Another week

We are still settling in to life here – Paul had to go away for work again this week so Isabelle and I were left to our own devices. And not much happened – school, errands, more unpacking…

A few important things did happen – I managed to make a doctor’s appointment for Isabelle so we could get the certificate to allow her to continue swimming and we went to the appointment – I understood most of it but at times wished I had a friend with me – a friend with medical knowledge since I stupidly brought only our South Carolina Certificate of Vaccination which is full of abbreviations which don’t correspond with the French ones, so the next day I found all the equivalents on the internet and have put that with the certificate.

And, just as importantly, Isabelle and I got library cards – she will probably use hers more than I will but the library, which is just around the corner from us, is absolutely gorgeous – out of the picture books really. Here are pictures from the city’s website and the local newspaper.

I went to the upholstery group again this week – I don’t have anything to work on yet but I am going to keep looking at the brocantes for a little project – maybe something like one of these:

 

Wednesday, I wanted to find something for Isabelle to do or for the two of us to do together. It turns out we have lots of choices from movies to activities at the museums and art galleries. This week she chose an ‘atelier cadre’ at the Musee Denon (also right around the corner – beside the children’s library – this living in Centre-Ville has lots of advantages!). In the end it was just Isabelle and another little girl, who is in CP in the same school, and the instructor. They looked at the frames on the paintings in the museum – what they were made of, how they looked and then then did a painting where the frame was in the middle and picture was on the outside. I think she enjoyed it and she certainly loved at the archaeological objects in the museum’s collection. It certainly was a good way to spend two hours.

Friday was a miserable weather day – rain, hail, sun, wind and more rain – but Isabelle had a half-day at school and was invited to a friend’s house for lunch and a playdate. It all seemed to go very well and I got a lot done at the apartment tidying up paperwork and pulling together the packing stuff since we were planning on taking everything to the dechetterie first thing Saturday morning.

This morning we got rid of all the packing stuff – we have to clean up the guest room for an upcoming arrival. We also went to the huge Carrefour for some groceries and electronics and to Darty for a dishwasher (being delivered on Tuesday, yippee!). Carrefour and Darty are on the south side of the river Saone and as we were coming back across the bridge we could see a lot of people along the river – there was a river boat in but there was also a brocante (a flea market) along the sidewalk and there was a large group of people in different coloured hats. So, Paul dropped us with the groceries in front of the apartment and found a parking spot. By the time he came back the street was closed off and there was a parade right on our street – the second since Paul has been here. We are still not sure what it was about but it was very festive!

So, there it is – another week in France and for the next two weeks Isabelle is on vacation. Next week she is going to a swim camp each morning and the week after is up in the air but definitely a few days in Clermont to visit with friends and to find some truffade.

One Week

Well, we have been here one week, one full action packed week!

Isabelle has had a swim meet and is signed up for a week of swim camp for the first week of vacances. She also started school - an easy week since Monday was a holiday and she won't have school on Wednesdays at all. It seems to be going well - not much homework and what there is is mostly review for her. She has made friends but I think she is missing her old classmates - one of the boys was teasing her on the first day and she is not used to boys teasing her.

The walk to school seems to be doing us both good - not quite 15 minutes one way with a couple of busy intersections. Isabelle has really progressed this week in terms of streets smarts. She is much better about paying attention to her surroundings and traffic. It probably helps that they are also working on it in school - some sort of 'permis pietons' which has grabbed her.

I managed to fill the week unpacking boxes, rearranging drawers and bookshelves, and wandering around our neighborhood just discovering what there is to see. I am back to cooking for just two this week - which was hard enough to motivate myself to do in Greenville for two meals a day but now having lunch too - it is an adjustment. I will have to get Isabelle to give me some suggestions - I keep coming back to eggs.

I think I am already missing the half-day on Wednesdays, we aren't used to spending the whole day together! This week there was a big swim meet for teenagers so we went to watch - it was really interesting to see the differences from the meets in SC.

This weekend we are planning a little drive to Macon just south of us - there happens to be a stamp show! We will probably stop at a few shops - it is interesting, there is not much that we brought that I think 'oh, we didn't need to bring that' (except for some things which were meant for storage but came anyway!) but there are a couple of things I think would have been useful - the second blanket chest (would be great storage in Isabelle's room) and the piano stool. Why the piano stool you ask - well, the first thing I was invited to was a group who gets together once a week to learn to re-upholster furniture. Now I need a little project.

So, that is the week it was - bring on the weekend!

