So, I haven't posted in a while as I have been super busy over the last couple of weeks!
This post is an update of some of the things that I have been up to :)
Week of Aug 30th-Sept 3rd:
This week was a bit hectic. I was somewhat thrown into the mix of the daily activities of the family I live with. For the first portion of the week I had some company which was nice. A family friend of their who happens to be close in age to me had been in the country with the family all weekend and came back to Paris for a few days to tutor one of the boys in Latin. It was nice to have someone to chat with who spoke english and had somethings in common with me (mainly not being between the ages of 8-12 or 40+) ha ha!! Anyways, during this week I went out for my first evening out in Paris. We decided to head to the St.Germain area which is a largely student populated area. Lots of pubs, bars, trendy shops and restaurants. We wandered around for a while until we came across a neat little pizza place that was absolutely PACKED... on a WEDNESDAY night! It would be about a 20 minute wait so we put our names down and decided to head to a little bar that the guy I was with had been to and said was his absolute favourite bar in Paris. So... we walked in and walked down these windy stairs to what seemed like a dungeon or a cave, with loud accordian music and people dancing on tables! It was hilarious and honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen! So we order our "cups" of wine... YES I SAID CUPS... ha ha and sat chatting about our lives until we finished our wine and were off to the restaurant. Dinner was awesome! We shared a freshly made small pan pizza with mozzarella, palma ham (aka prosciutto) and mushrooms and a side of calamari. OMG SO GOOD! Oh and I forgot - a bottle of rose! HA HA! How can I forget the wine!
After dinner, neither of us were ready to head home, soooo we decided to look for a few neat bars to go to. We walked into one that seemed DEAD, order 2 vodka red bulls and sat down at the bar. Next thing I know, we are walking back to use the bathroom and realize there is a room at the back of the bar with a dance floor and tons of people having a blast! Needless to say, we joined in on the dancing! After about an hour or so of that - we both had an urge to do some Karaoke (this is when the night all changed)... needles to say... the guy I went out with is a cute baby face type - has a girlfriend - and is just a genuinely NICE guy... well the bar we ended up at (as per directions from a few people in the streets) was a blast, we were dancing and singing and so on... when I finally realized that I had one drink bought for me... and my friend had about 20 bought for him... by the guys were were chatting with... ha ha! I think you can figure that out for yourself! So my first experience out in Paris ended at a gay bar and was the best night ever!! I danced my little heart out until 4am with TONS of guys and sang some phenomenal tunes! :) A night for the books! Thanks B! :)
The next morning B woke up to a horrible headache, and Latin tutoring to do! HA HA meanwhile, it was my first full day out and about with the kids and errands to be done. Good thing I have some of my fathers genes when it comes to hangovers, bc I was able to tackle the day without feeling to horrible! B on the other hand was strugglinggggg!!
The remainder of the week was pretty simple - took the boys to tennis/squash, continued to help packing, went to the park, went on the trottinets around the neighbourhood and so on.
Weekend of Sept 4th-5th:
During this weekend I was invited to the french country side by the family I live with. They have a Chateau in a small town called Ande in the northern part of France. Now, even after seeing photos of their home there prior to departing from Paris I was in awe of how beautiful their property was! It was literally as if I were in a fairy tale! This place is absolutely GORGEOUS! Here are a few photos so you can get an idea of what my weekend looked like:
Needless to say, the weekend was nice and relaxing - even tho I was working (it was one of the boys birthdays so there were lots of his little friends there for the whole weekend). It was nice tho, b/c while the kids entertained themselves playing footie, swimming, catching butterflies, and what not, I was able to sit with a nice warm cup of tea and read in the gorgeous sunshine, oh and also pick tons and tons of fresh plums from the trees in the yard! :)
Sunday night my weekend at Ande ended, and it was time to head back to Paris. I compare the drive to a long weekend Sunday night or Monday in Muskoka when ALL the city folk are heading back... i.e. NUTS!
Week of Sept 6th-10th
It was nice to get away so we could arrive back in Paris fresh and ready to tackle the next week of crazyness!! Time for the boys to head back to boarding school! Since they were to head back on Wednesday, the first portion of the week was quite busy with last minute packing, hair cuts, watch repairs, and so on and so on. Finally the boys were off and by the end of the week the usual routine was starting to form. In my time off I did some more adventuring, wandering, bought a HOT & VERY FRESH baguette with the little girl I am taking care of - she said it was the HOTTEST she has ever bought before - which made me feel special!! HA HA, Anyways - time for the next weekend update!
Ohhh and I also went to Merci - it is a concept store where by the profits from the items you purchase are actually given to local charities. It's the largest one in Paris, and is owned by the couple who own Bonpoint (the high end children's clothing store). Its such a neat store!
I really enjoyed browsing around from room to room to see all the neat things. They sell clothing, kitchenwares, books, jewelry, perfume, shoes, flowers, furniture (check out the lightbulb lamp below - yes it is made entirely of lightbulbs!) and beyond! Its sooo neat! They also have a little restaurant/cafe inside as well which is really neat too!
Weekend of Sept 11th-12th
So this past weekend was quite again. Saturday I ran in Parc Monceau, then did some wandering around near Place du Clichy, and found some Charity Shops (bought a pretty sweet blue suede vest and a nice scarf... then wandered around St.Germain and found some American stores like Sephora, Starbucks, Mac, etc.... which are handy to know about incase I really miss home. Otherwise, Saturday was pretty plain. Oh also did some grocery shopping at the market.
Sunday I ran in Parc Monceau, and then later that day met up with a friend of a friend and spent the afternoon having lunch at Cafe Hugo, wandering the streets, eating the best ice cream in Paris from the Berthillon Ice Cream Shop (I had coconut & OMGGGGG SOOOO GOOD!), walking along the Seine, checking out both the inside and outside Notre Dame, and searching through a great little english book shop called 'Shakespeare and Company'. It was a great day! Lots of walking, but you hardly notice all the walking you do when your in France.... maybe because everything you look at on your walk is just so beautiful!!
Here are a few photos of Notre Dame:
Week of Sept 13th-17th
The rest of this week hasn't been too too exciting, Monday was a day of errands, Tuesday I had my medical exam & VISA appointment at the OFII office and ohhhhh what a fun experience that was -NOT! Needless to say, plenty of sitting, and waiting, and sitting and waiting. Boo what a bore. Oh well - have my full VISA approved and can now officially by French government policy stay in France for a year. Yippy! After that I took the metro to find this huge and awesome health food store I was told about by Gillian Young (Check out her site sooo great! She was an au pair a few years back and is writing a complete guide to Paris for girls looking to be or who are au pairs!). Anyways, I had found her through another site that I have been visiting a lot lately which is Oh She Glows, and she emailed me with a list of great places for shopping and eating out! I am currently addicted to both these sites/blogs :)
Anyways, thats about it for this weeks post!! Sorry it is SOOOOOOO LONG! I just thought I would update everyone with everything that has happened since I haven't posted lately!!
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment