Day 14: or The Day I Bought A Watch

The Seine, from Saint Germain

The Castle

For my French classes, I needed to buy a workbook. Since I started in January, and not the usual time of September, I had to go to Saint Germain. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the city less than 5 miles from our house in Saint Nom. It is a real city however, not a village and has a fairly bustling little town center. It also has a small castle/palace, which was the birthplace of King Louis XIV, who of course went on to make the Palace of Versailles (also just a mere 8 miles from home) what it is today.

The Castle

One of the other au pairs was free today as well, so she came along too explore. The train ride was easy, all 9 minutes of it. And when we got to the city, we just headed in the general south westerly direction I knew the store to be in. On our way we passed and outdoor market and many little shops that were starting to open up for the pre-lunch crowd. We found the bookstore and I was able to purchase my books. I spent 25 euro on books I'm not sure I'll need. Not because I know what's in them. But with the internet, and the conversation I will get in class, I'm just not sure i'll get 25 euro out of these books, but I'm going to try. The little man in the store tried to speak English to me.I'm fairly sure my French was better than his English, but every time I tried to switch, he kept saying "no no, it's ok, English is fine". I gave up.

La Defense, Paris Business District

It was a little early for lunch, so we decided to walk a bit to work up an appetite. On the way I bought the world's most expensive Diet Coke. It came out to almost $3 for a half liter. In other words, ridiculous. 
Needless to say, we were wary before we picked our lunch location. We walked the grounds of the castle, and up and down some small streets. Some were pedestrian only, some were cobble stone. All very French.


We found a panini place that had the menu visible from the street. Prices were reasonable, and the man looked friendly so in we went. I ordered, being the great speaker I am. I always assume that even if the clerk doesn't speak English, they probably know about as much as I do of French. This is not the case. Apparently, I know more French than I thought. The sandwiches were good, and I got my coffee for free, so basically lunch was a HUGE success. But really, it was nice. 


We then went through the market, where I immediately found a necklace I had to have. It just spoke to me, what can I say. Again, the woman spoke no English, so more practice for me. We headed home, so I could get the Kid from school. Dinner was easy, eggs and ham. Breakfast for dinner is a solid choice in my opinion.

The Necklace