Ma journée à Paris

When I told people that we were moving to Paris everyone exclaimed how wonderful and exciting it would be. True. I am in Paris and there are a lot of opportunities to do things. But I don't get to spend my days being a tourist. Let me share with you a typical day that I've had so far in the past couple weeks.

I wake up at 7:00 and wake up Matt (although he has an alarm he needs more encouragement to wake up in the morning). While he's getting ready I also get myself ready to go to the bus stop. (you know, put in contacts, apply mascara and lip gloss, and change out of my PJ's). At 7:30 we walk out the door to the bus stop. I come back and hop in the shower. Then we all get breakfast, and I have a load of laundry in the washer by 8:30 (because the washers are so small that I have to do a load a day to keep it under control) Timmy instantly sits down on the floor in front of the washer and says, “show” and watches the laundry show.

I then let Timmy run around a little before heading out because I need to give him his freedom from a bed before I stick him in a stroller. During this time we clear the table. Today I actually put in a second load because we hadn't left the apartment for 2 hours (yeah, it takes over 1 ½ hours for a load of wash and then another 1 ½ hours for the dryer. But that's nothing compared to the 2-2 ½ hours for the dishwasher. But I can't complain because there are many people around here that have none of it. Apparently we may not even have a dishwasher at our new place for a while. Hmmm... We'll see what we can do to remedy that problem)

Anyway, we leave around 10:00-ish for a store. I can shop for whatever I can carry so we have been going every day to the grocery store. This morning we went to Picard, which is a grocery store that specializes in only frozen food. The whole store is the freezer section! While there Thomas saw smiley face french fries and we found chicken nuggets! I didn't know if France would have them, but it is a happy day in our household. Yesterday during our shopping I took Thomas to an outdoor marché (market). But there is way more than just food at a marché. I let Thomas choose some clemantines that he was excited to eat when we got home. The strawberries were the reddest strawberries I've seen in a long time. Not only was there fruits and vegies, but fish mongers, bread, cheese, olives, shoes, clothes, kitchen knick-knacks, purses, DVD's (and some illegal ones), and many many scarves. I really enjoy marchés and I look forward to the day when I get up the nerve to strike a deal with the vendors and bargain shop.

When we came back I put in a show for the boys and proceeded to do the dishes. We are in a temporary apartment with temporary stuff that work provided for us. There are six servings of dishes so basically I need to wash dishes after every meal. But I can say that I am going to invest in some Cornelle dishes. The boys have dropped a couple plates and they didn't break at all, despite the hardwood floor!.

For lunch today I did a short order cook meal for us. (I don't normally do that, but I had a few things to use up before we move to our permanent place next week) Timmy had leftover spaghetti and strawberries, Thomas had a croissant ham sandwhich with “La Vache qui Rit” cheese (Laughing Cow cheese), and I made myself a ham, egg, and cheese muffin. After lunch was nap time and then I proceeded to sweep the floor. There's a lot of sweeping that needs to be done, like every day. I've never dealt with hardwood floors, so what's the best way to keep up with the stuff on the floors? Doug tells me that the wood floors at our new place aren't tight, so does that mean that crumbs are going to go in between the cracks when I sweep? And can you mop a hardwood floor? Help?! I did invest in a Swiffer duster which I will get next week with our stuff. The boys keep begging me to help sweep and I will assign them sweeping jobs. Even Timmy thinks it's exciting.

This is Timmy's version of mopping the floor. I caught him dumping out his water and then wiping it up with the mop head. He, of course, stopped doing it once I got out the camera.

After naps (which can last at least 2 hours) we get another snack and head out to either run an errand or go to a playground before going to Matt's bus stop around 4:00. Then on the way back from the bus stop I get Matt a pain au chocolate for an after school snack (that gets crumbs all over my nicely swept floor), and then I proceed to nag him to do homework for an hour while trying to start dinner. Then after dinner, we clean up, or throw kids in bath, or put them in bed. (A couple days ago Thomas and Timmy played ghost in the curtains. After walking through the see through curtains over and over again both boys ended up with black noses and foreheads. Who knows when the last time those curtains were cleaned!

Poor Cinder-Timmy. Forced to eat only bread and water in the fireplace.

After a long hard day of school and cleaning, it's time to clean the boys.

Then I think that it would be great for me to head out and do something myself, but after I sit and talk to Doug for a little while I realize that it is nice to sit and talk to another adult. And then it it too late and I'm too tired to get out anyway.

That's been a normal day for me in Paris for the past week. I have to admit that it's amazing how much I can get done around the house when I'm not distracted by the internet, the phone, or Food Network. While it's gratifying to have things clean, it's not my idea of a good way to pass the day in Paris.

Next week we are moving to our new place and will have fun unpacking and organizing. Oh, and Matt has 2 weeks of Spring Break. We'll see how well my days go when I have all three of them at the store. I may just make myself go in the evenings.