Radio silence

Horrible horrible day yesterday. Luuk was up half the night, sick, and then come morning I got it! Felt lousy all day. Fortunatly Luuk was improving about the time I went down hill, so he was able to look after Louis, and also go and get some food. Perks of having a tiny kitchen: fresh food regulary. Cons: run out of food easily.

I slept a lot and started to improve late afternoon. Ate some plain bread and drank lemonade.

Slept pretty well last night and woke hungry - definitely a good sign - at 4am. Feeling better, no doubt about it, but still pretty weak and pathetic. Luuk's gone to work today and will be coming back to pick us up later: time to get us a french bank account! Steps in the right direction. Hurrah!

So relieved to be better, and the baby is still kicking occasionally. Had horrible stomach cramps yesterday evening, probably just tired muscles as by-product of being sick, but was worried about miscarriage of course. It's one of those things that are hard not to worry about it when you're pregnant anyway, but add a tummy upset into the mix and of course I'm freaking out. Which I'm sure doesn't help.

Strangely, when I was first pregnant with Louis people kept telling me all these horror stories of their own, and other people's, miscarriages. It came up alarmingly often. I don't know why people felt it was a good idea, but for some reason the story they needed to share with their newly pregnant-for-the-first-time friend was about how it could all go horribly wrong: recipe for stress! Having had a very successful and trauma-free first pregnancy, I've been pretty laid back this time round, and then there's been so much else going on, what with moving to France and all, that I've been distracted from thinking about the baby.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant now. Had to look that up... hm. First time around I could have told you down to the week-half. Hope this poor baby isn't totally neglected.

Still able to wear slightly larger but otherwise normal clothes. Basically, just look chubby. Not particularly pregnant. Last time around that really bothered me and I'd wear things that made it super-obvious that I was pregnant, not just over-indulging in the pies. This time I care way less. Am I letting myself go? Oh, probably.

Going to have a rest now, while Louis is asleep and before we go to the bank.

Getting in the groove

I'm a great fan of routines and plans. And yet I'm a creative type, or I aspire to be one. Saw this on facebook and I think I'm a total mish-mash of the two sides of the brain. (In an un-drugged-up kind of way).

Anyway, in a very left-brained kind of way I like making resolutions and setting structures and routines for myself. Today started very well, in part because I had a shower before Luuk left for work. It's before he leaves or after Louis goes down for his morning nap - which feels like a very slow start to the day. We got the pushchair out of the car (might venture down to the Les Ulis town centre after lunch) and then Louis ate his morning tea - that biscuit lasted him at least half an hour - while I had my coffee. I think this might be a good routine to get into: sitting down together and having a chat (of sorts) before he has his morning nap.

Louis' morning tea time.

Then I did a little tidy-up, but just enough so that I could sit still, un-harrangued by the chaos around me, and do some french. Looked at comparatives and superlatives for adjectives, and looked up a few useful phrases...


It's true! - Vrai(e)! or Exact(e)! I suspect the equivalent phrase here is 'Vraiment' which means 'really' and would work in most contexts I can think of, but then I'm a bit of a novice. French-speakers feel free to correct me. All help would be much appreciated.


It depends on the price. - Il dépend du prix. This would have been a good one to know when asked if I wanted unlimited internet on my cell phone.


What a good idea. - Ce une bonne idée. As Sabrina said, Paris is always a good idea.


In my opinon - à mon avis. If only I knew how to then voice my opinion in intelligible French. 


In a moment - tout à l'heure. Useful because I need a moment to figure out how to say something in French!


I also did some more research into living in Paris - found a few blogs written by American expats, who all seem to have just left... Actually, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed looking at all the info online, and partly/mostly because I can't yet do much. We are staying quite a long way from the city, and it is difficult to get to the train station. Navigating the trains with Louis in a pram, on my own, is going to be challenging, especially being 5 months pregnant, which limits my ability to lift the pram. One of the blogs I looked at, American Mom in Paris, posted this image, which reassures me that I'm not missing the elevators, but in fact there are none.


Until we have moved into our apartment, it is difficult to set up an obstetrician, which is a top priority, and get Louis into a playcentre or something similar, which is not quite so urgent but would be good, I think. If I took him to an outdoor playground I fear he'd stick to the ice on the slide.


