Day 24: or The Day I Was The Only One In Class

Ok, so it was only for 15 minutes, but I had to sit with the teacher speaking French for 15 minutes. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. But I stumble my way through a coherent conversation. The frustrating thing is, when I feel like I'm not speaking fast enough, I make easy mistakes and sound like I never took  French a day in my life. Then, when everyone does show up, they feel the need to "help" by whispering the answer to me. Let me paint you a picture. There are 5 women in the room, everyone else is around age 40, and we are all sitting around a table with a 4ft diameter. When one of them whispers an answer to me, do you think there is any way the other three didn't hear it. No. The answer is no. And this isn't even when I looked stumped, just when I pause to make sure I'm getting it right. Not only do I not want there help because I'm actually trying to learn something, but while attempting to help, they manage to make me look like a complete ignoramus. Mildly stressful. But by the end of class, I was able to contribute some thoughts to the conversation, like the fact that my cousin named her son Jonas, but that it was not in fact a reference to that terrible "band". I'm not exactly sure why that came up. Oh yes, when explaining my name, because there is no Caitlin in French, I said that my Mother was none to pleased with the popularity after she picked it for me. Which got us talking about other children's names and so on and so forth. Class dismissed.

Day 23: or The Day I Ate Too Many Crepes

Now let's be honest, how can you eat too many crepes? Personally, I don't think you can, but I did have more than I needed. Today was a great day. It was cold, and not too beautiful, so I stayed in and relaxed. My foot has been better, but I figured a day of now walking would be good for it. I stayed in and watched movies, organized my room and talked with the kids. For dinner, one of the girls made crepes, and they were delicious. I've always been a fan of savory over sweet, so we had ham, chicken and cheese or, sugar and butter. The subject of Mardi Gras was brought up, because they have a tradition of eating crepes on the day. I said we celebrate Mardi Gras a little differently thinking they would know of the spectacle that is New Orleans. They didn't. It's not that I think all French people would know about it, but they did live in the states for 6 years. Alas, New York is not New Orleans. I skirted the subject as best I could, seeing as Mardi Gras isn't exactly America on its best behavior. I some how got us onto Cajun food, and back into safe territory. The other interesting topics of the day were Sororities and the Civil War. On of the girls is considering school in the States, so she was just wondering how honest television and movies depict Greek Life so I tried to give her my totally unbiased opinion. I think I was able to pull it off. Then the Civil War, or Session War as they refer to it. They were asking how we learn about it, and I wasn't sure exactly how to explain it. I made it clear that we don't call it the War of Northern Aggression just because we are from Texas. As a history major, I can talk a decent amount about U.S. history, so I hope I did an acceptable job, but who knows. Every once in a while you need a day like today. I feel ready for the week, which I believe is exactly what the weekend is for.

French Word of The Day

Froid.


Cold. This is one of the words I use at home. If it is ever really cold, I will sometimes say "il est très froid". For some reason I always remembered this one. And now I get to use it all the time, because it is very, very cold.

Day 18: or The Day I Made Pizza

Today was the Kid's birthday, which in a way made my life easier. Instead of feeling guilty when I gave him a little extra time, or one more cookie, I could tell myself, "hey, it's his birthday, give yourself a break". Worked pretty well too. It's amazing how much more agreeable kids are when you don't tell them no as much.


It was another grey day. I stayed indoors and did some laundry and other around the house things. For dinner we had homemade pizza. She made the dough last night, so I rolled it out and covered it with cheese and ham. Turned out pretty darn good. She told me that if they liked it I should have about half of a pizza left, out of the 2 I was to make. I ended up with a little less than half, so I would say I was a successful pizza maker.


Today was a hard day though because of Darcy. Since she hasn't come home, I'm trying to grasp the fact that she is gone. I just can't believe it though. I've had her for over half my life, and in the last year, I have tried to come to terms that she would be gone soon. But the fact that she just disappeared makes it harder. I know I already said my good byes to her, but seeing her on skype while my dad held her up was fairly comforting. She seemed to be doing a little better. The family here is trying to understand. I can't seem to keep it together for very long though, something about my Kuykendall genes I guess. For the first time since I've been here I want to be home. I know it would make me miss her more, but I miss my baby girl, and I want to be home.

Day 16: or The Day I Tried Driving

I can drive a stick shift. It may not be perfect, but I know the general notion. But not here. Because of the hills, the driving seems to be more than difficult. And having the owner of the car sitting next to you, seemingly freaking out, does not help. I'm not going to give many details. It went fine. I was able to drive, but I'm not sure how much I'm going to want to.


I went into Saint Germain to meet another au pair. She was a girl I had just emailed with and she invited me to have coffee with some friends. She had been here awhile, so she seems to have a pretty large system of friends. We sat at a cafe for a couple of hours and I made plans to get together later in the week. 


It was a quite Sunday, restful and what not. I feel like the days are longer here. I'm not sure what it is because I am having a great time, but I can't believe I've only been here 2 weeks. I'm sure at the end though, it will seem like it flew by. 

