boring forms and fun pool

Friday, Sept. 10 was the kids second day of school. They all went off to school without complaining.

While they were at school, Rod and I had a lot of kid school issues to deal with. Lots of forms to fill out. The forms are all in French so it is slow going.

To set up lunch accounts for the elementary school we had to go to the Mayor's office. Really. They want me to pay by check. But they don't want my American check so after some discussion it was decided that after I get a lunch bill in the mail, sometime in October, I have to go the place where people pay taxes and I can pay the lunch bills with cash. (It is easy to get cash here, I just go to the ATM machine) I will worry about finding that tax office in October.

At Katie's middle school, the lunch money is paid to the school. After I get a lunch bill, again sometime in October, I just have to go to the school and pay it.

The kids were enrolled in school before I even filled out any forms. They asked me where I lived but I never had to show any proof.

Also the kids will be eating lunch at school for a month or two before I pay any money.

On Friday after the kids got home from school we thought taking the pool cover off for the first time and going for a swim would be a treat.

The building you see behind the pool is the old gardener's house. I think a gardener used to live there. The little house has a fireplace. Now it is boarded up and the roof is falling apart but it does give a glimpse on another era.

In the picture below I am standing in the back of the yard (by the garden house) looking toward our house.

Our backyard has lots of different kinds of fruit. Pears, apples, grapes, blackberries.

First Day of School

I am already behind on keeping this blog up to date! Bear with me.

As you can see from the pictures, the kids had smiles on the morning of their first day of school.

I walked Katie to her middle school first. her school starts at 8:15. Usually I will walk her to the front gate but on the first day I took her to the principal's office. The principal thought Katie's backpack looked too heavy so she rummaged through it and gave me some stuff to take back home. She is a no nonesense sort of woman. There is not doubt who is in charge at that school! After that she led Katie and I to Katie's first class. Class had already started for the day. The teacher paused and introduced Katie. A boy was moved so Katie could sit next to Margot (the English/French girl). Katie turned back and gave me a look of desperation. My heart sank. Then the principal led me back to the front door and it was time for me to leave the school.

I walked back home and got there just in time to walk Ellie, Joey and Gabi to their elementary school. They start at 9am. When we got to their school, I walked Ellie to her class. The teacher grabbed Ellie's hand and off they went.

Back in the courtyard outside the school, Gabi and Joey found their teachers. The teachers collect the kids outside and then lead them to the classroom. It wasn't long before Gabi and Joey were walking with their classmates into the school.

All day I wondered what sort of drama and tears we would see at the 5pm pickup.

Finally, the time came and we went to pick up the kids.

Rod went to get Katie. He was surprised to see her walking out the school smiling. She was walking with a girl. Rod assumed it was Margot. Katie said it wasn't Margot, it was another friend. Katie had a good day. Her favorite class was English - where the French kids are learning to speak English.

Mom and I picked up the other 3. I got Ellie while mom waited for Gabi and Joey.

Ellie was happy and her teacher said she had a good day!

When I saw Joey and Gabi I also saw smiles on their faces!

Comments from the kids on the first day were amusing (to me anyway).

Gabi said she loved the lunches.

Joey liked playing soccer at recess. He claims that he has 5 recesses.

Ellie claimed she wasn't fed all day. (Later she talked about the food she had at lunch so she is not very reliable)

Big sigh of relief. I was really waiting for at least one of the kids to say "What the crappy crap? Do you really think I am going to school here?"

I just hope the smiles last.

La Rochelle

After all the traveling and the school visits we had time for one day of fun before school started. The kids really wanted to go to the beach. We are about 45 minutes to an hour (I don't keep very good track) from La Rochelle, which is on the Atlantic Ocean.

Wednesday we drove to La Rochelle and stopped at the tourism office (they are really helpful here) and asked about the closest beach. A small beach is just outside of town so we went there. My mom was able to walk to an old tower on the harbor and take in some history while we were at the beach.

Even though it was a little windy and chilly, the kids loved the beach.

After the beach we went out to eat in La Rochelle. There are lots and lots of restaurants overlooking the harbor. It was a lovely evening. Definately a town I want to visit again.

visiting new schools and school shopping

Tuesday was our first full day in France. We took the kids to visit their new schools.

Katie is the only one at middle school and we went there first. The principal gave Katie a big hug and welcomed her to the school. The principal doesn't speak English so she had an English teacher come to the front office. We found out that in Katie's grade there is a girl named Margot who speaks English and French. Her mother is French and her father is English. They put Katie in the same section as Margot. We got the list of school supplies needed. It was quite a long list! And it was specific. For example, a notebook needs to be a certain size with a certain number of pages.

Next we went to Gabi, Joey and Ellie's elementary school. We met all their teachers. Gabi and Joey have teachers who speak English. Ellie does not. Gabi and Joey also got a list of school supplies, but not nearly as long.