Was feeling overwhelmed and helpless so I gave up on the Paris research for today and picked up my writing folder. Was also starving, all of a sudden, so I made myself a croissant, avec fromage et jambon, and another cup of coffee. Fortified, I did a quick edit of my query letter and then started reading over my notes/plans for a new novel. Got quite excited about it, so I think I will keep working on that - filling out the details about some of the minor characters and writing some more of the first draft. Back home I had a week plan that went something like:


Monday - housework day
Tuesday - writing day
Wednesday - reading day
Thursday - art day
Friday - whatever you like day


See what I mean about left and right brained. Might pick this up again, for now. I do have a bit of a plan for Friday - a friend is in Paris! So Louis and I will be taking the metro rail, by ourselves (sans husband), to go and meet her. Pushchair or backpack? That is the question. Pushchair is leisurely - no weight on my shoulders and even my purse goes underneath in the basket-bit. Backpack will be much easier on the train, but then I'm stuck carrying King Louis and all our bits and bobs around Paris. Plus he'll sleep in the pushchair. Tres important. 


Hm... may have to give the push-chair a go. It might take me half an hour to get up and down some of those stairs, but I suppose I could practice my french by asking strangers for help.


Pourriez-vous m'aider à porter la poussette, s'il vous plaît?


Louis woke up while the housekeeping ladies were here - it was time anyway - so I'd better go attend to him. He is playing rather contentedly with russian-doll style eggs and some stacking cups. I managed to communicate to the housekeepers that I only wanted one sheet on the bed, and that I didn't need the baby pillow for Louis' cot.


Time to go: he's starting to bang his head on things.

1st day of normal life

Today is Luuk's first day of work. He even wore a shirt (as opposed to a tee-shirt).

He drove very carefully out of the icy car-park and safely made his way, through snowy Paris, to work. Hurrah! Success.

Unfortunately, the buggy is in the back of the car, so Louis and I were a bit stranded. Stranded and out of bread. So I loaded up the backpack with all the necessities for going anywhere with a baby: wipes, a nappy, sipper cup, snack, bib. And then I added all my bits and bobs: money, inhaler, tissues, lippy, phrasebook, passports, shopping bags. And finally, a well-wrapped up little Louis.

I zipped up my boots, wishing they had less heel, or none at all, and put on my new hat, my old jacket, and tied up my scarf. I hoisted the backpack onto my back, and we made our way downstairs and out into the snow and ice. Fortunately, it wasn't too cold, there being no wind.

The shopping was successful, and involved less walking-in-circles than it has other times. Couldn't find the pegs, or think of an intelligible way to ask anyone where they would be. But got everything else on the list. Haven't found Louis some thicker, warmer, possibly woollen socks.

Next stop McDonalds, in hope of a playground. But they don't have one! So I was saved from eating McDonalds, but too hungry to walk home without something. We stopped and I had a coffee and a 4 fromage panini (actually a toasted mini-baguette). Louis ate the biscuit that came with my coffee. Then I loaded up the bag, then myself, and we headed home.

Figured out how to use the camera timer, just so you could all see how spiffing Louis and I look in our winter woollies, on our adventures...

It was great to get outside after yesterday. We weren't actually snowed in, but I suppose we were voluntarily so. It was a nice relaxing day, though I did feel a bit cabin-feverish by mid afternoon. We read and watched some 'How I met your Mother' in french (figured out how to get the french subtitles to show - very helpful!) on the tv. We ate quite a lot of our food stash. Luuk made a fantastic dinner of yummy pasta and this fabulously rich sausage:

which Louis discovered he liked! Finally, a meat he'll eat un-pureed! 

For tonight, I have salmon, and I think I'll make risotto. This afternoon I think I'll have a nap, while Louis is sleeping, and perhaps look up info on obstetricians. Need to get that sorted pretty smartly. Unfortunately, it's hard to sort out anything when you don't have a bank account, permanent address, or resident card.

