Well, we have arrived! Paris is now our new home. Wait, what the heck did I just write? Yeah, it hasn’t registered yet. I mean we’re here in bodily form, but somehow it still hasn’t sunk in that we are actually going to LIVE here full time. We have that tourist feel at the moment.
So for the past few days we’ve made our way to Versailles (my new classroom, playground, conference period, staff meeting and training (that’s for my teacher friends). Walked the entire 6th arrondissement at least a dozen times, learned that French banks are silly, French cell phone plans are ridiculous, washing clothes can take 4 hours for just one load of 4 towels (it’s midnight and I’m still waiting) and that to get any kind legal matters taken care of is going to happen at a snail’s pace, that’s OK, we aren’t in a hurry if they aren’t! I guess all the bread, pastries, cheese and Nutella eating makes up for the craziness. Oh and don’t forget the daily glass of wine, Orangina (tastes different here) and espresso!
And no–we aren’t going to gain weight–speed walking all day and I do mean all day takes care of the calories. My thighs feel like I’ve endured a marathon bootcamp session.
I don’t know if it’s the centuries of perfecting the art of gardening or the weather, but Versailles has the most gorgeous flowers! While roaming the gardens the other day I had to restrain myself from picking the roses–not just because they were delightfully beautiful but because they actually smelled like a rose should smell–soft, delicate, clean with a hint of sweetness. Never in my life have I smelled something from nature that heavenly.
Another weird occurance–since it doesn’t really get dark here until after 10pm our human clocks are totally messed up. We find ourselves wide awake at midnight! Hopefully, when the Chef starts school and work our clocks will set–to be somewhat normal. There are some comforting aspects about Paris–we can find some of our favorite foods at the grocery store, we hear English and see Americans everywhere, we can watch the nightly news with Brian Williams every night before bed and we can call home for free!!! How is that even possible? Silly comforts I know–but when you set out on your own in a foreign country the slightest sign of something familiar makes home seem not so far away!
Overall–we are happy with our decision and can’t wait to fully immerse ourselves with the culture we find so intriguing. A challenging venture no doubt, but with a little bon courage anything is possible 😉
thetravelingpear.com 
Felicitations! Yes, there are accents missing, but I still don’t know how to make those on my keyboard- must add that to the list of to dos! Sounds like you have found the rain we are missing here in Texas! My husband says it’s pretty chilly there, with intermittent rain. What a nice change! Good luck with everything- sounds like you’re off to a good start!
Oh yes…the rain and chilly weather is such a relief from the 100+ temperatures of Texas. It can rain all it wants! So far we are off to a nice start. Can’t wait for you to arrive. I meet Susan and Karin on Thursday. Only a few more months now.
how do you find the regular french citizens reacting to americans? i think we’ve all heard that the french don’t like americans. have you felt anything like that?
Actually, if any tourist–no matter if they are American or not, hangs out in the tourist trap restaurants, shops, etc–then yes they may experience some rude behavior. We try to find local places to eat and shop…Here they are really normal and friendly. We stopped for drinks at the Louvre and experienced the sterotypical rude French waiters, but that was to be expected. Over in our neighborhood everyone has been pleasant.