Still in France and Doing Better...

Well, Rose and I both ran into some pretty rough "weather" after returning to France last month... but we survived! For awhile, it looked like both of us would be headed homeward, but in the end, we were both able to stay. :)

Rose is still at Cours Ste. Catherine de Sienne in Normandy and I have taken a new position as a nanny in St. Germain-en-Laye, just west of Paris. Things are going relatively smoothly at the moment, for which we are very thankful!! (They don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here, but Rose and I are going to try to do something "American" for it when she comes in to see me this weekend! :))

Alors, c'est tout! Peut-être Rose peut "post" la prochaine fois! :)
Au revoir~

Back to the Land of "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity"

Well, Rose and I are back in France now! We arrived on Monday... she stayed with me in Paris until Wednesday. And it is now Thursday. Now you're up-to-date!

















Just kidding! :)

My flight went very well. I got four seats all to myself!!! So I was able to stretch out and get a good chunk (about four hours) of sleep. Deo gratias! Rose's flight, unfortunately, was not so fortunate. ;) She had to sleep sitting up and apparently didn't meet a single nice person her whole trip. It cost her $5 to send one e-mail (only the subject line too!) from Chicago... and that set the tone for the whole trip. But we arrived in one piece and our luggage arrived with us! ("Alas," says Rose, who was hoping the airport would ship it to Normandy for her, so she could thereby avoid toting it through airport, metro, train, and car - LOTS OF STAIRS!!!!)
We didn't do much upon arrival... just hung out and adjusted to the time. On Tuesday, we spent several hours finishing the process for my carte de séjours. And on Wednesday, she took the 12:25 (pm, of course! :)) train to Caen. I almost did too! LOL! I was helping Rose get her luggage on the train when the doors started to close! I forced one open and jumped to the quai/platform just before the train started moving.
Today, I ran errands and got my TGV ticket for Saturday. I'll be going to Lyon. I'll spend a week with the du Montellier family (a prospective employer) and maybe a week with the Lhomme family... we'll see. Rose and I hope to make it to Jeanne's wedding on November 4, but I don't know how!! Stay tuned. :)

Tout de bon et à la prochaine fois!

A Brief Sojourn to the United States

Both of your world-travelling (haha :)) bloggers have spent the past couple of weeks at home in the United States, for their sister's wedding... which was quite beautiful and entirely worth the long and expensive trip!!

However, we shall both fly out of the United States and back to France in just a couple of days! On Sunday, October 15, to be precise. :) I can't very well speak for Rose, but I can say that I am returning with mixed feelings... I really loved my time in France up until I came home for the wedding, so I'm looking forward to going back. But at the same time, I realize that this time, I will be leaving home for nine (or even ten) straight months. I'll spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Easter, etc. in Europe! Exciting in some ways; less than exciting in other ways. I loved my five weeks in France, but they were pretty hard, in some ways. In the end, though, I realize that France has already (in those short weeks) changed who I am (I believe, for the better!), so I am anticipating the future.

Always look forward!!! Onwards and upwards!

Rose and I will be back soon with more updates on our adventures. :D

À la prochaine fois!

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

...that's what Rose and I remind me of. :) Rose is the country mouse and I am the city mouse.

After a visit to her place in Normandy this past weekend, it dawned on me how VERY different our French experiences have been, are, and will be. But it works out very well, because whenever one needs a change of pace, she has only to visit the other! :) I spent Saturday night at Cours Ste. Catherine de Sienne... and was a guest there for a total of about 28 hours. Not long, but it was nice to be able to visit nonetheless. Here are a few pictures:

Cours Ste Catherine de Sienne... thataway! :)
Rose, in her little room at the school
In front of the large main entrance to the place
La chapelle...
Here, Rose sets the table for Sunday lunch in the 'parloir'

Back to Normandie

Well, I just bid Rose adieu at the train station and she is currently riding back to Caen, where she will be picked up and returned to St. Manvieu-Norrey. We had a great few days together, comparing notes on the French (language, people, culture), catching up on news, and visiting the area. We didn't do a lot of sight-seeing per se, because Rose preferred to see the "real" side of Paris. ;) We mostly walked around the 17th arrondissement, but also visited Square des Batignolles, saw the outside of Notre Dame, toured the dark interior of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet, and walked around the Arc de Triomphe.

I hope to be able to return the gesture and visit St. Manvieu-Norrey next weekend, but there is a lot of ironing-out that needs to be done, if that is to work. I hope it all works out!

Here are some pictures from Rose's visit...
Enjoying the morning out on a balcony six floors up. :)
At the Arc de Triomphe...
At the Square des Batignolles...
At my work...

The Old World

Hello everybody,

This is Rose sitting in Paris writing you!
Here are some pictures from yesterday when Monnie and I went out a bit...


(The captions will be above the picture)
Monnie and I came back from the station and talked for a bit about everything and nothing, then decided we were starving (I think that mainly came from me)... Getting out the proper items for goûter.




I was talking on Skype; Monnie came over for a nice picture --




Visiting Notre Dame, which unfortunately was locked because we arrived too late...
The view from across the bridge:




And behind it, in a sort of park area...




The City of Light illuminating the Seine River.




Never knew it could be so fun to go inseine!
Me, wading in the Seine River... it was extremely windy last night!! Where I am is actually a boat ramp but apparently the only way to reach the water...



We also went to St Nicolas later and met some young French people who were at a sort of Youth Gathering there... then home to talk to friends and relatives.

Hope you're all sleeping soundly!!

Reunion in Paris

Tomorrow, my blogging buddy (the OTHER "moi" ;)) and dear sister, Rose, will be coming by train from Caen to see me in Paris!! I'm so excited!! I'm looking forward to showing her around my daily life and going sightseeing WITH someone (so much more fun than by yourself!) - but more than that, I'm looking forward to seeing her again. :) I'm looking forward to "sharing France" with her. :) She'll be here until Saturday, when she'll take a train back about 2:30 pm. She will commence "work" (I put it in quotes not to underestimate it but because she's not getting paid and, as of yet, I don't know what her duties will be) on Monday, September 18 - or so I believe.

One or both of us will update the blog to let you know how our days together go! :) I'm optimistically hoping to squeeze in the Arc de Triomphe, a youth group rendez-vous, the Apple Expo, possibly the Musée National de la Marine, the Eiffel Tower, and perhaps the Parc Monceau or a stroll along the Seine... yep, all that (PLUS my work) in three days. Wish us luck! :D

A bientot!