Day 15: or The Day I Went Ice Skating

The Shopping Mall, au Printemps. It means Spring.

I took the morning train to Paris. The other au pairs and I decided we would spend the day, but we didn't have a plan as to what we would do. We started by walking to a currency exchange place, because my American dollars weren't exactly welcome. I of course knew this, but hadn't yet had time to make the switch. After the one chore was complete, they girls wanted to shop. In France, they have sales twice a year, each time for 6 weeks. There are the winter sales and the fall sales, where they clean the store for the upcoming fashion seasons. Needless to say, Paris is 
crazy this time of year. I'm not that into shopping. Don't get me wrong, I do love it, but at this time in my life, I would rather save my money for weekend excursions. Also, the lines for the dressing rooms were about an hour wait, so it was quite easy to not be tempted. 

Sacré Cœur, I'm there on the steps.

After the shopping, we went to the Sacré Cœur, which is situated on a hill above the city. A very nice part of town, almost ruined by all the people catering to tourists. I'm not sure what it is about me, but my goal in life is to never look like a tourist. I don't wear my tennis shoes around Paris, and I don't order ketchup at restaurants. But that's just me. The Basilica is very nice, very beautiful. No pictures were allowed of the inside, which is a bummer, but I really loved the fresco and the stained glass. We walked around some more and saw the artists that gather in the Montmarte district. I loved some of their paintings, but decided to wait until the end of trip to decide which one will come home with me.


We stopped at a very little Italian restaurant for a late lunch. It was delicious but I really love going to restaurants that you might never find again. It was a little off the beaten path, and I doubt it gets very many tourists. The man spoke no English, so it was another chance for me to practice. After eating, we made our way by Metro to the Hôtel de Ville, which is Paris' city hall, for some ice skating. We hadn't planned on doing it but we found out about it while in Paris and so off we went. 

The ice skating at the Hôtel de Ville

I had a great time skating. My Grandpa Jim taught me how to skate when the lake froze, so I greatly prefer skating outside. But being from Texas, indoor shopping mall rinks are the only thing available. But I love skating outside, like when I learned, so I was ready. Granted I hadn't done it in a good 10 years, but it's just like riding a bike. Sort of. I was a little wobbly, but it got easier. What didn't get easier was dealing with the crazy people skating at warp speed around me. I don't mean in comparison to me. I mean weaving in and out, running into you, and then stopping abruptly right before they bowl you over. There were only 4 or 5 guys doing this, but I did not appreciate it.

Me, trying not to fall. Don't worry, I stayed on my feet.

We took the train home. I had a nice dinner with the family. Uploaded some pictures for your enjoyment. Speaking of pictures. I added a link to the right and will try to update the pictures every once in a while. I don't want to insert all of them in the blog, but wanted them to be accessible, so there you are.

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

Day 2: or The Day of Luggage and Quiche

It's a Christmas miracle!! I seem to have avoided Jet Lag. Not sure how I did it, and I'm sure some of you are thinking that an awesome person such as myself should expect to be exempt from such lame things. And you would be right. A nice way to start out my trip, that's for sure.


I woke up this morning around 9:00. We wanted to leave for Paris around 10:00, so I wanted to make sure and not be the one holding up the group. I sat next to Jeremy in the car, the 5 year old, and he proceeded to tell me all about his Lego catalog. His English needs work so I asked him all sorts of things about dinos and pirates ships and what not. These toys now a days are getting pretty fancy. 


In France, Sundays are free for museums and monuments. In other words, the lines are crazy town. We were going to visit Sainte-Chapelle, but the line was hours and hours long, so we went to Notre Dame and climb the 400 steps to the top (read: brutal). Nice view though.

After the walk down, not brutal, just dizzying, we walked around a bit and had lunch at a little restaurant named Fourmi Ailée. I had a jazzed up Quiche Lorraine, and it was delicious. I ordered well. Then we walked a bit more and drove home. The blue sky started to show during lunch, and the sun helped the mood. I love sunshine and was a little worried that going without it for 6 months would be a problem, but if I can just get a couple of days like today, I'll make it through just fine. 

My luggage came around 9:00 tonight, so I have been unpacking and trying to make my room feel more like mine. Yesterday seemed like I was just visiting, with my one little bag, but today it seems more obvious that I actually moved here. I have my Harry Potter book next to my Lonesome Dove, which I think pretty much sums up who I am as a person.

As a side note, I'd like to congratulate TCU on a Horned Frog victory, it's nice to see one Texas team not totally collapsing like a cheap tent (Which I have actually had happen to me).

Au revoir de Saint-Nom.

Oh My, It's Happening

I am leaving for the airport in an hour. France. It's happening. I am moving to France for six months. I'm not quite sure what to expect and I have no idea what's going to happen next, but I am excited. I'm not going to count this as the first post. It's more of an intro of things to come. See y'all on the other side.