Goodbye France, Hello Germany

The end of Part 1 of the adventure has arrived. On September 29, I left Paris and moved to Kaiserslautern, Germany. My summer in Paris was great, except for not much work. I went on a great vacation to the south of France with my niece, Lauren, and friend, Lucy. Then off to England to visit Lisa for a few days. For the first time, I saw the village where I was born. I spent most of August in Paris and it was a little eerie with so many of the residents gone, but nice, too. A little quieter and much less crowded. By the beginning of September, my friends were trickling back from their vacations. I spent the month revisiting favorite places in Paris, and taking some trips outside Paris. I visited Giverny where Monet's house and gardens are a sight worth seeing! I went to the Normandy coast to see Honfleur and Deauville (and drove through Paris for the second time!). I had a glass of wine in the bar at the Ritz Hotel - très chic! And lots of going away parties as many of my friends left in September. The autumn weather was perfect, which only served to intensify the beauty of Paris. Yes, it was sad to leave Paris, but it was also time to move on.
And now I am in Kaiserslautern, Germany. It is a small city (about 100,000 people) near the large Ramstein USAF base. I will attempt to find employment here. If that doesn't pan out, I will return to Colorado. So,the adventure continues and I will post again when I have some concrete news.
Ciao,
Nancy

First Day of Summer

OK, so as you can see, I am not too great at keeping this blog up to date. I managed for the first year, but now that I am coming up on 1 ½ years here in Paris, it has been hard to get to it.
Today is Fète de la Musique, and the first day of summer. This is an annual event and perhaps I wrote about it last year. There are concerts and music all over the city, all day and evening. There are street musicians, bands in bars, and large organized concerts and every kind of music. The problem? There is too much to choose from! Coordinating with more than one or two other people is a nightmare. So, today I have tentative plans, which have already changed a couple of times in the last 12 hours, and I’ll just have to go with the flow. The only drag is that it is a Sunday and tomorrow is a workday. Last year, I managed to drag myself home at 4:30 am!
As I mentioned, it is just about 1 ½ years since I arrived here. My time is winding down; I am getting ready to leave Paris. I have such mixed feelings about it. It is simply too expensive to live here and I am tired of living like a poor student. Yet, when I walk across the Seine and look at the beautiful city, I wonder how I can stand to leave. Nevertheless, it is time. I will stay through the summer and take my leave in September.
Before I leave, I have a lot of things planned! I am taking only two weeks summer vacation (instead of the 4 weeks I took last year). Once again I will go with my niece to the south of France, but this time, to the area just above Spain on the Mediterranean coast. We’ll have a small condo in Argeles sur Mer, and from there, venture out to visit Spain, Collioure, Carcassonne and, of course, spend time at the beach. A teacher friend will join us for a few of the days. Once I return to Paris, I will be off to London for a few days to visit a friend who lives there. I plan to make a day trip to the little town where I was born, southwest of London. Then, back to Paris for the last three weeks of August. I have many day trips planned, as well, before I leave. I want to visit the cathedral in Amiens, see the seaside town of Deauville, walk through Monet's gardens at Giverney ... so many places that are very close to Paris.
This year, I will work through August and replace teachers who have gone on their vacations. August is supposed to be the “worst” time to visit Paris because stores and restaurants close and “everyone” leaves, except the tourists. It is true that by mid-July there is a noticeable difference in the métro and on the streets – lots less people! It is rather nice. So, I am looking forward to experiencing Paris with about a million less people.
As for my plans, I don’t know what they are right now. I am considering a move to Germany. The other alternative is to go back to Colorado and I don’t know that I am ready for that yet. I’ll have to keep you posted. By the way, I generally put pictures on Facebook now because it is so much easier. So, add me as a “friend” (you can search on nyoung3530@aol.com) . I’ve added photos from my last few trips – Kaiserslautern, Edinburgh, Bruges – with pics from Rome soon to go on. Next weekend I am going to Budapest, so I’ll post those in the upcoming weeks as well.
Bisous!

PS – just realized the last time I posted I was getting ready to move again. Update: I moved into the apartment in the 5th. It’s OK and the area is great. So, this has worked out well.

Here I Go Again . . .

It’s been very hard to get back to my blog. It is already the middle of February and this dreary winter weather just won’t go away. December was incredibly cold here and January wasn’t much better. When I arrived last year in January, it was much milder.

Yes, that’s right . . . last year. I have been in France for over a year now. I have lived in four different places during that time, counting the first month at the school. Next came the one month sublet when I moved into Paris, followed by seven months in a really awful apartment. In September, you may remember, I moved to a new apartment with a fellow teacher. It’s hard to believe that six months have passed and our lease is up in March. Because the apartment is so expensive, we are leaving. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was move again. Just looking for a place is so stressful, then, one must qualify, which is no easy feat here. But HURRAY!!!! I actually found a place yesterday.

I will be moving into a small, old apartment in my favorite “arrondissement,” or area, of Paris, the 5th. The fifth is where the Latin Quarter is located, although the apartment is not there, but a bit further out. It is a block away from Rue Mouffetard, a street and area famous for its shops, cafés and markets. I will be close to the river again and I will live much closer to my friend, May. I will share with a French man, who speaks some English, but I expect my French will finally improve! So, now I must prepare to move all of my things to the other side of Paris again. This time, I am NOT moving by bus and métro; I will rent a little utility truck and ask a friend to drive it. I do not have the courage to drive in Paris!

