Just out for a stroll.

I can't wait to go home in December. This isn't because I am that homesick, or am having a bad time; I am actually having a great time meeting people, travelling, getting closer with my host family, I just can't wait for the little things back home that I just can't get here in France. Like the visits to Starbucks during cold Decembers, not being able to leave the house because there is way too much snow, christmas lights throughout the streets alongside english christmas music, christmas movies on tv, christmas parades... I could go on but clearly I am excited for Christmas and to see some familiar faces. 

That time I crashed the family's car.

Now that I have your attention... I shall begin with the happy parts of my week and weekend before I end with a smashing conclusion (see what I did there).

This week is referred to as "hell week" by some aupairs, and apparently some host parents. This is because the kids are not in school for this time and we, as auparis, must watch them every day, every hour, every minute.. you get the picture. However, my kids have been really fun and this time has actually helped us get closer. Granted spending so much time with kids is very exhausting, those little bodies have so much energy!

I like to keep the kiddos busy, and I feel like putting them outside is some of the best things I can do to help them get rid of their energy. So I kept taking them at the park. We also ended up at a big cat zoo [lions and tigers and ... goats and lemurs].

"Don't touch the lemurs"... They are literally able to climb on top of you if they so felt like it (the "barrier" was just a couple of logs, and the cement path). So it was a game of "please don't touch me lemur so I don't get kicked out of the park". 

Leo and I played a "guess the drawing" game. Could any body else guess what this is? To me it looks like a demon cow. I was apparently close. According to Leo it is a mean dog. 

This weekend I ended up taking a road trip to Loire Valley - a place in France with a castle almost every 5 km. It was quite interesting, as you went down the road into each different city, the castles only got better. 

Castle numero uno (that we visited). Dijon.

Dos. Sully. 

Tres. Chambourd. 

"I know you want it" - I'm pitbulling here if no one else gets the reference. But yeah.. this is castle 4. Blois. 

We ended up staying the night in Blois. We also happened to go out for the night and surprisingly we found a place that was open later than 1 am. All this after we played the best dare game in the world, unfortunately now the front desk person thinks I have an obsession with grapes to want them at 12 in the morning. 

The next day we visited Da Vinci's crib. 

For some reason he was hiding out in the basement. I guess he isn't a "people person". 

But his garden was kind of spectacular. 

The last castle was the best one we visited. It was known as the "princess castle" or something like that because mostly women stayed here, and decorated the whole thing. Chenonceau. 

This was the last happy picture I took that day. We left after seeing this castle and the ride home took just over 2 hours. Now consider this, I've been driving for 2 days, manual, and I was just way too happy to be home that 2 seconds into the drive way I hit the side gates that open up into my house and dent the entire back door of my car. Oh yeah, and I hit the wooden gate on my way in as well... because the brick wall just wasn't enough. 

My host parents also had people over that I've never met before, so clearly I am awesome at first impressions. 

Fortunately the family wasn't mad at all. If anything I feel like I was harder on myself than anyone else was. Because I just felt stupid. I have never been in any kind of car accident, and I consider myself a pretty good driver. How the hell do I manage to put a large dent in the car driving INTO the driveway after a 2 day long road trip, 2 months of driving on ridiculously curvy and narrow french roads, and alongside french drivers. Ughh.. Well I guess every au pair has to screw up one way, this was mine....

driving into the driveway...never going to let that go. 

Currently the running joke is: when will I even out the other side? 

It's a roller coaster ride.

This weekend I had my birthday celebrations in Paris.

It pretty much went down like this: 

In other words it was awesome. It did however take about 2 hours to get back home, because the night bus is so difficult to understand/ catch in Paris. But after falling asleep on 2 transportation vehicles and 2 bus stops, we made it home safe, at 6am. The next day we found all you can eat sushi in Paris, which is surprising because they don't really have that here... and they still don't. It was just a buffet, with a lot of other Asian foods, and 4 trays of sushi and rolls: salmon, California rolls, some cream cheese and salmon roll, and avocado and salmon roll (nothing like the diversity you get in Canada's all you can eat).

