Home Sweet Home

Ahhh....

We have just completed our first week in France. Exactly one week ago, to the hour, we were stepping off the bus in Chambery met by our new friends here to help us haul our luggage to our new place.

Where do I begin!?

We just love our apartment! Big enough for our family plus a few visitors, and small enough to easily clean and keep the girls within reach. We were happy to find that it was very clean, but our favorite things are the cute French feature. :-) The kitchen curtains have embroidered cows and milkmaids on them. The ceiling bulbs are surrounded by cloth/lace shades, and there are skeleton keys in ALL our closets - no doorknobs, you just pull on the keys. Maybe I'll get around to posting some pictures, but no promises, the girls have required a ton of energy.

That brings us to: jet lag. This has definitely been the 'no fun' part, although when I put it in perspective it really hasn't been that bad. The first few days and nights were pretty rough - up for 3 hours with Alexa in the middle of the night, then sleeping in until noon, ect. But the girls have really done well these last 2 days so that's encouraging. We do feel bad about uprooting them from Grandma's house in Colorado with the shaded yard, chickens, and loving relatives giving lots of attention. A 5th story apartment with a busy mom and dad just isn't the same!

It's become very evident that they are the outdoor-type. Their moods instantly improve just by letting them out on the balcony. I really can only stand to do this for about 5 min. though. It's the 5th floor after all and there's only metal railing around the small balcony. Their heads can fit between the rails so Brandon wove twine around to make a grid they can't fall through. But the only thing they like to do out there is climb up on the rail and let the wind blow their hair while they look out at the view. I REALLY need to get you a picture of that one!

As for exploring Chambery, it's been more about practicalities so far. We are trying to figure out how to LIVE here, not just visit. So we've been to a few grocery stores, the bike rental place, the bank, the housing office. Really exciting, I know. But today we took the girls to our local park. It was sooo refreshing. We picked a spot next to a flower garden and some kind of arts building. Through the open windows we could hear musicians practicing their classical music. Ahhh, it was wonderful - lounging in a French park. :-)

Brandon, however, seems to have charged right into French life. Our first day we met our extraordinarily friendly neighbors who have offered us all kinds of help already and invited Brandon to go cross-country skiing this winter! Our landlord is also super friendly and invited us to visit his mountain home (Um, Yes!). But my favorite story about Brandon and the French is that the other day, after Brandon had been out doing errands for a few hours, a Frenchman named Pierre called me at home. "Hello, this is Pierre, Brandon's friend! Go to your kitchen and look out your window. Look out 200 meters - same level." And there across the complex I saw Brandon and his "friend" Pierre waving at me. ??? Turns out our housing agent introduced Brandon to Pierre and he ended up going to his house where Pierre GAVE him a bike to use for 15 months! I'm not joking! Whoever said the French were rude, was definitley NOT Brandon! Brandon has also had to use the extent of his French on a neighbor when he locked his keys into our storage unit. Tonight Brandon is in a French home having dinner, which we were told could last until midnight. He joined some American friends and I'm stuck at home writing you. :-)

Wow, now I understand why they wanted us to MOVE to France to learn French. I can't believe how much I've learned just by figuring out how to use my dishwasher!

So things are going quite well, but we are VERY anxious to begin class. We feel so rediculous when we can't speak to people. The motivation is definitely high!

In fact, it's on to studies for me right now, while I wait for Brandon's return.

Thanks for listening!
Rachel
P.S. The views are incredible! We are surrounded by mountains!