I’m heading home in a few days to spend a week in Colorado. I want to see Ryan on his birthday; I miss him terribly. Of course, I am looking forward to eating Mexican food (it is the only type of food I miss here). I’ll also visit with some friends and catch up a bit. It will be a short visit, but I’m looking forward to it.

Until next time, bisous (kisses) from Paris!

Christmas in Paris

It is Christmas Eve and I am alone in my apartment. My roommate left this morning to go home to England for ten days. In a couple of hours I will leave and go to Sacre Coeur for the music program that precedes the Midnight Mass. I want to go early because I think there will be a lot of people there. I thought about going to Notre Dame, but Sacre Coeur is closer and smaller.

As of this afternoon, I had no plans for tomorrow. I was just going to pretend it is any old day. Then, a friend contacted me and invited me for dinner. A few hours later, another teacher invited me to lunch. So, now I am having two Christmas dinners!

I haven't written for a long time. I have been busy since I returned from the States. For one thing, I have been working more, trying to get more hours. Also, I have taken a couple of weekend trips. In November I went to Prague to visit my sister, Karen. She has a great apartment across from the park and beautiful villa where she works. Of course, she is not there too much as she continues to travel often. In fact, my second trip was in early December, where I met her in London for the weekend. I took the Eurostar over and was in London just 2 1/2 hours after leaving Paris. It really is quite cool. I had a good time in both places, visiting Christmas markets, a castle, and quite a few pubs. We also went to the theater in London - a first for me.

In between the trips, I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner. There were 20 people here, only about 5 of whom were American. For most of the English and French people, it was their first Thanksgiving! Everyone brought food and lots of wine. From about 5 pm until almost 2 am, we had a great time. Then, as Zoe (my roommate) and I were cleaning up, it started snowing. Big, fat, fluffy flakes were falling and it was beautiful. Of course, it only lasted about 20 minutes!

So now it is Christmastime in Paris. The big department stores are all decorated and lights hang from many of the streets. There are numerous Christmas markets, although they all seem to sell the same things. I visited a beautiful creche in St. Sulpice (the church from The DaVinci Code) and wandered through the market that lines the Champs Elysées. I haven't been there at night yet to see it all lit up, but that's on the agenda for this weekend. My friend, Tabbi, is coming to visit and we will do all the tourist rounds. (In fact, today I taught a woman who works at the Eiffel Tower and she gave me a ticket to go to the top. So we'll certainly be doing that!) I'm looking forward to her being here. I've been somewhat sad; being so far from home during holidays is always tough. But, at least I am in Paris, unlike my wonderful nephew (in-law) who is stationed in Iraq. He, too, will be away from his family this Christmas. The hardest part for me is that I miss Ryan so very much!

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy holiday. Merry Christmas!

PS - I haven't put any photos here lately because I can post them more easily on Facebook. You can see them there.

I'm still here ...

Whoops! I let a lot of time pass by. Since my last post I have returned to Paris, gone to Prague for a long weekend, cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for 20 people and just returned from a weekend trip to London. So, soon I'll write a post about it all and get caught up.
A bientot!

Colorado, Birthday and Election

I arrived in Colorado on Thursday evening (23rd) and there has been glorious fall weather every day. The temperatures are around 75 degrees, the skies are clear and blue and the foliage is green, orange, yellow and red. Truly beautiful, and it is nice not to have bad weather on Halloween for a change.

I have been busy visiting with friends and catching up on my Mexican food quota. I have spent most of my time with my friends Arlene and Elaine. I met a dozen women with whom I used to work and went to a favorite Mexican restaurant. I spent the rest of the day visiting there and still didn't have time to see or talk to everyone. I'll go back next week. This weekend I am going to Colorado Springs and Pueblo to see friends there.

I VOTED!!! I brought my absentee ballot with me and dropped it off at a polling location. Obama was in Denver last Sunday, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to be part of the 100,000+ people. On Saturday, he will be in Pueblo but I'll most likely miss that as well. I'm excited to be here for election day, though, and can't wait to watch the returns.

Before that, though, I get to celebrate my birthday on Monday. I think I may mark the occasion by doing some last minute volunteering for Obama. Now, THAT will be a memorable birthday!

Travelling

I just returned from a great weekend in Macon. This is in the heart of Bourgogne, between Dijon and Lyon. I met my friend, Myron Basso, who has been visiting Europe for a couple of months. It sits on the Saone River and is just beautiful. On Saturday morning we went to a big outdoor market and filled up on picnic foods - roasted chicken, fresh bread, a variety of cheeses, fruits and veggies and then headed out of town. We toured the countryside and stopped in a few places for wine tasting (and buying). We had our picnic in front of a church in the small village of Igé. It was a glorious fall day - absolutely perfect! I have posted photos of it on my Facebook page, so check them out.

Now, back in Paris, I have three days to pack up for a trip back to Colorado. It will be my first time going home since I arrived in France last January. I am looking forward to seeing everyone, especially Ryan. I'll be there for a couple of weeks - including my birthday and Election Day! Hopefully, when I post again upon my return, Barack Obama will be our next President.
Until then . . .