After the school visits we all piled back in the car for a trip to the Hyper U to get school supplies.


At the Hyper U were several large aisles of school supplies. 3 adults and 4 children should be able to pick out school supplies. After 45 minutes, we enlisted a store clerk to help us. She helped us for a little while. After another half hour we heard another shopper speaking English. Her and her son helped us finish up the list. They are from Wales and they have been living in France for a few years. When she saw us she said it reminded her of the first time she did school shopping in France. She is the woman who gave her phone number to Rod. She told us to call her if we have any questions or need help.
Joey is holding the reciept from the Hyper U to show how many items we bought.





The award for most school supplies goes to Katie!

At the Hyper U my mom ran into another English woman who was giving her information about the town.

Another time, when the kids were at the fish counter they jumped because a crab started moving. They didn't realize how fresh it was. A British guy started talking to them.



I don't know if there are really this many English people in the area or if we just ran into all of them at once!



Does it sound like we spent the whole afternoon at the Hyper U? It certainly felt like it!

phone number

A woman gave Rod her phone number at the grocery store yesterday.
Good stuff.

Arrival

We made it safe and sound to France!

The flights went smoothly. The 7 hour flight to France was probably the easiest part. The kids had their own TV to watch and they watched movies the entire flight.

When we went to the airport in Michigan we needed 2 vehicles to get to the airport. (Thanks again Lisa DesRosiers and Paul Grusche!) We only rented one minivan in Paris and we were worried about 7 people and 9 suitcases fitting in the rental car.

Fortunately, the rental car was an easy part of our travels. After we landed in Paris and got our luggage, the rental car company brought the minibus thing right outside the door to baggage claim. All the luggage fit in the back.

The drive getting out of Paris was probably the worst part. It was 2am for us, but 8am in Paris. Rod was driving and I was trying to navigate us out of Monday morning rush hour. No more movies for the kids and they were tired. They were complaining and we were telling them to be quiet. It wasn't a pleasant combination. Eventually the kids fell asleep and we got out of traffic. It was probably only an hour or two but it definately felt like the longest part of the trip.

Another thing about Paris in rush hour traffic - motorcyles. I wouldn't be surpised if I had a bad dream about motorcycles in rush hour traffic. Motorcycles zoom in between cars. If you are sitting in traffic next to a truck and there isn't room for a motorcycle to zoom in between then they will honk at you until you move. When there is space for them, they fly right on past. It startled me every time. One time there was barely enough space for a motorcyle to get past us so he banged on the hood of our car. But I will admit that I understand why they are on motorcyles, it is easy to get through all the traffic.

The drive from the airport should have been 4 1/2 hours but it took us 6 hours. The kids probably slept 5 hours. We were so relieved to arrive at the house. I was glad that I had already visited the house because I already knew the odd location were they put the lockbox. The kids were pretty excited to start exploring the house and yard.

Since there was no food we needed to go the store. All of us piled back into the minibus and went to the hyperU (sort of like a meijers). We had forgotten bags and the store does not give out bags. In the check out line the cashier was trying to tell Mom and I that the hairdryer came with a warranty. Warranty is not a word that either mom or I know. After a minute or two the man behind us in line started translating for us. When the cashier held up the bag of peaches and told us she couldn't accept them, the same man helped us out again and told us that we had to get a sticker in the produce department with the weight and price.

We went back to the house and had our first meal in France. Bread, cheese, lunchmeat, coleslaw, some potato salad thing (with a cut up hot dog in it?) We were going for a sandwich and prepared salad meal. I think Joey ate half a loaf of bread. He loved the jam we had bought. (I think they sell the same jam at Busch's!)

After we ate we got a second wind. Rod and Joey played catch. The girls did some unpacking (except Ellie - she discovered the barbies I had secretly packed for her)

We took a walk in the late afternoon to help us stay awake.

Packing and paintings

This week is all about packing and saying goodbyes. I am thankful we aren't moving away for good because goodbyes are hard!
Packing is really about getting organized and remembering all the little details. So I am a little distracted. In the middle of our packing week Gabi has decided to start some sort of project. I am trying to ignore it but she keeps bringing it up. She spent last weekend at Grandma Fracassi's house. In the living room at Grandma's house is a lovely painting of a ballroom dancing scene. Gabi told me she wants to make a 3D version of this painting. From what I can gather I think she is making some sort of diaorama. She started requesting a box, paint, wood, and screws for the Barbie's feet. I gave her a long lecture on how this isn't really the best week to do this type of project. I think she just rolled her eyes and began trying to figure out how to gather the supplies by herself. She is a persistent little thing. This morning I overheard Gabi asking her sister if she minded that a particular Barbie doll would have her feet screwed to a board. Of course, a fight ensued and that Barbie became the most precious barbie doll ever.

Too bad Gabi doesn't have an artsy mom that would drop everything to help her out.