My first week of looking after the girls every single day, all day, has begun. It is actually going really well, but it is exhausting, just because it's kids I am working with. It is also really unpredictable and obscure hours so I pretty much end up looking after the girls the entire day. But it I actually like spending this time with them. I feel like we will get closer over this time. And today they told me my french is improving and that I speak very well. I will need to find new ways to keep them entertained for the days to come, and finally become super au pair (that is my goal in this job).

I also got this Friday off so yay! Need to make some big plans. Hopefully to catch up on sleep.

That one time that I went to the Netherlands and couldn't get back to Paris.

Exactly one week ago was my birthday (shh... lets not disclose my age, I feel old). So on my actual birthday I got to work, go to Paris, and then spend about 5.5 hours in a car with a guy from Sydney, Australia and 2 Dutch people. It was a very nice car ride, and a fell asleep for like an hour too.

I met my friend Jenny in Den Bosch. It was so nice to see an old friend! Last time i saw her she was she had tape around her boots, a bug hat, a wind jacket (with tape probably somewhere there too) and of course her binoculars. No that isn't a fashion statement she makes, it was field wear when we were at the Biology Station! I was no better, waders... always wearing those waders. 

Anywho, lovely Jenny met me with a birthday cake (yeah... I make awesome friends) and I of course provided the french macaroons. 

The next day I explored Utrecht. Taking a canal tour, a tour of the Dom, and the several gardens that surround the area. I also reflected on my first impressions of the Netherlands and the Dutch people. My god could they lead happier lives?? Seriously the Dutch people (like actual locals, who are, you know, blonde and blue eyed - i.e not immigrants and not tourists) are just so relaxed, polite, and generous with their manners - does that make sense? Anyways kind of the opposite of the French, and other city people, who always seem to be in a hurry, who look like they hate their lives, and would do anything to elbow you off of a bridge. Oh also the Dutch can speak both English and Dutch, fluently. The only thing that was weird to me was their toilets! Holy.. my legs literally dangled when I sat down on the toilet... and their sinks are like 4 inches wide... So apparently the Dutch people are tall with small hands. But yeah they are really tall, I felt like quite a shorty. But it was so nice people would continuously mistake me for Dutch (yes for blonde hair and blue eyes!). Dutch people are also probably more organized... ughh! The French organization (or lack there of) bothers me so much! I either find things out last minute, or have to do lists last minute, or other things... all last minute, or stuff is just never told to me and I find out by surprise. So frustrating!! 

Anyways here are pictures of my travels in Utrecht 

 The next day we went to the second greatest place, Amsterdam. It took about an hour and a half to actually get there. According to Jenny it was all my fault that we had to take a detour (or just get off and then back on a train 20 minutes later). 

But we did get these beauties! 

Our "heart"

Oh and then there's this beauty Jenny had made. It alternates between her and me in every letter. Cause we are cool like that. 

Amsterdam is a beautiful place! It has so much culture and beautiful architecture, even if it is wonky: 

We went into a restaurant with a cat! I love cats! The cat was so cute! While at first glance it seems she prefers Jenny, she actually came and sat in my lap after, so Ha! 

Then it rained all day in Amsterdam.. 

An actual Dutch person's shoes. Wait no...

And then the sun came out! 

During our day in Amsterdam, Jenny showed me around and we went to the Anne Frank Museum. Which was just incredible, but really hits you... these people were locked away in here, just hoping they would survive to the next day. 

Then we went to the red light district. While I cannot take pictures of prostitutes (and nor did I want to, lets just say these women weren't necessarily Miranda Kerr's), I ended up taking a picture of this guy who "plays the branch". He was pretty cool. 

The travel back to Paris was stressful and horrible! I got ditched for my first way back, so then I had to buy a last minute train ticket, I blocked my visa trying to purchase it, I thought my debit card was blocked too and had money withdrawn on it, and I just felt like crap. But I got on my train, ran in the metro (I have a battle wound from falling up the escalator trying to catch my train), and finally made it back home. Even with that hiccup at the end I had an amazing time! Jenny and I laughed until tears, discussed several biology related topics, and some only somewhat related to biology, and well just had a great time overall! Thank you Jenny!