If Louis has a long sleep I might even take another look at my query letter draft. As soon as we have found a way of printing and a return address, I'll be sending off my romance novel to Mills & Boon. As always, sending queries is exciting and scary at once. But I think it's important that I keep working away as if I were in NZ, otherwise I'll get down. Especially while we're staying out near Luuk's work, and a long way from the trains. I'm not completely stuck at home, but going out, especially with the weather the way it's been, is hard work. It will be good for me to have things to do at home. If only there was a playground nearby, where Louis could play and I could write.

IKEA et la neige!

Il neige! 

Good thing we stocked up yesterday. Realised while cooking breakfast, however, that if the power goes out we're in trouble. We have cheese and bread, but our rice, pasta and meat will all be useless to us.

We spent most of yesterday shopping actually. 1^St stop: IKEA! We walked through the whole incredible fiesta of interior decoration and walked out (eventually we found the exit – sortie) with a high chair for Louis, and a couple of those cover-all bibs. Such self-control! 

It has a tray but we've left it off for now - uses up less space this way and we can just push him up to the table.

We haven't got access to the apartment we'll be living in, so without measurements it would be stupid to get much, or anything. Also, Luuk's colleagues, who sorted out the apartment for us, also started buying furniture and basic necessities. So, until we've had a proper look at that stuff, much of which will be delivered on the 18^th, it'd be silly to buy anything substantial. They didn't buy us a toaster though – so that's good. We are sorted in that department. Sorted in style :)

And yet, have only used it once (my new purple toaster, that is). Most of the bread here is awesomely good and not for toasting. Wandering around the supermarket, everyone has baguettes sticking out of their baskets/trolleys. And fair enough, they are soft and delicious. And a very cheap way of keeping the baby entertained while we shop!

We spent ages in the supermarket, trying to decrypt the labels to the laundry detergents, then the cheeses (what a selection!) and then the sausages (got 3 different kinds – will have a tasting!)

After that, I was in hunt of another hat; my second chapeau since arriving in Paris. The first is gorgeously soft grey cashmere but too thin to save my ears from numbness. My second is heavier and purple. It covers most of my ears and still does that cool floppy-on-top thing that seems to be the way-to-wear a hat here. Distant cousin of the beret perhaps. I have a beret from NZ, but it does not meet the ear-covering requirement of the last few days.

Other highlights of yesterday:

• Luuk drove a lot more, and further, on the motorway. He's doing fantastically with changing gears with the other hand, on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road. GPS is a freakin' god-send. It got us to IKEA and back, safe and sound. The only time we went wrong was coming out of the parking garage, before the signal was good. Oops.
  
  
• A few shops down the mall from IKEA there was an 'acrochats' – a kids playland, similar to chipmunks in NZ, but frankly much higher (as in 4 or 5 levels of playground, going up well over 2 stories). The petit playground (for under 3s) was perfect for Louis, who was well over sitting in the pushchair. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  He spent most of the time putting the balls in and out of the ball pit, and defending himself from the rather tall 2 year-olds who found him in their way. I was so proud. And happy, sitting there with my coffee, wondering why I didn't put my kindle in the bag, because there was free wireless at the playground. The internet at our apartment isn't working this morning, but as soon as its up and running again, I’ll find out if there is another acrochats closer to where we'll be living. And I'll post this blog, adding pictures...
  
  
• After our adventures, we returned to our petit, chaud (warm) apartment and I made a meal just like we have had in NZ loads of times – mashed potatoes with spinach mixed through, and pesto chicken on top. Delish. Not quite the same as back home.... the potatoes were way creamier! Probably just dumb luck on our part, picking out the potatoes that said 'puree' on the label. Also, pesto pasta sauce was much more reasonably priced. Proximity to Italy is so going to have some serious perks! Then we watched 'Castle' in french, with the subtitles on. Bought the first season on DVD at carrefour. The TV here is, of course, all in french, and no subtitles, so we thought a stepping-stone would help. And we've seen Castle before, so it doesn't matter so much if we miss things. We tried out 4 different french cheeses and (finally) managed to stay up till after 9pm before going to bed! TV is good for something.

Last thing: Louis slept till 6am! Jet lag est terminée? Il est possible.

Nous allons en ville!

