A Walk Through Montmartre

Last week I decided I need to get out more and explore various neighborhoods now that the weather *should* be getting nicer (and maybe better my photography skills too!)

A friend that I met with AWG was nice enough to come along with me and we had an enjoyable afternoon walking the streets of Montmartre.  Montmartre is really a beautiful area with many hills, wandering streets, the Sacre Coeur, and beautiful views at almost every corner.

My photos below don't do justice to the beauty of this area!

MM Sept: Kids & French

Today's Monday Minute is brought on by the laughs I had with my little kiddos at school today!  Mondays are seriously my favorite day because I get to the spend the morning with 3 year olds and the afternoon with 1st graders at the bilingual school I volunteer at.

Cook'n With Class

Cook'n with Class....probably one of the best things I've done since I've been in Paris for many reasons.  My friend, Val, came to town for a few days because her husband was supposed to go back to Houston for work (she lives in the Brittany region of France) and she had a friend who recommended this class.

Read on about our day of adventure and delicious food!

MM Six: The Doctor

I had my first experience with a French doctor this past week.  This may be a bit of an awkward post, but I'll try to keep it comical too! :)

MM Cinq

I have learned a lot in the last month, especially the last week, about the challenges associated with cooking and baking in a country with recipes from a different country.

Italia Part 2 (Florence & Venice)

After driving through the scenic countryside of Italy, we arrived in Florence.  Unfortunately, I came down with some kind of cold that put me a bit under the weather, but I tried not to let it ruin our sight-seeing!

Buongiorno Italia! (Milan & Verona)

Our first trip to Italy was a success!  Even though it was a little last minute and not fully planned, we had a great time.  It is crazy to think that only a little over a month ago, I had never been to Europe, and one month later I've visited 5 cities!  Feeling very blessed that we have this opportunity for so much traveling!

We started in Milan, made a quick side trip to Verona, then onto Florence, and finally Venice.  Busy but so worth it! :)

MM 4: Coins & French

I almost forgot it was Monday! Just got back from our Italy trip today (post on that coming soon), so it was a busy day filled with laundry and grocery shopping, exciting, I know.

Todays tidbits are travel related:

*Coin purses are essential here but incredibly hard to find! In America when we get change at a store, I'm sure we all do the same thing: throw it in a pocket, a cup holder of the car, or eventually find it in the bottom of the couch. Little thought is given to it (unless you finally round it up and take it to a coinstar machine). Here, I hold onto change like no other! It is not uncommon to have 10-15 euros (or more) of change at a time since the smallest bill here is 5 euros. Takes a little getting used to, and I'm pretty sure cashiers could rip me off if they wanted to because I still have no idea which coin is which when they hand me a pile! The strangest part is that I looked in about 10 stores before I even found a coin purse. What do Europeans do? Maybe they just prefer to find $20 in the couch compared to our $2, I don't know!

*I never thought I would be so happy to hear French. Even though the majority of French still sounds completely foreign to me, I found myself drawn to everything written in French while in Italy. And if I heard someone speaking French? It felt like I was at home! I think this must be a good sign, right? (I'll just choose to ignore the fact that when I went to buy my train ticket home from the Paris airport today, I froze for about 2 minutes, completely forgetting how to speak any French!)