Picnic in Versailles

Me with the Sacre Coeur

     My week has been quite amazing. Every day I ask myself how I have become so lucky to have such a wonderful opportunity. This city is so beautiful and the people are so friendly. I could get stuck in a pattern where I do the same things and eat the same things day after day, but really since I've come here not one day has been the same. Everything I do is different from the day before, and I learn so many new things.

     Sara (the other Au Pair that I met) is wonderful I am SO happy that I met her. She is so similar to me and so easy to talk to. I am very luck. This whole experience has been so great and I feel so lucky.

     Cecile asked me if I like being an Au Pair. She says she is very happy with how things are working out and that the kids seem to be better about homework and much happier lately. That makes me feel really good. I sometimes feel like they are giving me more than I can work for. I try to be a hard worker, but there are many time that they don’t need my help.

     Also the kids really love the jokes I have been getting from everyone. They laugh then try to make up their own with the same plot that I used for the ones I tell. They also really like different works we use to talk. Like Where vs Wear. Or Trunk and the multiple meanings that it comes with.

     Tuesday morning I went out with Sara to get breakfast. We were going to have some hot chocolate at this famous little cafe, but when we got there we realized that it was the same cafe that we went to last week. Sara said we should try to find something new, and we found this nice café to eat in. While there the TV's started playing music videos and one of the videos was the one I posted on Facebook; Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden. It was a music video that was filmed in Paris! I have been too most of those places, including Montmartre. It's the area where all the artists live and my second favorite spot in Paris (with the first being Place de la Concord). We went to one of my favorite little hamburger shops in the area and talked with the guy who owned it for a while, it was funny that he recognized me from before.

    Aimée was involved in this cooking group this week. A group of about 10 kids or so would spend the afternoon with a professional chief in his kitchen and he would teach them how to cook. They help him prepare some of the means that will be served for the night. We came to eat dinner there and ordered the things that Aimée helped to make. The dinner was like food you would get at a fancy wedding reception dinner, and the French eat like this all time. I really enjoyed the dinner. Aimée needed to bring her own set of knives. I can't believe that they would let an eight year old help cook at a professional restaurant and use knives!

Sara and I in Montmartre 

     The whole program was set up by a girl who is from San Francisco. She has been doing it for eight years and is now coming here to do the program as well. The profit goes to charity, where they do the same thing with kids who live in poorer conditions in hopes that they will learn to cook better for themselves. It sounds better when she explains it. It’s a really go idea in my mind. You go to wealthy private schools and say you will let their kids come and cook with a professional chief, then you take the money that you get for arranging that and donate it charity. The kids have fun, the restaurants get customers (the families still pay full price), and they can use the money they earn from setting up the program to help children in need. I thought it was clever.

     The only down side to the whole thing was that we got home late and the kids were very tired. We did however get to drive around Paris late at night. This city is SO beautiful! I love the buildings and the style that everything is in. Whoever is in charge of lighting Paris is brilliant. Everything looks amazing. Cecile and Alain were pointing different things out to me and telling me about different areas in Paris. Did you know that the law here is that when you turn 18 you are allowed to drive a car, vote, and drink? They think it's crazy that in America the ages are so different. They don't understand why we let 16 year old kids drive. Cecile is very interested in my point of view of the coming election. It’s interesting to hear the things that she likes about our Government.

The Old Paris with the New

     As I said before the kids were very tired, this did not make the next day any easier. Aimée and Daniel were very tired and cranky. Aimée got very upset when a girl in her cooking class made fun of her. She cried and pouted for the rest of the evening. Cecile doesn't have a very long tolerance for pouting and became very cross with Aimée. Daniel didn't have much Homework, but any little thing set him off. He was so tired that he almost fell asleep at the dinner table and cried for a few minutes because dinner was late and he wanted to go to bed.

     My hair does not like Paris. I have considered more than once that it might be a good idea to chop it all off so I don't have to worry about it! I might just need to get a really good brush, but I don't understand how it gets so frizzy and knotted. It is about 3 inches shorter than it usually is but makes up for it in volume. Talk about a major fro!

Versailles Palace

     This week was Alain and Cecile's 10th Wedding Anniversary and they threw a party. It started about 8:30 PM but most people didn’t start showing up until around 9 PM. So basically, French parties start when Utah parties are ending. J There were still people here until almost 12:30. Sara says that she usually does all the cooking for a party like this, but because there were going to be more than 25 people coming she hired a caterer. The food was amazing (of course), and yet again felt like I was at a very fancy wedding reception. I might have to go to a wedding here so I can see how someone could possibly top the food of everyday eating. Everyone was dressed up and Cecile looked beautiful! Everyone was very friendly and would “faire la bise.” I go kisses from both women and men. That is a new cultural experience. I had a few people try to talk to me in French, but I’m still not great with my French so they would talk to me in a little English. The children stayed awake the whole time and I’m sad to say that they might have been up later than me.

Picnic with the ward  

     Today was also a wonderful day. I went to Versailles for the Paris Stake Conference with the church. Imagine an entire conference in a different language. Although I didn’t understand most of what was being said, I could still understand the message of the meeting and feel the spirit. I wondered; are there many talks in General Conference where it is spoken in a language other than English? If not, I think there should be more talks like that. Why should other languages always have their talks translated? It’s amazing to see the church in a different environment, and to know that at that moment people of different background in different countries learning the same teachings I have been learning. I think we sometimes forget about that in are small Utah Mormon bubble. We are so lucky to have the church in our back yard and we forget about all the other wonderful cultures that are out there. It was a wonderful moment for me.

Katherine, Sara, and Me 

     After the conference my ward walked over to the Palace of Versailles and the BEAUTIFUL gardens. There we sat and had a picnic. Imagine sitting next to the lake in the gardens with the chateau behind you, and talking with various people about their life in Paris. It was a great experience. I was able to get to know some of the Au Pairs better, met the Bishop and his family, and talked with Sara, Katherine and Andrew. All of whom were very lovely.

     Well I hope this next week is as jam backed with adventure as this one was so I can tell you all about it. Please let me know if you have any questions. I love to hear from you. Until next week!