We made it! We only saw part of the Eiffel tower (the top bit)... next time we'll go for the whole thing! We did, however, see Notre Dame and the Louvre. We successfully navigated the RER (metro rail), and only got confused, not quite lost, looking for the Eiffel tower. We were on the island in the middle of the Seine, not on the south bank like I thought. Oops. Walked around in a rather large loop, and regretted wearing my boots, though they undoubtedly kept my legs warm. Louis was the only one really prepared for the bitter cold, hiding behind a plastic wind-breaker in the buggy. I was jealous. But, no doubt, the exercise was good for us, and it was great to see the central city. Definitely brought home the fact that we are in Paris. Was good for our confidence too, I think. Luuk drove, with the help of the new GPS, to his office, and on from there to the RER station. This involved going on the motorway. Terrifying. I was so proud. They love their round-a-bouts here. The bigger and more alarming, the better.

Now... photos!

Yep, Louis is in there. If you look closely you might see his eyes.

We stepped out of the RER and voila! Notre Dame!

We had lunch at a restaurant just over the bridge from Notre Dame. We both had a Croques - essentially ham and cheese grilled sandwich. Tres bon! 

Louis spent as much time flirting with everyone in the vicinity as he did eating. 

Hungry, so hungry, so very very hungry. Je suis enciente. I have a good excuse.

A long and wintry, but very beautiful (tres jolie) walk. 

I think Luuk captures how we were feeling at this point. I believe the technical term is 'munted'.

Outside the Louvre. 

Louis perked up after a bit of pain au chocolat. So did I. 

Time to go home. Another day we will venture inside. Especially now that we have discovered you can take the RER all the way there!

Un deuxième tentative...

Okay, so we didn't make it into the city yesterday. Went to buy Louis a hat and gloves (it's been insanely cold!) and then went to bus stop. The plan was to catch the bus to the train station, then take the train into town. Except the buses take a lunch break from 10 till 2. Lazy sods. That's 4 hours of déjeuner. 


So we returned to our increasingly familiar CC (Centre Commercial... mall) and picked up the other bits and bobs we needed - mainly dish-washing accouterments. Went back to apartment where Louis and I napped. Luuk did dishes and made bacon and eggs for lunch. What a man.


At lunch, after 3, we gave up on the dream of seeing the Eiffel tower that day. Decided we'd try a drive (breath normal... try to breath normal) down to the mall for the slightly larger items we needed. Also had dinner there. Didn't get a high chair as there was a pathetic selection and we want a booster seat really, at the moment. However, we did make one very satisfactory purchase...

That's right! My very own purple toaster. Joy of joys.

Got a bunch of other useful things as well: a laundry basket, a GPS (or else we're not driving anywhere, Luuk threatened), and a bunch of food-stuffs. Tiny kitchen in temporary apartment and no freezer, so we can only stock up for a couple of days but we are now in possession of ingredients for 2 or 3 whole dinners: a risotto, a pasta, and possibly another risotto.

The familiar, and the not so familiar.

So today, we'll make a second attempt on Paris - un deuxième tentative. The plan: to drive to Luuk's company office, raid our boxes of shipping for a bunch of items we need/want, and then to drive on to the train station, where we'll park the car for the day. We'll take the metro rail to the city, with Louis in his new pushchair, all of us wrapped up in jackets and scarves and hats, and we'll see what we see.


Aside: Have weaned Louis. He has been quite happy with his bottle, twice a day, for the last two days, and I've barely noticed the discomfort - just goes to show how little milk he was getting from me. And I definitely need any extra energy I can get. The other baby (the one brewing) is growing and moving about a lot (especially after a glass of jus d'orange). I am starting to look more pregnant, but mainly I just feel more pregnant.

Le voyage à Paris

We made it. Two long haul flights in a row is always such a torture, but now that we're here and have had a whole (broken but complete) night's sleep I'll admit it could have been so much worse!

We were sent off from Auckland by Luuk's parents and brother, and my grandparents. We all had lunch together, and took lots of photos... which all turned out pretty terrible actually. People! Look at the camera and smile. So difficult? Someone's eating or looking away, in all but two. Here's the best:

Great Grandma, Oma and Louis!

Then we went through and, shortly after, boarded our flight. Louis had a seat and we put his car seat in place. He was probably asleep before we reached altitude.