Days 3 and 4 - Swimming and Apartment

Saturday started with another visit to the pool. One of the trainers said to show what she could do - so without a warm-up she dove in and did a 100m individual medley. She had a good swim but I think the change from yards to metres threw her off a little for her turns. She then joined the other swimmers who were doing some testing involving floating face-down for 5 seconds, treading water in a small hoop, going underneath lane lines, swimming different strokes (including streamline on her back and simultaneous backstroke) and then a couple laps of their own choice. She was happy to be there and at the end the coach said there was a small intrasquad meet on Sunday afternoon if we were interested. With no other plans for Sunday afternoon we signed her up. He also mentioned a swim camp they are having during the school vacation where she would get the chance to try some of the other things she hasn't done - synchro, water polo and swimming with fins.

After the pool we went to France's answer to Home Depot - Castorama - to get curtains, shelving and other bits and pieces for the apartment. We also picked up some small appliances at Darty - we needed alarm clock before school on Tuesday!

After a quick lunch at home, we headed north (the other stores are south of us) to another Home Depot type store, a different grocery store (to get things I forgot the day before) and a few furniture store to look at storage pieces. The apartments here, especially older ones, don't have a lot of built in storage. We are lucky because we have a storage room and big closets in our bedroom but we need things for Isabelle's room and the kitchen. We didn't find exactly what we want but there is lots to choose from and it was only our first outing so we will keep looking for a bit.

From there we drove to a brocante (used furniture store) which Paul had visited a few weeks ago. They definitely had interesting things and good prices but everything seemed to have a little problem - shelves missing, chewed doors or something else. I think we need to find the brocante who said no to these items because they weren't good enough!

The best part of the trip was that it is on the road to Paul's work so we got to see the countryside complete with cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens and acres and acres of vineyards. Even though it was a little foggy it was still beautiful.

This morning, after the Easter Bunny's visit, or was it the Poule de Pâques, we went to the Sunday market. Paul was with us so we were a little more adventurous in our purchases - olives and rillette, along with needed eggs, fruit, bread.

After lunch, Paul and Isabelle hung curtains, built a shelf for the bathroom and moved some furniture around. And then it was time to go to the pool.

Of course, we had no idea how it was organized so we just followed everyone else. We waited outside until the appointed hour and then I went with Isabelle to the changing room side and Paul went into the bleacher area where we met him. The pool complex is pretty amazing - I will post some pictures and video later.

We were told the children would be called by birth year starting with 2006. Each child would swim the first event and then the 2005s would swim their first event and so on. After the 2001s swam, the 2006s would start again with a second event. After everyone swam 2 events, the best 8 combined times in each sex/age group would swim in a third event - as a final.

This was a meet for the swim school - as I understand it these are children who are passing the different stages to make the swim team. The events were different for each age - for those who know about SAIL think Guppy meet except all the events but the individual medleys were 50 metres. The 2006s swam with a kickboard, then streamline back and as a final - simultaneous back. The 2005s did streamline back, simultaneous back, then regular back. Isabelle's age did simultaneous back, regular back, and free. Later age groups added breast and 100m IM.

Isabelle placed first in her first two events putting her in the final. She then swam one of her best 50 frees ever and placed first for her age. She won a water bottle, got her first French medal and they even had a podium! And perhaps the best part of all she made a friend!

Day 2 - Off to a Running Start

Well, again, not really, since I had to poke the girl after she had slept for 14 hours. She was a little slow to wake up but after some breakfast and a little tv she was raring to go. She unpacked part of a box of her clothes and then we were off the market since Paul was at work for the morning.

The Friday market is a 5 minute walk from the apartment, and we found everything from veggies to shoes to books. It was a little chilly - with some flurries in the air but with Isabelle we managed to buy some vegetables, fruit and salmon. I am amazed by how much French I understand - thank goodness for all of my language classes over the last 4 years on the parking of EFB!

Paul arrived home from work at noontime - not a usual occurrence but we were going to visit Isabelle's new school which about a 10 minute walk from the apartment. We signed lots of papers and Isabelle was able to visit her new classroom and meet some her classmates - who seemed very anxious to meet her. We also meet her teacher who seems nice but I think may be wondering about Isabelle's competence in French. I think her worries may be alleviated on Tuesday when Isabelle goes for her first day with all other cahiers from EFB.

After the visit we walked home (I love all this walking!) and picked up the car to go to the huge Carrefour grocery store (more like the Superstore on Joseph Howe, for the Haligonians) on the other side of the river. We had a stop to make on the way though - the swimming pool! We spoke with some of the swim team staff and joining the team isn't quite as easy as we thought but they seemed very positive. She has to go to swim school to learn a little of five disciplines (diving, synchro, water polo, swimming with fins and snorkel and swimming) before taking a test where she must pass three after that she has to do another test (a technically correct 100m individual medley) to make the team. But they seemed to think she could try for the pass to make the team in June. They also want to see her swim - so she is scheduled to swim for them Saturday morning (yes, today!)

