pineapple yogurt

I had pineapple yogurt for breakfast. For some reason it was really odd experience. As I sat there looking out the window at the rain soaked fields of France I felt like I was eating a pina colada without the coconut. It was one of those moments that you stop and think about what you are doing simply because of the oddity of the moment.

I have been doing the food shopping here. I have gone once. I don't think I am very good at it. I made a list of everything we needed, bought it all but then when I got back it was like I didn't even go shopping. I think I need to have a better idea of what we are going to eat for dinner and then the shopping will be easier.

I must take a moment and talk about food in general. I love French food. There are some really complex French dishes that take all day to cook. Those are amazingly good but I will admit I am all about the simple foods, the sandwiches on baguettes, the pastries, the cheese, the salads. I love French food. I am so excited to try different foods and to experiment with making new kinds of food. Any ideas are welcome.

Heading north

My older brother served his mission in Northern France. One of the cities he spent a lot of time in was Colmar. Located south of Strasbourg in Alsace it is a beautiful town with heavy German influence. For those of you that are historically inclined you will remember the constant conflict between France and Germany over the Alsace region. The French are quick to remember the conflict but that is a whole different story.

Ever since my brother lived there I have been dying to go. The family is in Italy this weekend so I took advantage of the freedom to take the train up for a visit. It is a short 30 min train ride up from Saint Louis. I am so glad I went. We use to joke that it was after Colmar that the makers of "Beauty and the Beast" modeled the village Belle walks into during one of the first scenes in the movie. For more pictures check out my facebook page. It is an absolutely gorgeous town with a lot of history and things to see. There are also a lot of restaurants. You can take your pick from the Irish "Le McFadden's" to a more traditional crepe shop.

One of the most interesting things about going was that I was completely by myself. Growing up with 7 brothers and sisters the only time I was alone was when I was sleeping and even then it was questionable. When I left for college there were roommates to contend with and even since then I have lived with, traveled with and shared a lot of experiences with roommates. I can tell that now I am going to have to get use to going places on my own. I'm not going to be able to rely on anyone else to translate or to order for me. I guess it really is time to grow up and live my own life.

round and round we go

For those of you that I have been to Europe know of the European penchant for roundabouts. I can almost honestly say that I have never previously driven in a roundabout. From what I can tell they are used when traffic lights are not wanted. I am still trying to decide how I like them. Every time I pull into one it takes a lot of willpower to not keep going around and around. It would be like turning cookies or donuts in the parking lot but with a previously defined path. I've decided that it would be too 'American' of me. I am just going to focus on now running into someone else or the middle. I am just glad that I don't have to deal with this roundabout:

http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=115&ss=289

Sprechen Sie Deutsches?

When I started researching Basel I came across a very unsettling fact: German is the official language of the city. I had it in my head that because it was in Switzerland French would be the dominate language. Needless to say my skills at geography didn't help my common sense. We are, after all, only a few miles from Germany and of course there would be a lot of German influence. After Friday and yesterday I can see that I should have learned German.

Friday we went to the spa. This particular spa is in Germany, right on the edge of the Black Forest, absolutely beautifully located in the hills. Having never previously been to a spa I had few expectations so I can safely say all of my expectations were filled and then some. It is a very classy and chic place with the average clientele age of 55. Everyone, of course was speaking German and everything was in German. There was an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a whirlpool, a handful of jacuzzi type pools, a cold pool and a hot pool. There was also treatment areas and a sauna. We spent out time in the ever so relaxing jacuzzis and hot pool. The whirlpool was good fun as well. At one point in time we were having more fun than a person is apparently allowed to have and this German woman came over and told us off. Granted I had no idea what she was saying. Sophie and Issy knew enough to know that we were being told off. All in all it as an amazingly relaxing experience and we were all quite ready for a nap.

Yesterday my German skills...or lack thereof were tested even more. Yesterday we went into Basel. Like I said before the official language of the city is German. This was alright as long as I was with other people but we decided that I should take the opportunity to take a look around by myself. I wandered on over the the Rhine and it was beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here sort of a moment. It was a very nice sunny day with a bit of a breeze but fabulous non the less.

I was then faced with quite a predicament. I didn't get the chance to eat anything before we left the house so I was quite famished by about 2. As I walked about, browsing the stalls of an outdoor market I played with the the idea of just waiting until I got back to the house to eat something. I knew if I did and told mom about it she would probably chide me for not even trying so I decided I would buy something. There was a forever long ling at the bratwurst place so I went over to a pretzel stand (one of many I might add) and got a sandwich. I feel so sorry for that poor girl that had to help me. In a broken German/French/English mix I managed to buy a sandwich.

It was a great afternoon overall. I think I need to to find a simple German phrase book though...

Seriously missing out

American kids are seriously missing out. The French school system is so much better than the American one. The children's schedule is as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday morning class 8am-11:30. They then have a break from 11:30 until 1:10. The afternoon classes go from then until 4pm. They have no school on Wednesday. Its like the weekend in the middle of the week. This morning Jack had football and I took Isabelle to sign up for horseback ridding lessons. Then, they had their cousin and a friend over in the afternoon. Like I said, American kids are seriously missing out.

