Here's what else I know....

 

 

I have yet to see anyone carrying around a cafe (coffee) to go. I did see a Starbucks in Paris but everyone I saw there had real cafe cups and were seated in and outside the cafe. I have not seen any paper Starbucks cups in France. Not many people are in a hurry here. as a matter of fact here in Toulouse they have a saying "quart d'heure Toulousain" translation:the Toulousain 15, meaning if I say I will be there in 15 minutes I really mean 30...or something like that.

 

No one in Toulouse even rushes onto the metro...if you miss it there will be another right behind it. We have been the 1st one there to every meeting in Toulouse. Those of you who know me know that this is new feeling for me. Now I am the one waiting. Which to tell you the truth I haven't minded one bit. Maybe I was Toulousain all along. 

 

It is not uncommon for the same public bathroom to be for both men and women. It will have several stalls with doors that lock but a shared sink area. It still makes my heart skip a beat to leave the stall and see a man standing at the sink because I am thinking I am in the mens bathroom by mistake.

 

I have not seen this myself...and I hope I never do...but DQ tells me that its not uncommon for urinals to be without a stalls or walls...meaning on your way to the ladies room or your own stall you may get more than eye full. Altho after a carafe d'eau (carafe of water)or a few glasses of wine your need for privacy goes down quite a bit!

 

 

 

 



The birds and water fowl being sold at the market (this picture is from the Victor Hugo market which we visited today) commonly have their heads still attached to their carcass so it can proved whether it is duck or turkey or chicken or rooster you are buying.

I also saw more than I ever wanted to see of whole skinned rabbits and HUGE beef tongues and many other internal animal organs that I think are INside the animal for a reason.

Ok thats all I know today...I'm sure I'll know more tomorrow.

À la prochaine.

 

also...

The dogs and children here are very well behaved! Of course I haven't been to a Walmart here yet (and hope I won't ever have to...blek)but I have yet to see any child being slapped yanked or yelled at...or seen any that need it. And I have seen tons of dogs walking right thru the city with their owners w/out leashes and have yet to see any crotch sniffing or jumping on people or barking!? Hmmmmm...

On the tip of my tongue...

 O my goodness when I think of all I have to blog to fill you in it rattles my brain and I shut down and don't blog or write anything.

Alors a new approach.(Alors means 'so' but when the French use it to begin a sentence it is more like the American...*ok* as in "ok this is what I want to say or oh yes I see") Whatever I want to write at the moment...in other words whatever is bubbling to the top and sloshing over...is what i will write that moment and go back with day to day details when I have more time. Ca va?

A smidge of what I have learned to date:

• Coffee is called cafe which is also the word for the small restaurant.
• Cafe au lait is only served at breakfast because it has milk but beaucoup of other cafes are served after a meal.
• Butter (beurre) is also only served at breakfast. We don't butter our bread any other time here.
• There are no bread plates at your table setting. You put your piece of bread directly on the table and crumbs are to be expected.
• And bread is not bitten off the slice (which is in fact torn from the loaf and seldom sliced) but torn and then put into the mouth.
• My Aunt Pat and Uncle Toby (who have scalding hot black coffee with every meal) will be very disappointed to learn that coffee is always enjoyed after the meal and not during. Except breakfast.
• My friend Susan will be pained to know that we do not keep our hands in our laps while we eat here as we have so painstakingly taught our children in America. Both hands are kept on the table.
• My friend Terri will be pleased (as I am) that I have seen beaucoup chipped nail polish. You were right I am chic(er) than I thought!

Whew that felt good! I have been carrying all that around on the tip of my tongue for a while!!

             À tout à l'heure

And So It Begins or Nothing To Be Nervous About...You Are Here.

We arrived at the Huntsville airport Saturday the 29th to and kissed many of our sweet loved ones au revoir. (Pictures to follow in later post)

Our flight was delayed which left us not more than 30 minutes to run across the Atlanta airport and catch our Airfrance flight. Of course our arriving gate and out departure gates were on the opposite ends of the airport in different terminals. Apparently they had been calling our names and had just made the last call when we arrived in a huff at the gate. And so we made it! David had a tangle with the bag coming down the isle but he arose (literally) triumphant and showed that bag who was boss by cramming it in the overhead compartment for 7 hours! 