Getting back into work was more difficult than I thought. After seeing how nice it is to sleep in, to understand every conversation that you are surrounded by, and to not be reminded "that [I] don't speak French and should take more French classes to improve it". I did get my birthday present from my boyfriend in the mail:  

It made me so happy to receive these! I can just look at these every day, and wish December would come sooner. 

Anyways, I hope things will get better. I have almost 2 weeks with the kids. I don't know how I will keep them entertained yet. I think I am turning the little one into a Canadian! Not only is she saying "please" and "thank you" most of the time, but she says sorry as well (contrary to her sister, even when asked for an apology she'll just ignore me..). The little one has started to say sorry to inanimate objects if she accidentally hits herself on them! Aww! So wish me luck for next week. And then its GERMANY! I've already booked my flight, and Halloween shall be spent drinking beer, wearing costumes, and university students; really reminds me of the good old days. 

Castle Walls

Living behind these castle walls isn't as empty as Christina and TI say it is. It is actually pretty amazing.

This weekend I got to go on a surprise vacation with the family. Now they didn't spring the vacation on me from out of no where [that wasn't the surprise]. I knew that we were going somewhere, I just didn't know exactly where... and no one was willing  to tell me.

So on Saturday morning we had packed up our stuff and set off for.... somewhere. Our first stop was at a site where an organization is rebuilding a Medieval Castle. They try to use [most] historic methods for building, and similar materials. There were booths showing off how certain materials are forged (i.e metal, string, stone carving, etc). You could also, obviously, check out the castle itself. While it wasn't built completely, it was still quite a site to see.

Castle is still in the building process. They hope to finish by 2025 or something like that.

This staircase reminds me of the LOTR scene where Legolas slides down the staircase all badass. 

We then went to a quarry. I have never been, and I just found it fascinating (even if it was freezing cold). I am too lazy get copy all the pictures that my host mom took, so instead you'll have to suffer through crappy iPhone picture quality. 

The girls putting on a show

Lastly we went to our hotel. Which wasn't in fact a hotel, but a freakin castle! With a mote and everything! It's a castle that's from the 13th century (I think), and has passed down through the family. They have remade it into a bed and breakfast. Although we also had a delicious dinner there as well. It was magical. I want to go back. Heck, I want to live there. 

Yeah... magical. 

We came back pretty early on the Sunday so I headed off to meet some friends in a near-by city. There was a market on where I bought some cool stuff. And then we walked through a forest. All I could think about was how amazing it was to experience a real autumn here. I loved it so much. Autumn is definitely my favourite season, it just makes me so happy. 

Reliving the good ol' days

And by that I mean going out on a weeknight. Yes yes, in university almost every day was a drinking day, but your energy kind of dwindles down when you are working with kids on a daily basis.

So I had my usual Tuesday French lesson. These are going well. Fairly simple. I feel like I have learned more from Duolingo than these 3 french lessons I've already had. But it is really nice to practice conversational french in the class. 

Oh and I've had another encounter with my mortal enemy: the giant hairy, dozen eyed, monstrosity that is la grosse araignée. For god sakes, are these people farming them??? As I was just peacefully enjoying my day in the kitchen, eating my breakfast, the damn thing has the nerve to run across the living room and hide under the couch! Face me you beast! No wait, don't face me, cause I will run away like scared little child. 

So back to my story:

After my class my host mom drove me to the train station and I made my way into the city of lights, or the city that doesn't really smell very nice as I have now noticed. 

I met up with a friend, we got wine, and got our class on. We had some plans that had fallen through so we made some even better plans to hang out with another friend, drink more wine, and hang out by the river. Really now, doesn't that just sound like the best night in Paris? And we didn't get harassed by scary Parisian men this time! It's just a win, win situation. 

The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn, or what the time it feels like when you've had 2 bottles of wine the previous night. We went to the market where my friend grabbed stuff for her host family, we enjoyed some delicious crepes, and some kind of ethnic things that looked like samosas. All of which was delicious. 

I then headed over to meet another friend at the Opera. It was really interesting. Seeing the stage though made me miss performing so much. Just let me get on a stage for at least a minute so I could feel what it is like to have the lights on you, to get lost in the music, and to smile to no one in particular while having an amazing time. 

Then of course we got food and coffee while enjoying a beautiful view of Paris of a top some cool looking mall.