Concert

Michael got tickets for us to go to the orchestra on Sunday! He picked a program that was specifically for children--to make it more interesting for Eden...but...she was bored to tears! She kept asking how much longer...oh well, we tried.  In her defense, the conductor was probably really good-but he talked A LOT and the whole program was in French, so we couldn't understand any of it. The music that we heard was nice though...maybe we will try again--or maybe Michael will go by himself:)

our tickets

Mommy and Eden

Before

Daddy and Eden

Silly family picture

the choir

the full orchestra and choir

New Friends

We have been blessed to make some new American friends! One of my friends from college noticed my posts on Facebook and messaged me to tell me that she had friends also living in Paris. We exchanged info and on Thursday, Eden and I went on our first "solo" Metro ride to the suburbs to visit them at their apartment. They have lived here since October and have a little girl and a little boy.
We have had so much fun! It has been nice to have someone who has lived here a bit and understands some of the frustrations of living in a foreign country. My new friend is also a speech pathologist (which is awesome!!!), and they are also doing schooling at home with their daughter--what are the odds? We all hit it off!! So on Friday we got together again, then the husbands joined us and we all went to dinner. We met up again on Saturday to go to Notre Dame and then the library. They knew of a good Mexican restaurant, so we all went to dinner for a second night in a row!! (The Mexican food was really good-- for France)

Here are some pictures of the girls:

The girls on a bridge near Notre Dame

Playing at Notre Dame

Notre Dame

 Here are some pictures of amazing and beautiful Notre Dame. We were all in awe...

Chocolate chip cookies

I realize that this isn't the most exciting thing to write about...but it is exciting for us. It's the little things in life right?? We have been trying for almost 2 weeks to locate some "basic" ingredients so that I can bake some chocolate chip cookies. All 3 of us have been craving them!!  After attempts at more than 4 different stores to locate baking soda, Crisco and brown sugar...I had given up! The main thing we needed to find was the baking soda--who knew that would be so hard to find! I wrote it down in French and took it to all of the stores asking employees to help me find it. Then Michael finally got a different translation for baking soda...and brought some home today.  Turns out, I had seen the package at several stores, but didn't know what it was! So, tonight after dinner, we went out and bought something that resembles brown sugar (the taste is different and the consistency is also different- it pours like white sugar).  Then I substituted butter for the Crisco as they do not have it here and we have heard of a substitute, but we can't even find the substitute. I used a mixer that we borrowed from someone at church...and I used my new pan (like a 9 x 13) since I cannot find a cookie sheet to purchase...and voila--I made some cookies! Now, they don't look anything like mine at home, but they are edible and at least the apartment smelled good for a bit!!

Taco Night

We had been told before we got here that there really aren't any great Mexican restaurants around where we live...so, imagine how excited we were to find Mexican food at the grocery store! I used my Google translate and made my grocery list...and off to the store we went. I bought the things you see pictured, plus a small carton of sour cream and it was quite expensive!

This was 28.19 euros...which equals about $37.50...totally NOT worth it! The seasoning mix was very interesting.... we *think* it was made with curry instead of  chili powder??...and the taste was so disappointing. The worst part...we are going to choke it down for a second night...I did tell Michael that we wouldn't have known if we didn't try it first --right???

Taco UP receives a thumbs down from the Oelzes.....

For Our Champaign Friends

Here is something funny for our Champaign friends!
A pizza place, but not quite the same!!

Park Monceau

 Here are some pictures of  Park Monceau which is near our apartment. We took these last week before it snowed...now we can't wait until it warms up and we can go more frequently!

The entrance to Park Monceau

The playground area

Check out her awesome shirt-a gift from Uncle Shane, Aunt Lenore and Savannah!!!

Eden took this picture of me:)

There are areas of grass, but people are not allowed to walk on them

We loved the ducks!

Stamps

On Thursday, I decided to venture out with Eden and get stamps...

Now, this required me to get online and locate the post office nearest to our apartment...then actually find it! Then I had to attempt to communicate what I needed to the staff..and then actually purchase them!

I am proud to say that we found it after only a few missed streets...we waited in the wrong line for a long time, then, using my pitiful French, and a lot of pantomime (ha!) we successfully purchased 5 stamps!

Now the real test...did I actually buy stamps to the United States?  For some reason, that cracks me up:)

Musee D'Orsay

Wednesday afternoon we took Eden to the famous Musee D'Orsay. It was interesting and pretty, and we got to see  more amazing things! She kept making us laugh, saying "well, there's another naked statue"...because there were a lot-and they are quite detailed:) Sadly, she missed the importance of seeing art by all of the famous artists...
Thanks to my sweet friend Tracy Sheehy, who sent her a book about Monet before we left... she knew a little about Monet, and so she did recognize his name:) Otherwise, she was done after an hour:)

  There is no photography allowed in the museum...but we did get a few shots outside.