We were the ;ast ones on the plane but we WERE ONthe plane!

 

 



I could not sleep as hard as I tried. So I watched 12 Years A Slave in English and several Friends episodes in French (I know them by heart anyway)

 Aaaaaaaaat last (#ettajameswannabe) we are in France. We arrived in Paris on Sunday March 3oth. I of course am worn to a frazzle because I have not slept in 2 days and just traveled half way across the earth. But we are here! We stop to use the bathroom before we meet the driver that has been sent for us.

 

 

What follows is my first conversation

 with a pretty French girl applying her

make up in the airport bathroom:

 

me: It's hot in here. (flapping my shirt open and closed in what I meant to be French sign language for I am boiling why do you have a sweater on?)

her: No I'm cold. (pulling her sweater tighter across her chest and making shivering motions)

me: Maybe I'm just nervous? (as I apply a fresh dose of deo)

her: Are you catching a connecting flight?

me: No.

her: Then there is nothing to be nervous about...you are here.

*Not a bad 1st conversation. Altho I didn't need to speak at all. Just seemed like an intimate situation... applying deodorant and brushing our teeth together...after sleepover activities. Friendly conversation among friends no?

post script

 I don't have time right now to go into all the details of the past week and post all the pictures. But I wanted to let everyone know that we are having a splendid time. All the good far outweighs any bad and any unhappy feelings I've had are just common, I think, with relocating permanently or should I say semi permanently to a different culture and language. We are really hoping to be in a flat by the end of the month. I think when that happens all will be well but all is pretty darn good right now. Later tonight or perhaps by Monday I will be loading this thing with beuacoup pictures and funny stories of our time here so far.

Here's what happened...

To be completely honest (which I always plan to do on this blog...showing the good bad and the ugly of my wondrous experience) on Wednesday after having supper and walking around this new city (in a Chicago like wind blast) several hours looking unsuccessfully for an open grocery store I barely made it to the bathroom in our room to cry my eyes out. What have I done? I have no idea how to live in this strange land!

I know I just got here and I had not taken anytime to let my jet lag ease before throwing myself into Paris and I'm sure sheer exhaustion was fueling my emotions but by the time we arrived in Toulouse I had 6 blisters on my feet and all my best clothes were worn and dirty from our time in Paris. No matter what brought it on I felt swamped and scared and so disappointed in myself that I was already having second thoughts. I felt worn to a frazzle from having to think EVERY second about how to say the few French phrases I knew or what side of the street to walk on or whether it was polite to drink directly from the plastic water bottle (since I had not seen anyone else do this), or proper metro etiquette (was it proper to sit knee to knee with a stranger...do I hold the bar below their hand or above??) After not doing anything terribly offensive or "American" I was almost out of Paris unscathed when I let my guard down and forgot where I was for a split second. Here's what happened: While David was working with the concierge to arrange a taxi big enough for our 9 a fore mentioned bags I sat down to rest my poor sore feet and send a few messages before I was out of Internet for an undetermined amount of time. A hotel worker (not sure of title...tho I thought of a couple myself after the encounter) dressed like a traveling business man asked me "Do you speak English?" "Yes" I replied. He then asked "Then would you be pleased to not rest your feet on the table?" It was 1st truly embarrassing incident of the trip. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking "Would you be pleased to not call a 3x3 box sitting no more than a foot off the ground a 'table'?"

This was then compounded by our harrowing experience trying to check 9 bags on a very small commuter plane from a very small airport a fete that has apparently yet to be tried by any Frenchmen in history, making us stick out like 2 GIANT sore thumbs wearing American flags as togas. Then when we checked into the hotel, the bellman, after carrying 9 50lb bags a quarter of a block tried to convince the hostess not to let us upgrade to a bigger room because he would have to carry our bags 2 stories up because there is no elevator for luggage...only a small one for people. To say the least I was tired of having to do math every time I wanted to know the time after 12 noon.

Guess where we are...

 After 65 long days in a slew of American hotels in our own hometown we FINALLY arrived in Paris last Sunday March 30th and flew into Toulouse (our new city) Wed the 2nd. So in 2 days we will celebrate 1 full week in France!!  

It has been very exciting for the most part...somewhat embarrassing at other times and frightening almost all the time.