But he knew it was nap time, not bed time, so it wasn't a long sleep. Fortunately, Singapore airlines caters for kids. Louis refused to keep his headphones on, but turns out Elmo is fabulous on silent!

The flight was packed, so we were confined to our 3 seats in the middle. Louis got a bit restless later in the flight but, frankly, who didn't? My legs were bothering me - bit swollen and achy, even with my fancy flight socks (thank god for those!) - and I'd had a little nap, but it didn't feel like it. I missed the snack, so I must have been asleep. No chippies for me.

We had 5 hours lay-over in Singapore. Headed straight for the pool (though we did go around in circles trying to find a cash machine, and got out far more Singapore dollar than we needed) and had a short swim out in the evening heat, under the airplanes. It was warm and humid, but in the pool it was kind of cold. I suppose that's the point, but it put us on a short time-limit with Louis, who was shivering a little. Refreshed, we were quickly getting sticky again out in the equatorial weather, so we headed back inside in search of a play area for Louis and a comfy seat for ourselves. Should have gone further afield than terminal 1, possibly, but Louis was happy exploring the area where we sat and flirting with strangers. 

Luuk was feeling the onset of jet lag, or just plain exhaustion, because he watched movies and didn't nap at all on the first flight (I tried to tell him) so he crashed out on the floor and I rocked Louis to sleep, then read my book.

I was starving and they were both asleep, so I pick-pocketed a few dollars from Luuk and tried to stay in-sight while I went to buy some chips. And that was us, until we had to go to our next flight. Terminal 3 turned out to be further than we thought. So much for arriving calm and cool for flight no. 2.

Singapore to Paris is nearly 14 hours, according to the itinerary. I think we did it in slightly less, but still, LONG flight. Fortunately, also a pretty empty flight. The flight attendant reserved a whole row in the middle for us - 4 empty seats together! I told her she was my hero. Luuk and I took turns lying down and sleeping. Louis had 3 or 4 naps and was sick of his seat, so they were reluctant naps. I held onto chimney sweep (his sleep-prop toy) so he couldn't throw it away, and hummed to him for like 20 minutes straight... sore throat. Luuk put him down for his last nap lying flat on the seats. That worked a treat.

We arrived in Paris at 6.30ish in the morning, and were first through passport control because we were the only ones in the 'other' queue! And then we waited for our luggage... and a while later headed out to find our taxi driver. I blocked everyone's way when I stopped to greet him... oops. But we found him, so that was the important thing. Stepped out and - woah! - turns out they're having a cold snap in Europe. It was well below zero but not in the car. Saw nothing but buildings and motorways on the drive, but what a drive! Insane roads. Je ne comprends pas! At one point there were no lane lines, just one big starting-line, and about six cars/vans poised, ready to shoot into the rather alarming traffic flow. Our taxi pulled up between two of them and waited a bit, then went - ignoring the honking - and crossed all five lanes to turn off on the opposite side straight away. Crazy.

Also noticed the sirens. Not because of our taxi or anything, just saw a few emergency vehicles on the road and the sirens are just like in the Bourne movies :D

Arrived at our apartment, feeling pretty woozy, and we were shepherded into the breakfast room while they finished getting our room ready. Croissants! And other things too, but let's stick to the really important stuff.

Our room (suite... but only just) is tiny. It's sufficient, of course, but small. Our three suitcases took over the lounge. Glad we didn't get our boxes from NZ brought here. They'll be staying at Luuk's work until we move into our permanent apartment.

Had a small-scale day yesterday - lots of naps and attempts at naps, walked over to the mall (about 200 meters away) and bought a push chair. Also found groceries and the like. Bought lunch. 

Delicious "sandwich" on mini baguette (though I'm sure it has a proper name I'll learn eventually). Mine was just plain ham and cheese (jambon et fromage) but wow! Delicious. They do the simple things so good. And something tells me this is just the beginning!

And everywhere we went I tried to use a bit of french... rarely getting past Bonjour and a big smile. My next line, in almost every instance, was Je parle un peu la francais. Had a nice chat with the check-out lady at Carriefour (gargantuan french supermarket and department store, where we did shopping). 

Today we plan to venture into the centre of Paris, so photos to come!