The front entrance

The front

This is the only area that photography is allowed

A view from the upper floor of the Musee D'Orsay

Through the glass from the upper floor

Outside the front entrance

My sweet girl and I !!

Measuring Cups/Spoons and Dryers

Yay! Michael's very kind host bought us a brand new set of measuring cups/spoons and a jar of peanut butter! Most stores don't carry peanut butter...and we knew that before we moved here...so it is a real treat for us! Thanks to the new pan I bought and the measuring cups/spoons-- I was able to bake some chicken tonight for dinner! Our first home cooked meal with meat! We have eaten a LOT of pasta lately, so it was a nice change:) For dessert we had Oreos:) I even cooked a pot of rice--with my new friend...Google Translate! I love this thing! You type in the directions in French and it instantly translates to English....very helpful! Now when I go to the grocery store...which has been every day at this point, I translate what I need into French and write it down to take to the store. Otherwise, I end up coming home with either the wrong thing--or nothing! Last week, I accidentally bought shampoo that will add volume to my hair--we all know I don't need that!! I couldn't figure out why my hair felt funny--and then I used my trusty tool--and discovered what I had done:)
The saga with the apartment continues...we haven't had a working dryer since we moved in 11 days ago...which is not ideal, but crunchy towels and jeans are not that bad. (It is a washer/dryer combo unit that is only partially working)...The technician came today, (spoke only French) and told the land lady that nothing was broken, but one of the security features had been activated by the previous tenant..and now everything was fine! So, we followed the instructions given by the land lady, put some sheets in it,  and it ran for 4.5 hours (on the same load!!) and then it quit! Not good! Then after dinner I tried to turn on our miniature dishwasher (which is super cute by the way) and it won't even power on! UGH! So now we have a broken washer/dryer, a broken dishwasher full of dirty dishes, a set of wet sheets and a filthy apartment!! Good thing we are in a great location right?  Seriously though, we are very thankful for our health, our family, and the working modern conveniences that we do have! I am just bummed that we are paying so much for things that don't work...
We will keep you updated:) This is why it is called an adventure!!!

First snow in Paris

Michael went out in the snow to get this cool picture

View from our living room

Our weekend

Friday

Friday Michael texted me to tell me he had a surprise for me:) He took Eden and I to...

.... Chipotle:) I was so happy! For those of you who may not know, in Illinois-we eat Chipotle 3 x a month if not more...so I had googled it before our trip...and he located it and surprised us! It was good-different than home, but it hit the spot!! We have been surviving on pasta and frozen pizza, because I haven't been able to cook. First because the kitchen was so filthy...and second because all that we have in our "furnished" apartment are 2 pots, 3 glass bowls, some spatulas and a colander...I tried to buy a cookie sheet, and couldn't find one, so I bought what looks kind of like a 9 x13 pan. I have also been unable to find any kind of measuring cups or spoons. Apparently everything here is measured by weight...I think I may have my mom ship some measuring cups/spoons to me!

Saturday 

On Saturday we met up with Michael's host and her family. They have a daughter who is also an only child and is also 8!! How cool is that? Thankfully she is bilingual...so Eden made a fast friend:)  We ate at a nice restaurant and then took the girls to the aquarium...it is small -but it was nice. I have some pictures from the aquarium, but I can't figure out how to get them to transfer to the blog...Anyhow, after the aquarium, Eden got to try her first crepe with Nutella:) She loved it!  The aquarium is right by the Eiffel tower...

Sunday 

 Sunday was an interesting day...we go to the English speaking church service--which meets at night, so we have all day to explore. We decided to go to the American Library in Paris. Michael's contact for his grant suggested going there and joining it, both to check out English books and to meet other kids... It is bigger than I expected! For a fee, you can join for a year or 6 months. They also have a kids section that has quite a few books and some DVD's to check out --all in English:) (Our DVD's won't play on the DVD in the apt. because of a different international code...) Eden checked out several kids books, which is great because she has already read the books we brought about 5 times each!
As we tried to get back to the apartment, we encountered a problem...a large protest! Thousands of people and lots of police men/women. For an 8 year old raised in a small town, it was an interesting experience!  Here you can see them from across the bridge...

From another bridge

Here is a picture of  the participants marching in blue...we tried to avoid crossing them, but at one point we had to.

Here are some fun pictures from our walk home....

We were really close to the tower again today

From inside, underneath

A pretty church we found on our walk home from the library

Sunday night, we had a potluck at church, so we tried to come up with something that we could: 1. Pack into a backpack easily and 2. Didn't really require "cooking". We came up with fruit salad, (we did have to buy a container to take it in:) Doritos, Pepsi and a cake that we bought. Good news, it was all completely gone! Turns out, the fruit salad was a hit!

Here is a picture of the outside of the building:

And we will have more coming soon!!