Classes start tomorrow. I'm kind of way excited.

I have come to a decision: I will no long apologize at the beginning of each post for not updating this more frequently. I live life with no regrets! ... Ok, that last statement's not exactly 'true' in the strictest sense of being 'not false' but the point remains: I cannot continue to take up blog space, when I do update, with elaborate promises to update more often which, let's face it, are probably lies anyway.

Having gotten that both out of the way and off my chest, I'm starting classes tomorrow! Taking French classes is a requirement for obtaining an au pair visa, and I'm not sure that I'd be taking them if I wasn't required to, but as I am, I'm excited. If I didn't have the classes I'm sure I could join a language exchange coffee gathering, or something (there are surprisingly many) but I think that having the structured time, hopefully with emphasis on some of the finer grammar points I no longer remember, will be good. Extra instruction in French culture couldn't hurt either.

Not that just being here isn't a lesson in French culture - it certainly is. Did you know that you not only greet by kissing twice on the cheek, you greet those you're especially close to with four kisses? I now know this because one set of grand-parents informed me, the second time they came over, that I was included in the group of people they greet with four kisses. They're very sweet and fun, and both sets of grandparents (the maternal ones came for lunch today) have been lovely. I feel very included in the conversations - and the paternal grandparents have even been to Kenya!

Ok, on to other French cultural lessons. Oh, one of the other au pairs and I had a discussion about this: the food culture. Because in the US having cheese after the meal, or wine with it, is sometimes considered a rich/snobby/pretentious thing to do. Here it's just done. I wonder if perhaps some of the idea that the French are snobby has to do with their association with behaviors we consider pretentious but which are the norm here. And I hope this doesn't make me a pretentious snob when I get back, but ... I want to keep up some of that. Especially the cheese and bread part. Oh how I shall miss 45 centime baguettes when I get back to the US!

And, for your edification, here's the kind of cheese I'm talking about:

Note the mold on the casing the the bits of grass stuck to it. I bought it at the farmer's market in Versailles last Saturday. And despite the somewhat sketchy appearance (and in the end I did cut off the rind before eating it) this cheese was made of awesome. No, really. You've heard of 'La vache qui rit' cheese? The laughing cow? Yeah, this was made by an actually laughing cow. Or goat. Whatever, the point is, nothing this amazing could have come from an animal that wasn't in an excellent mood. And it's that kind of thing (the cheese, not the happy bovines) that I'm really enjoying.

The biggest adjustment, at the moment isn't cultural, though: it's the weather. It's fall now, and starting to get - well, they say it's getting cool, I say it's getting cold. This may be a problem once it actually becomes winter. As an example, yesterday and today I doubled my socks. They are ankle socks and essentially the cheapest Target had to offer, so doubled they're about the thickness of 1.5 pairs of normal socks, but still. I also bought boots, since I didn't own any without heels. Actually, in B'ham last year I just continued to wear my normal ballet flats (or sandals) all winter - I'm a follower of the 'just add trouser socks' mentality. That is not going to work here. Soon I shall also have to invest in warm tights (none of that thin nylon here! we believe in tights that insulate) and probably an additional sweater. La vie!

To bring this post round full-circle, I have decided (in the time it took to write this post) that I am going to make extravagant promises to update more often. This time, though, I have a plan. And yes, I realize my last plan was to update daily with a short post. That lasted ... 3 days? Maybe? But this time (and LCL, you should appreciate this) I am going to make a schedule. This way on certain days I will write emails, on certain days I will update blog, on certain days I will just eat chocolate and pretend to be productive. Everyone wins! Update on which days are blog days will follow. Eventually.

And now I've been to Paris!

Wow, sorry anyone who's reading this, but I just realized how long it had been since I updated this. What with writing emails and now trying to be on facebook regularly, I loose track of what I have and I haven't kept up to date.

So yes, I'm still here (it would be sort of a problem if I suddenly wasn't), well settled-in, with the kids in school - except for today, since they don't have school on Wednesdays. Still very much enjoying getting to speak French, eating tons of baguettes and sampling cheeses. Also: I bought a trench coat, which makes me feel very française. Hopefully I will post pics of that soon.

The other thing that's making me feel very française is driving here. I am getting more confident not just in my stick-shift driving abilities, but also in my turning-corners-while-looking-in-the-little-mirror-mounted-on-the-side-of-the-road capabilities. Mind, I still stall out now and then, but not too too often. Not more than once a trip, usually, and often not at all. Although starting on a hill gives me the willies. I spend a lot of time worrying about hitting the car behind me. So far so good. Let's hope I didn't jinx it.

But the most exciting news (that was all just intro, sorry!) is that I have now been to Paris! Twice! For proof, see my facebook page. Me + Eiffel Tower = profile picture.

Saturday I went in with two other au pairs and we met up with the friend of a friend of one of them, who's also an au pair. It was a lot of fun ... which is a really underwhelming way to express my feelings about the day, but while it's a drab expression, rest assured that the day was awesome, despite the blisters I developed. Generally I say "beauty is pain" and accept the lack of skin on my Achilles tendons, but since I really want to be able to think about what I'm seeing while in Paris, and not just about my feet, I may have to forego that particular philosophy in the future.

But I digress: Paris. On Saturday we pretty much just wandered around. We found the Swedish embassy first, since one of the au pairs I was with is Swedish and needed to vote, then we made our way to the Seine. We ate on the outdoor patio of a café next to the river, then walked over the Louvre before taking a metro to the Champs Elysées to meet the other au pair. We walked down the Champs Elysées and stopped for coffee (or hot chocolate, in my case) just to say we'd eaten there. Yeah, the café we were at had 8 euro cokes ... so I won't be doing that again any time soon. I mean, I can buy a can of coke in the grocery store for less than a euro - location-based pricing is so weird. But after the Champs Elysées we went to Notre Dame (though not into it) and then to the Latin Quarter and by the Sorbonne (and that's an area I'd like to spend more time in).

Sunday I went in with the fam, and we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was amazing. As you may know, I'm terrified of heights. Not of falling, particularly, just of being up high at all. So the elevators with the glass sides? Yeah, not so fun. Once I was actually up on the platforms, though, it was better. And the views were absolutely amazing. Paris is HUGE, by the way. I knew it was, obviously, but seeing it from that high up, and really getting a good look at how densely packed all the buildings are (and sometimes it looks like Paris is one giant apartment complex) really brings the size of the city home. I'm so glad I got to go all the way to the top.

Okay, I think this is long enough for now - just an overview he of what I've been up to. More details of specific activities to follow!