No, we have not "gone dark", but we do finally have an internet connection where I can catch you up on all that has happened over the last month. It has been fun-filled but has had some frustrating moments at the same time. Our last days in Texas were, in one word, HOT! With 17 days of temperatures over 100 degrees we spent our days eating popsicles in the backyard pool. We combined a trip to the French Consulate in Houston with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Walker, where we did what else, played in the pool! And then, we arrived. As you can tell from the shivering, we were WAY underdressed. Temperatures have rarely got above 60 and we had nothing but summer clothing.
We spent a couple of days at a hotel while we did our house inspections and waited for the movers to arrive with our belongings. We managed to successfully drive around the suburbs to find our nearest grocery store, hypermart and shopping mall. Sunday the 3rd, we were on our way to try out our new church and were excited about some English conversation when Andrew vomited all over the back seat. We turned around and he spent most of the day in bed but seemed to recover quickly. Everyone was well by Friday, which was Anthony’s birthday so we went into Paris (a 15 minute ride on a train) and took a cruise on the Seine for some wonderful views of the major monuments…
And a familiar sight from home…
We finished out the day on top of the Arch de Triumph. Check out these views…
Most would say that this sounds like a pretty good first week in a foreign country….but then I forgot to mention that the grocery store only has about a third of the items on my BASIC list and that was making substitutions for quite a bit. The gas flames do not stay lit on the stovetop (and we do not have a microwave) so I have had to be quite creative cooking all our meals in the oven. Our French debit cards (which we received a month ago) were turned off due to non-use and very few places in the suburbs accept American credit cards. We have had no phone or internet, had to return our rental car and then Saturday morning, the girls woke up sick. By Sunday they were flaming with fever so on Monday we took them into the American hospital. We got them seen by a pediatrician and back home then to the pharmacy for prescriptions but not without extensive phone calls to Bangkok, Paris, London and Philadelphia. Trust me—I am glossing over the finer points. The medications have kicked in, now it is Wednesday and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We got internet today but won’t have phone until the 22nd, our stove may be fixed next week (did I mention that all of France shuts down for the month of August? Everywhere you go there are signs on the doors that say “see you in September”), had a washer and dryer delivered and have unpacked most of the boxes. Closets are non existent, so have been quite creative there as well. Hope to get a car in September but are finally settling in to our new digs. Missing all of our friends and family, but looking forward to our 2-3 year “vacation” in the “city of lights”.
As many of you know Andrew and I are too much alike for everything to go smoothly all the time so it is especially important for me to focus on his positive attributes whenever given the chance. So please forgive me if the above bragging offended you. I LOVE THIS LITTLE MAN!
We then visited two of the medevial churches found in the city. St Germain l'Auxerrois whose foundations stones are from the 1000's (the history here just boggles our young American minds) and St Estache which they say is only rivaled by Notre Dame. The pictures are from St Estache and the statue in the courtyard supposedly has its "ear to the ground of all happenings in Paris".
This stain glass portrays St Anthony and St Andrew together--so had to get a shot.
We visited the massive, multi-level, underground shopping mall of Les Halles and took a spin on their carousel.
We lunched at Joe Allen (in honor of my dad, of course) and visited the Anglo hotspots Thanksgiving (where you can purchase many American grocery items) and the Red Wheelbarrow bookstore (English books, literature and newspapers). We then encountered the fountain of Innocents where early Parisians received their clean drinking water.
and then gorged ourselves on mini-macaroons from the world famous tearoom Laduree. 
Quite a full day for the short people. But oh so much fun to be apart of one of the most amazing cities in the world. Days like this make up for the struggles of everyday life.
As I mentioned before, this house has some history and while I am still trying to find out the details, I thought I would share one of its fun features. The house is build in an area of town called Les Gressets which has been habited since Galo-Roman times. We use this room in the basement for storage but as you can see it has double doors. The door facing the hall was a later addition and locks from the outside. However, the inside door locks from the inside with these two HUGE iron cross bars that slide into iron bolts as well as a couple of other bolts, bars and locks. It makes one wonder...what were they trying to be safe from? Was it used during the religious wars or during some other turbulent time in history? Hopefully, I will know soon.
After our last remaining possessions were collected for storage we moved into the Gaylord Texan for our last two nights. I would highly recommend this venue if your family is looking for a quick getaway. The kids LOVED running through their extensive, air conditioned courtyard.
Then we were finally on our way!
