucky to have an amazing man and a relationship that is anything but mediocre. I know I haven’t been the most pleasant person to live with these last few months. I have been scared, sad, stressed, and quite emotional as I try to navigate a whole new world. James has done his best to make this as easy as possible (even if he has had moments that he would gladly throw me back on a plane to the USA)! 

5.     James’ brother and his family. They have not only opened their home to us but have tried to help me experience all things French (cuisine, soccer, pastries, and so much more). They have also been the best language tutors, encouraging me to speak French, tolerating my horrible “Franglish”, and being translators when I am totally clueless. 

6.     My friends. Thank you for being there for me on this rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. Along with my family, I miss you all dearly but it means the world to me that you continue to allow me to stay a part of your life and connected to you despite the distance. 

7.     My new job and coworkers. They have been friendly, helpful and a great outlet for me to speak English and all things American. It’s nice to have others that understand so much of what I am going through without having to explain it. It’s also encouraging to see so many of them a little further along in their journey of assimilating to this culture and language and being successful at it. 

We will leave it at lucky number 7 for now :-)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Give yourselves all a hug from me until I can do it in person! Please have an extra bite of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, or pumpkin pie for me as I don’t think it will taste so great if you try to ship it over.

Pigeon Lady

I arrived at the train station about 30 minutes before my train was scheduled to leave Paris. I decided to have a seat on one of the benches amongst many other people who were enjoying their afternoon snacks.  Sitting to my right was an average looking 50 year-old woman innocently people watching to pass the time. To my left was another woman, age a bit difficult to determine, who was enjoying a quiche.  THIS was the lady who soon obtained the title of “pigeon lady (PL).”

Now another very important factor of this story is that the Montparnasse station is not fully enclosed, therefore there are creatures that call it home, mainly of the feather-wearing variety. 

Not too long after I had taken residence at my little spot of the bench, it appeared that “PL” had dropped a tiny crumb of her quiche on the ground.  In a nana-second a few sparrows flew in and nibbled at the crumb that she had dropped. A brief minute goes by and I realized that my bench-mate was not accidentally dropping crumbs but purposefully allowing them to fall to feed her lil feathered friends.

I am no expert in birds but I think it is safe to say that most people have experienced feeding them (and that it quickly becomes a group event) or being haggled by them if you have food in a public place (seagulls at the beach).  For some reason “PL” seemed to be under the belief that she could show favoritism when deciding who she wanted to share her afternoon snack with.

The sparrows were quickly joined by pigeons that also wanted to get in on the buffet that she was providing. This was so not okay with “PL.” She quickly made it known that they were not a welcomed guest and was yelling at them to go away and doing some shooing motions to try and get them to leave the area.

At this time I made a decision to leave the bench as she was inviting an entire flock in with her feeding frenzy. I then stood a short distance away so that I could continue to watch her behavior unfold. She continued to try and feed her sparrow friends while feeling a strong need to fend off the pigeons. At this point she was talking loudly (in French) and getting up and walking around the area to get the pigeons to leave.

This continued for probably another 5 minutes and of course all of the others around her were trying to figure out how to react to the situation and slowly put distance between her and themselves.

The following events literally had me laugh aloud. You see, she was not having much success in “bird talking” her enemy pigeons away so she decided to up her arsenal. She took her shoe off and sat on the bench armed and ready to go.

(*** Sorry that the pictures are a bit blurry, I didn't want to draw her attention to me***)

Shoe in hand ready to attack

Shoe is airborne but misses the intended "enemy" pigeon

Deciding her pigeon fighting is over for now and putting her shoe back on

She continued ranting away in French (and I SO wish I could have had a little more skills in picking up what she was saying). She eventually left the bench area and I later saw her walking around the station still talking to herself and maybe also her feathered friends and enemies.

In spite of the fact that I didn’t understand what she was saying, I think it is safe to say that I can identify a mentally unstable person here in France too!!!

Top 5 things that happened on my first day of work in France

 

1. I got a chance to ride the train into Paris with my brother-in-law this morning and met some of his friends. They were all so friendly and encouraging about my first  “official” day of work.

