A pizza place, but not quite the same!!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
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!
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| The entrance to Park Monceau |
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| The playground area |
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| Check out her awesome shirt-a gift from Uncle Shane, Aunt Lenore and Savannah!!! |
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| Eden took this picture of me:) |
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| There are areas of grass, but people are not allowed to walk on them |
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| We loved the ducks! |
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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:)
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:)
Friday, January 18, 2013
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.
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.
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| The front entrance |
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| The front |
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| This is the only area that photography is allowed |
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| A view from the upper floor of the Musee D'Orsay |
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| Through the glass from the upper floor |
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| Outside the front entrance |
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| My sweet girl and I !! |
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
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!!!
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!!!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
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...
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....
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!!
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...
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| From another bridge |
Here are some fun pictures from our walk home....
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| We were really close to the tower again today |
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| From inside, underneath |
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| 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:
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