Then, we were off to Carrefour which, on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend was crazy. Isabelle went through the store and had as many samples as she could! I found just about everything I wanted but Peter may want to BYO-PB when he come to visit since I could only find a tiny jar.

After Carrefour, we visited with the family of a colleague of Paul who shared some good advice, some names of stores and invited me to a workshop she goes to do upholstery. Oh and we even found a babysitter!

After a long day, we opted for our neighborhood pizza and called it a night. So far so good!!!!!

Here We Go Again - Day 1

Well, not really Day 1. I guess Day 1 was really that day last year when Paul said do you want to move to France because I have a job offer. Since then we have been preparing paperwork, applying for visas, packing, and, of course, going on with all the usual things we do.

So, finally after the inevitable delays, Paul flew off leaving Isabelle and me in a temporary apartment in Greenville to start his job and to begin to settle things in France. This is what we did when we moved to South Carolina and seemed to work well so we thought we would do it again. Also, it allowed us to have Isabelle change schools nearer the scheduled school vacation and change of semesters.

Unlike many of his colleagues and, I think, as a result of his particular skill set and bilingualism (and Isabelle's too - mine is still very shaky) we are not in the usual spot for expats with his company but in a small city, Chalon-sur-Saône, between Lyon and Dijon in the east of France.

Paul arrived about six weeks ago and very promptly found a wonderful apartment in Centre-Ville - our preference due to the location of Isabelle's school and that we would like to have just one car. Within a week of settling on the apartment, the container arrived with all of our furniture and in short order he also set up telephone, internet, tv, gas, water and then bought a car. And while there is still a lot of unpacking and organizing to be done, he did the hard part.

So, yesterday we arrived after tearful goodbyes in Greenville and relatively easy flights through Washington and Brussels (I am still glad we opted for Brussels over Heathrow). Paul picked us up at the airport in Lyon, we had a quick lunch and were home by 2. Our most precious cargo, Paul's requested bottle of dark rum arrived safely too but unfortunately one bottle of Diane's precious canned clams didn't make it - but we think the lid popped in flight because it didn't seem to be broken.

We looked at the apartment for a bit making a to-do list and after went for a big walk - past Isabelle's school, to the post office to pick up a registered letter and through the old town. Then back home for dinner. Isabelle nearly fell asleep at the table and right after dinner got in her jammers, brushed her teeth and went to bed - now 12 hours later she is still sleeping.

Now to start our second day with a walk to the market, a visit to Isabelle's school, a coffee with a colleague of Paul's and his wife and maybe some time unpacking and organizing some more.

So much to say, so little time

So, I just found this post I didn't post in the fall. Maybe it will spur me on to do a few more...

We have had a busy few months. Paul had a trip to Alaska while Isabelle and I did the road home to Nova Scotia on our own. We had about a month visiting cousins, grandparents, a few friends and managed to get 3 nights at Milford House. There are just some things I need and those nights at Milford were a priority!

Now we are almost a month into a new school year - second grade (memories of Tower Road School and Miss Durling fill my head). Isabelle has all new teachers and a lite more emphasis on French language (60/40 rather than 50/50). I just hope I can keep keeping up with her! A big thing for this year is the second through fifth graders go to camp each September - this year they went to Camp Greenville which is right on the north caolina border. She left last Monday morning and arrived back on Wednesday afternoon in a heap of exhaustion. I think it took most of the week and weekend to recover but since I was in Milwaukee Paul had to bear the brunt of it.

I had another weekend of judging this time in Milwaukee - no I didn't see the Fonz but I did see some fine exhibits. Unfortunately, like a lot of my stamp weekends, I didn't get to see a lot the downtown but enough to know I should go back.  
Meanwhile, Isabelle is busy with art and tennis lessons and she is also trying to swim twice a week - yes, after her success this summer, she has decided to try the year-round swimming thing.

So, that is a little update on life here in SC.

So Proud of Our Swimmer

Tonight we are so proud of Isabelle. She swam in her first swim meet - 25m backstroke. I will admit that I was a nervous wreck - it might as well have been me swimming for the somersaults my stomach was doing. I just wanted her to do her best, build up her confidence and, of course, have fun.

So for those of you who haven't seen Paul's blog - you can read his side of the story complete with pictures and video.