2. The office manager at my new job, we will call him J-dog, is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! (He has big shoes to fill since I used to be super spoiled in my last position in the states.) Today he answered a minimum of 20 questions, got me copies of things I needed and ensured me that I would do wonderful in my first teaching session.

3. In 30 minutes I prepped for a 3-hour class (most classes are 90 minutes). I did this without any information available about the client’s level of English, needs, or what he hoped to gain/his goals. The prep session was last minute as this session was added to my schedule late Friday afternoon after I had left the office. (This may have been a blessing so that I didn’t have as much time to freak out and over prepare. Especially since I found out that the person is in a high level position within his company, title “country manager.” Yep, no big deal! I just manage the entire sector of the company in France!)

4. The above-mentioned session was a success in my book. I received confirmation by an email that I was copied in on this afternoon. It stated the following “Juste pour vous confirmer que mon premier cours de ce jour s’est très bien passé en compagnie de Lynn ou j’ai pu apprécier son sérieux ainsi que son professionnalisme.” Thanks to Google this roughly translates to “Just to confirm that my first course of the day went very well along with Lynn and I could appreciate its seriousness and professionalism.” 

5.  While waiting for the return train home this afternoon I had a true laugh-out-loud moment! We will title this experience as the “pigeon lady.” This deserves an entire post  to fully illustrate what went down. So give me a day or so to upload the photos to share with you.

(Bonus event, I  get to spend the day with my hot husband tomorrow. Our schedules don’t match up much right now so I am looking forward to sharing a day with him!)

job hunting

Since arriving in France back in September, I have been job hunting hardcore! I haven't kept a tally but would guess that I have sent somewhere around 40-50 resumes off to different places. Most of these jobs have been in one of two fields. 1. Childcare/nanny/glorified English babysitter 2. English teacher (both for children or adults). It amazes me how so many places do not even bother to respond to the information you submit and how slow the process is. However, as a result of all of my efforts I have had about a dozen interviews.
While nothing has been my "dream job" (I guess I shouldn't expect anyone to pay me to blog, sight-see, and take pictures of my adventures!) there have been things that I think would be a good starting point for work in France. In addition to the categories above here are some occupations that have been considered:

Mummy street performer near Chateau Versailles

Gardeners at Luxembourg Gardens

Drummer outside of Notre Dame

Tour Guide in front of Sacre Coeur

Trolley driver in Montmartre

Unfortunately I don't think I could stand still long enough to pull off the mummy gig. While I enjoy gardening, I think that this is more of a seasonal job and standing around with a hose watering things all day may be a bit boring. I also don't think my musical talent is strong enough that anyone would be throwing money at me (I doubt the french horn skills from high school are still accessible). That leaves the tour guide and trolley driver. I think I have definitely improved my tour guide skills with the 2 sets of guests we have had so far in France, but somehow I don't think the "professional" tour guide has to review maps and written description of sights as much as I require. Trolley driving is still in the running! Who wouldn't want to do that? It would be like driving around on a golf cart or four wheeler all day and I have got some skills in that department!
However, it seems that my trolley driving is taking a back seat to the job offer I received today. I brought the contract home (since it is all in French) for James to help me review and will meet again tomorrow to finalize it. I am happy to announce that I will be teaching English to Business Professionals in Paris! It's totally as glamorous as trolley driving, right?!

Little signs of Hope

So I have been going on quite a few interviews in the past weeks. I will update more on that in a post in the coming days (hopefully with good news). This last week as I was on my way to an interview I had 2 things happen to me that felt significant and maybe like a "sign" that something good was going to happen today.

As many people know, residents of Paris are fond of their dogs and are allowed to take them places that wouldn't be allowed in many places in the US. On the train from Chartres to Paris last week a passenger got on and had her dog with her (the first and only time I have seen a dog on the train so far). The dog quickly became a friend of all of those around him.  I sat there a bit surprised at the resemblance that the dog had to my 4-legged Hope (who is in doggie heaven). So I of course had to snap a picture of this little guy.

