Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!


o
...by the way Sharon, Andy is in good hands this holiday!

Diner a L'Ourcine

Katy, Andy, Brian and I had a delicious dinner at L'Ourcine last night. Here are our picturesque dinners and entres! They tasted as fabulous as they looked!

Yummy Scallops!

White fish.

Beef

Snails with an apple slice topping.

Beef check with foie gras

Un Homme de Neige

Premier Paris Neige

It could turn out to be a White Christmas for us in Paris! As Elise and I walked to school this morning, the flakes started falling and didn't stop until after lunch! The campus is beautifully covered in white and it looks amazing. Elise and Celia loved their first big snowfall although Elise was disappointed to learn that the snow is very cold! You can't stick your hands in it for too long before your hands start to really hurt! What a day!

This weekend Elise learned the difference between trip and vacation...as we were driving home from our last stop on the Normandy Beaches, I got lost and had to turn around in a shopping parking lot in Bayeux. Elise thought we were stopping at another beach and cried, "Please mommy, not another beach!" It was awesome; I think she thought the beach weekend in Normandy was going to be more of a relaxing vacation! She was not ready to be dragged around to all the war sites.

Here's a breakdown of our trip:

1. Clos de Bellefontain was our B&B in Bayeux for two nights. Great place and delicious breakfast, yummy American Coffee!!! Bunny rabbit Lily to play with (check out the pictures) and a fun, fun bath tub.

2. Normandy Beaches: We explored...
a. Pointe du Hoc - played in shelters, saw huge bomb craters, sat in awe at the high cliffs and tried to imagine what the attack of this site could have been like. Unbelievable!
b. Omaha Beach (Vierville-sur-Mer) and the American Cemetery - unreal!
c. Batterie Allemande de Longues-sur-Mer - Three of the four 150mm artillery are intact while the fourth was blown to pieces. We got to run around and explore the defense battery and firing headquarters. It was pretty amazing.
d. Arromanches-les-Bains - last quick stop to see some of the boats at sea and play on the beach.
...the Normandy area is quite amazing. Driving up and around the coast from Bayeux, we felt as if we could have been driving along on highway in any midwestern state. The cows, farmland, and flat-lands reminded us of our St. Louis/Chicago drives. However, suddenly you are standing on large cliffs and exploring a battlefield. It really is an amazing area and it was a fascinating historical trip.

3. Saturday was filled with site-seeing: The Bayeux Tapestry, Bayeux Cathedral, and Mt. Saint Michael. What an adventure! The Mt. St. Michael is an amazing abbey sitting atop a mount on the edge of the Seine. You need to read more about this amazing place because I won't do it justice. This was probably the busiest stop of our trip because it was full of tourists and a lot more intense than the shut-down-for-winter beaches. There were a lot of people and a lot going on on the mount; there is an entire village located just below the abbey. We loved our time exploring the abbey and it's medival architecture. It was like a maze of concrete!

Great trip all round!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season!

What a Day!!!

Nice face, eh? You're warned not to smile in the pictures!

Victory Bottle!

What a day indeed! Brian and I successfully obtained our Carte de Sejours. We are legal in France! It's a great feeling, especially considering what it took to get them...

After paying lots of money for our temporary visas and surviving a trip to the prefecture last month to obtain our recepisse (a 75 minute visit: a record I'm told), we now have our official Visas!

Brian's process went pretty smoothly, as smoothly as a visit to the Office Francais de l'Immigration et de l'integraion (OFII for those familiar) can be considered! Since he's the working man and was brought over here for a job, he was able to get his X-Ray, physical, and after a trip to the Tabac to buy ses timbres to pay for the carte (interesting process: you have to pay for the Carte with these stamp things, kind of like a cashier's check we're guessing. The best thing is that they are bought at your local bar. It was huge that we met some very nice fellow Americans that hooked us up with the information as to where to buy the stamps. We were stampless and had no idea we could conclude the carte process today. But a quick trip across the street and Brian had notre timbres!), he was holding his carte before I got my process started. One down, one to go!

My process much more adventures. After watching a film about immigrating to France and an hour and a half wait, I got called to see the social worker. Once with him, he asked me about my life in Etats-Unis: level of education, job, and whether I drove a car. Luckily, I aced all his questions and was deemed proficient in French. This was HUGE! I can now stay in France without having to take a government issued French Class. I'm feeling so bilingual and I have a certificate to prove it! However, I do have to attend a Civics' Class in February! It will be an all day class on a Saturday in February in which I think I learn all about France's history and how to immigrate properly. I know you are all jealous!

Finally, I signed a contract with the state of France saying I will be a good citizen, learn French, and attend my Civics' Class in February. I gathered up all my welcoming materials, including my French proficiency certificate, (did I mention I was fluent?), and headed over for my X-Ray and physical. Brian went out and bought me des timbres and after passing the physical, I held my beautiful Carte de Sejour!

Now we will drink our Champaign and Celebrate! We're legal! We have rights! Woo-Hoo!