Our House

Our container came last Wednesday, so we're all moved in!  I have to say, I'm regretting not taking the time to organize before the movers packed up our house in SC because we have stuff everywhere. 

I love our new house!  We've definitely got some work to do (painting, removing wallpaper, that kind of thing) but the location is awesome--right across from a beautiful park, a 10 min walk to school, 2 min from the Williams family who we're crazy about, and maybe 20 steps away from this crepe truck.

The only downside of the house is what the French call "the cave"-- similar to an unfinished basement in America but darker, less open, and with little narrow hallways that lead to rooms that have doors that go to other little creepy rooms that I'm too freaked out to go in.  Terrifying.  Totally not an issue if it was just storage space, but unfortunately the washer and dryer hookups are down there.  Not good.  

I'm seriously considering trying to pull up a you tube video that will show Baylor where to put the soap in a European washer and sending him down there with his tennis racket.  He'll do almost anything if I pay him in twizzlers and he hasn't seen the movie Prisoner, so he has an advantage.

Other than the cave, we really like our house, enjoy the town and love all the sweet families we've met so far!

Mistral Gagnat

Right around the corner from Massillon, is Mistral Gagnant--the cutest candy store!  We're starting a Friday tradition of stopping by on our walk home from school.

We've started working on our house.  Today, Ethan painted over the yellow entry hall in white.  Check out the ladder he was using.  Scary!

....and this is what my little worker bees did when I told them to start peeling wallpaper in Baylor's room.  Standing on the mantle.  No bueno.

How many adults does it take to figure out Bay's homework?

More than two, evidently!

Around Town

This week the big sales started in France.  I don't entirely understand how this works, but it sounds like the government allows the stores in France to hold two big sales a year--one in January and one in the summer.  The first week, things may be 30% off, the second week 50%....and the price continues to fall for about 4 weeks (I think?).  Not a bad time to arrive!

After school we went inside the black cathedral so the kids could look around.  It's beautiful!

And we squeezed in a ride on the Ferris wheel because I was scared it would get taken down before they had a chance to ride.

Our view from the top.  Not sure I'll be doing that again, but glad the kids enjoyed themselves :)

I think we found an apartment!

...and of course I forgot my camera today.  Duh.  

Done.

The floor of Intermarche is probably not the best place for a nap.  

A half day of Moyenne Section must be exhausting!

God's Kindness

I am one relieved mom!  

I'll admit that when I walked up tp the school and saw how many kids were running wild through the courtyard, I briefly considered grabbing my babies and heading home.

But I'm so glad I didn't because their first day was great!  It was the best feeling to see them running toward me at lunch with big smiles on their faces.

Kennedy wanted to tell her teacher "Au Revoir" before leaving, so I stood with Baylor and Emory while she ran up to Madame Arnaud.  When Madame Arnaud saw her, she held Ken's little face in her hands, and gave her a big kiss on the cheek and a hug.  

I so needed to see that.  It was the reassurance I'd been looking for--that my kids will be valued and nurtured while they're there.

They're in good hands.

School Tour

Today we headed to Place to Jaude to meet up with Ethan and grab a bite to eat.  Love the long lunch breaks here!

Then we walked over to the school for a tour.  All three got to meet their teachers and some of their classmates.  Tomorrow is their first day and I am NERVOUS!  Kennedy is going from a class of 5 back in Greenville, to a class of 30.  Lots of little friends to cause mischief with!  Say a prayer for Madame Arnaud...

There is a little patisserie near the apartment that I love called Pain Choc.  The pastries are awesome and the man who works there is quickly becoming one of my favorites because he totally overlooks my caveman French.  "Me want croissant" "Girls want donuts." Bless that man.

And we rounded out the night with a little school supply shopping at Leclerc (kind of like Super Target). Check out Emory's list.  Here's hoping that at least half of the items in her backpack are what the teacher asked for!

Made it here in one piece!

I'm hoping this blog will be a great way to keep in touch with our friends and family in the U.S. and help me keep up with pictures so that we can reminisce later.  Thanks for visiting :)

We had a wonderful Christmas in Raleigh followed by some teary goodbyes.  Definitely the toughest part of the move so far.

We traveled last Sunday and it was a long one.  Wow.  We flew Raleigh-Atlanta, Atlanta-Paris (with a long layover in Paris).  And finally Paris-Clermont Ferrand.  The flight to France was great!  The kids ate their dinner and all three fell asleep pretty quickly.

Rick and Megan Williams who I've just met and love already met us at the airport with carts ready to help us lug our bajillion bags to the cars and save Kennedy from the revolving doors while Ethan figured out the rental car situation.  

I wish I had video footage of the ride from the airport to Michelin.  

I have never driven a stick shift and Ethan has only a few times, several years ago.  I will spare you the details, but just say that had Rick and Megan not been following us, we may not be here a week later still laughing about it.  The kids were screaming the whole way and saying really encouraging things like, "Daddy, why are all these people honking at you?" And "whoa...that guy looks angry."

Finally we got settled in to our temporary apartment and everybody slept for a few hours.  After a little running around of course :)

We've been here about a week and each day we're feeling more and more at home.  The Williams' have been so good to us--showing us around town, telling me all about the school, best places to shop, etc.  Seriously--what a blessing to have such a sweet family watching out for us!