I then arrived at the Montparnasse station and jumped on the metro to go to my interview. I sat down and quickly notice that there was another 4-legged friend in the subway car with us. He was a guide dog for his owner who was blind. As I sat there I was finding it a bit too crazy that he looked very much like Jax (my 4-legged "nephew" who is also in doggie heaven).

I find it a bit too coincidental that on my way to this interview last week I crossed paths with not 1 but 2 look-a-likes of our family. I couldn't help but smile and feel a bit of comfort knowing that I received a little message that day that I had some of my "friends" with me as I faced yet another interview.

Thanks Hope and Jax! Hope you (or your look-a-like cousins enjoy Paris)!

Hope in one of her many diva outfits! Let's hope I was a "rockstar" in that interview!

Fall in France

Living in MN most of my life it was easy to take for granted that we have 4 distinct seasons of weather during the year. It isn't hard to remember that winter exists but often times it feels like we skip over autumn and smack right into cold, snowy winter.

Fall has always been my favorite season of the year. I love the trees as they change into glorious colors, the excitement of kids going back to school, seeing the kids in the Halloween costumes, football season and watching the games with friends or family on a Sunday afternoon. In all of my visits to France, I have never been here during autumn. Prior to the move here, whenever we talked about the weather differences, James often talked about how much I am going to love winter here since it is so mild compared to a MN winter. I had inquired about autumn and he assured me that they have weather similar to MN. I can officially say that he was right and it is currently fall in France. It doesn't have all of the elements that I love about a MN fall but it is pretty close.

James and I took a walk around the city one day last week and captured some of the beautiful signs of fall.

On a side note...In a conversation one day about the blog, he thought it would be important to show more pictures of us. He joked that maybe someone needs to know that I am really taking the pictures that I post on the blog and that I don't take them from other sources or fabricate anything. So for good measure we have been trying to take more pictures of us in them. So for all of you who need "proof" or just want to see pictures of my hot husband and I, enjoy the following.

One last thing...I never realized how BIG of a deal Halloween is in the US until seeing the stark contract of what Halloween is like in France. The last month when we had been out shopping it was rare to see costumes or displays of Halloween decor and candy. So when Halloween night arrived this week I wasn't expecting to see any signs. I was surprised to see a handful of children out trick or treating (and by handful I mean like 5 of them)! During the entire Halloween evening we had ONE trick-or-treater come to our door, no joke! So that lucky little ghost with a pitchfork had to have their picture taken so that I could share it with all of you!

Elly giving treats to our ONE trick or treater of the evening!

A tour of Chartres

So we have been in Chartres for about a month now and I have taken some photos of the city while out exploring. I share these to try and give a visual of what our new "home" town is like.

 

 

Chartres:Flower City. Towns and villages in bloom.

One of the sites that bring tourist to the city is a Cathedral. The "Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres" in it's current state was mostly constructed between 1193-1250. The Cathedral has been well preserved and there are many original stained glass windows that survived intact (source of info, Wikipedia).

One view of the Cathedral (it is currently being cleaned, therefore the scaffolding and yellow hose).

The Cathedral is open most days of the week and visitors are allowed to go through it for free.

One of the entrances to the Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around the Cathedral are gardens and restaurants. One of the afternoons that I was walking around there were children playing in the garden maze, racing each other to the center. 

One of the buildings next to the Cathedral and the restaurants. 

Near the Cathedral on Saturday mornings there is an open market (forgot the camera that day).  In addition to the market on Saturday morning I am told that it is also open on Wednesday mornings. There are flower markets open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays and an open market of clothes also on Saturday. So it is pretty exciting that on numerous days of the week there are open markets to explore.

Flower market in Chartres

James and Maëlle outside the open clothes market

Lots of clothes and shoes to check out

Chartres also has many shops and restaurants to check out in the city center. On most weekends in the city center you will find an activity going on (one weekend Audi was there, another the local police/fire department/medics, etc). On warm summer days the children are found running through these fountains as parents sit by watching. 

So all in all I am enjoying my new "home." I look forward to finding more of the quaint things that it has to offer in addition to the common tourist spots. I feel pretty equipped as a tour guide in Chartres and look forward to sharing the city with some of my family visiting next week.