There are alot of things I am going to have to get use to living here. I think the one thing that is going to be the weirdest is the parking on the sidewalks. Like I said before, there are hardly any parking lots. There is one by the larger supermarche in Saint Louis but thats the only real one I've seen so far. Apparently there is a car park just on the edge of Basel that you can park in and them take the tram into the city. People just park wherever. That would not fly in the states. I am also going to miss, randomly, water that isn't from a bottle. No one drinks tap water here and rightly so but I am already kind board with bottled Vittal. It doesn't seem to quench my thurst. Maybe I need to branch out and try other brands.

First days...

First days aren't too different from last days. There is still the potential for extreme awkwardness but there is more chance of screwing up and making yourself look like a dork on your first day. No one really cares what you do on your last day, they're just happy they don't have to deal with you any more.

Today was my first official day as an au pair. I went with Emma to drop Isabelle at school. Jack stayed home today because he got a wicked bad sunburn yesterday. There wasn't much to do in the morning, Jack planted himself firmly in front of the telly for most of the morning.

At 11:30 I had to go pick up Emma for lunch. Both kids have an hour and a half for lunch so they come home. This meant I had to drive. I wasn't super nervous...I knew how to get there and where to meet Issy but there was the slight problem of parking. There aren't parking lots anywhere. Everyone just uses the sidewalk. I knew this before I came but the American inside me has a really hard time with that situation. When I was pulling up to the school there was a city bus right where we had dropped her off so I kept driving only to realize that I had no idea where to go once I got past the school. I pulled into a driveway to turn around. I had to back out on to a fairly busy street, I felt like a total dork. I still didn't know where to wait so I kinda went around the block and when I got back to the school there was a place for me to pull up and wait. Needless to say, I walked to pick Issy up after school. Better luck tomorrow.

there has to be an easier way

Ok, I am going to take a moment and reveal something about myself. I cannot wait for the technological advances that they have in Star Trek specifically those related to travel. I love the excitement of going to someplace new but I hate the part where you have to fly for what seems like forever. You would think that sitting for 7 hours wouldn't be so exhausting but it is. I really can't understand how people can even sleep on a plane.

So the family. They are really nice and very open. Jack, he's 7, is very quite. Emma said that it takes him awhile to open up but once he does is a great friend. Issy is all over the place and definitly almost 11. Her French is amazing. She has a friend over that doesn't know any english so they are speaking French and it is hard to follow. I just need to give it time, it will come back.

One of the coolest thing about this opportunity outside of being able to live in France is that I am going to be exposed to two cultures at the same time. The parents are very British..at least what I think of when I think British but since they are living in France they can't help but have that influence. It is so darn cool!

We are all going to go into Basel later for dinner. I am excited to see the city.

Last days

Yesterday was my last day of work. As much fun as I have had, saving the world one composite at a time, I was very excited to leave. I had one singular goal throughout the day, avoid my executive director. That may seem odd but when a man has the unwanted ability to make a simple conversation awkward you can only imagine what he could do on someones last day.

Saying goodbye to coworkers is weird enough, I am never really sure what to say or even do. The entire conversation quickly becomes a volley of "good lucks" and "take cares" culminating into an awkward "well I better get going". And then what, do you shake hands? hug? I have decided there is not really good way to end a goodbye conversation with a coworker without it being weird. You may have just spent the majority of your waking hours with them for the last year you still don't know them that well and there is a certain barrier everyone puts up at work.

I am happy to report that I was able to avoid my executive director all day. As I was sneaking out the back door I was so sure he was going to come up behind me and attempt to dole out tidbits of advice. It made for quite an exciting last day.

the perfect backpack

When I was in high school and even in college backpack shopping was a constant pain. I had two options. Number one: go with mom and pick something out. This option would inevitably end up with my mom finding one that I would rather die than wear to school (sorry mom, I still love you). This was mostly due to the fact that I was looking at style and she was looking at the 5 other kids she had to buy for. The second option was to reuse one of my older siblings bags. I was again faced with the same problem, style v. economy. Needless to say, economy always won.

I am once again faced with this issue. Everyone I have talked to about traveling around Europe has advised me to forgo suitcases and use a backpack instead. Thus began my epic task of finding the perfect backpack for my adventures. This time around I am doing it without my mom's help and it's not necessarily about style as it is about function. I started out looking online, not knowing anything about what I needed...daypack, internal frame, weekend trip packs, extended trip packs...I soon felt as though my head was spinning. I eventually went to REI and actually tried on different backpacks and that helped a ton.

I have a few options now and I think I am going to be able to work something out so that I will be able to tromp (stylishly) around Europe with a backpack.

all stories have a beginning...

...this is the start of my next adventure. As per many requests this blog has been created to document my life as I travel to France. I am so excited and very nervous for this next chapter but I am sure that everything will be amazing.

I am leaving on Saturday and there is still so much to do. The goodbye party was amazing but now I really need to get with it and finish up the last bit of packing. I am going to try really, really hard to make sure that I am done with plenty of time to spare so I can enjoy my last few days in DC.

Here's to new adventures, exciting changes and amazing places!