art projects

M and I made some cards for our family in the US.

It was my first attempt (as M was in daycare before and has made many hand print artwork).

What I found out is that you really have to be organized and ready for the clean up! I did pretty well...but i wish I had helped M make better formed hand prints. Some don't even resemble a hand haha! Next time we will be ready!

I would like to get a craft table for M's room.


Enjoy the photos!

funny photo...

M in a box

did you know...

I have noticed that in Paris there are so many people who pick through the garbage! Not necessarily homeless but definitely needy. It's very sad.

famous person sighting...mathieu amalric

Not many of you will know who Mathieu Amalric since he is a French Actor.  But he was in a very famous and award wining movie The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.  He played the Editor of ELLE Magazine (French ELLE) who had a stroke and suffered from the "Locked in Syndrome" but still managed to communicate and wrote his memories by blinking!  It is a must see movie. 

Yesterday (Saturday) I was picking up the dry cleaning in our neightborhood and there he was riding down the street on a bicycle with his son on the handle bars.  I recognized him immediately but could not place his name...I was sure it was an American actor but nope another Frenchy ;-)  That's what I get for watching so many foreign films with F!

a year in review!

Here are all of M's monthly photos of how he has changed throughout this year!

Enjoy ;-)

did you know...

Did you know that in France you have so many different markets to buy your food from? You can't or shouldn't get everything from the grocery store like in the US. The bread for one is not very good in the grocery stores (supermarkets) nor are the fruit/vegetables/meats very fresh.

Going to so many different stores is pretty much impossible without a car or an elevator. So like I mentioned in my other post we are going to have our groceries delivered to us (milk, yogurt, cleaning products, water etc...) and the rest veggies/fruits and meats we are either going to go to Le Marché or to La Boucherie.

We make our own bread with our bread machine. Thank goodness it works here (we have a transformer in the kitchen). It is tiresome to have to go to La Boulangerie every day! But on Saturdays we like to pick up some fresh croissants or a special pastry for dessert ;-)

Below are SOME examples of the different shops (there are so many more SPECIALTY shops that I haven't even discovered yet!):

la fromagerie ~ cheese store

l'épicerie ~ convenient store (with fresh fruit/vegetables)
le marché ~  outdoor market

le supermarché ~ supermarket (grocery store)
la boulangerie ~  bakery

la boucherie ~ butcher shop
la charcuterie ~  pork butcher
la poissonnerie ~ fish store
la pâtisserie ~ pastry shop

did you know...

That the streets are cleaned EVERYDAY and the garbage is picked up EVERYDAY as well!

Paris is a clean city but it takes A LOT of work and sometimes they just can't keep up. But they sure do try very hard.

It's 10:40pm right now and the garbage is being picked up!

Sorry that the picture is a bit blurry...

bastille day

Bastille Day is similar to Independence Day in the US.

We were still unpacking so we did not venture out for the holiday (not a huge loss since it rained all day!).

BUT we could see the planes doing an air show fly by our apartment! A week before Bastille Day they were doing a test flight and I didn't know what was going on...I thought a plane was going to crash ;-)

ordering food online!

So F and I have been researching the delivery (Livaraison) services for supermarkets. It is very difficult "in" Paris to get all of your groceries home and up the stairs (without an elevator). Unless you want to go every other day to a dinky grocery store. I wouldn't even say they are grocery stores more like convenient stores. Franprix and G20 are the ones near me and they are not very nice or have quality food. There is a Monoprix within 5 mins walking but Monoprix is quite expensive compared to Carrefour/Achuan/Simply Market (including their online stores).

Here is a great site that compares all the leading online markets based on price, delivery prices, hours of delivery, number of products offered etc...

http://www.supermarche.tv/tableau-comparatif.htm

We are going to try Simply Market to start as they are by far the cheapest in a price comparison. Monoprix was almost 20 euros more!

I will keep you updated...

m and the keys

Our buffet cabinet has a lock on it. We took away the keys a few weeks back because he was messing with them. Today he tried to unlock the buffet by using his toy keys it was so cute!

did you know...

This will be a reoccurring post about things you might not have known about France.

Did you know France's toilet paper is PINK?

You can buy white if you would like but you will see pink toilet paper everywhere ;-)

all moved in!

Imagine every room of your house filled with boxes...that was our place on Monday, July 12th!

We could not move it was so bad :-)

136 boxes/items is a lot to fit into an apartment that is approximately 800 sq ft.

The move went smoothly. The moving company brought up our boxes through the WINDOW! Yep...I think F might have taken a photo of the lift they used. I will post it soon. The boxes were coming in so fast that it was hard to direct where to put the boxes. But we managed and everything got to the right spot.

The first few days were pretty hectic luckily M's Mamie was able to come early on moving day and the day after. F had to work the next day but Wednesday was Bastille Day and he was off to help unpack more boxes. By the weekend we were pretty much all unpacked.

Attached are the remaining boxes in our apartment. Mostly electronics and computer stuff F has to sort and organize. There are more boxes in the Cave and in our bonus room (separate room above the apt).

We still have to organize the items we have unpacked and decorate. I will post more photos as soon as we are all settled in.

the big move...

Tomorrow is the big move FINALLY!!!!

The movers should be at our apartment at 8:30am (Paris time). M is being watched by his Mammie at the temporary apartment. While F and I organize the delivery. I am forecasting a long day.

This weekend we spent the entire time cleaning and preparing the apartment for our shipment. We got a lot done.

Here are some pics of our bedroom floors (in some of them you can see the before and after). We revitalized them with some kind of Parquet chemical (I attached a photo of the product we used).

More pics to come...

Enjoy!

update on promises...

The contractor did come yesterday and he installed the Water Heater. Not sure if he connected our water exhaust to the neighbors or not...This is important so we can actually USE the new bathroom.

He should be installing the surround for the shower today (as he asked what kind of glass - clear, opaque or one with a decoration on it)...we went with Clear btw.

I will update with pics later tonight as we usually go after 3pm when F's parents arrive.

promises

The contractors promised that they will be here tomorrow - Sunday. YES they are committing to work on SUNDAY! That is amazing for The French. Let's see if they keep their promises...

F's dad finished staining and buffing the floors today. He still needs another coat of wax. But it looks 100% better already. I included one before pic (sanded and unsanded floor) foe comparison.

no progress...

That's right the contractors did not come on Monday nor today!!!! F is mad and so are his parents. They called the contractor today but I had a hard time understanding what was said. I think they are going to connect the water execution with the neighbors on Thursday. They had to make an appointment with the neighbor. If that is true then MAYBE they can at least get the shower finished by our move out date which is Tuesday. Wednesday is a holiday here in France...a big one. Bastille Day ~ July 14th. It is like their Independence Day. So there might be a lot of people on vacation this week for the contractor. Not sure what is going to happen if we don't have a shower. I might be washing my hair in the kitchen sink!

The only progress that was made was by F's dad today. He put the stain on the floors and he will polish it tomorrow. Then a polish of wax will go on after that. Not sure if it will be done tomorrow or Thursday. But Saturday we will for sure be able to move in M's toys and furniture into the room!!! Then we can finish organizing the rest of the space before all of our stuff arrives ;-)

floors

F's dad has been working tirelessly for 2 weeks now sanding the floors of the bedroom and hallway.

Here are a few pics of his progress. Next step is staining and waxing them which will take place this week. This will complete the bedroom.

I have more photos to post of the completed bedroom once we get some good shots with our wide angle lens (sorry can't do it till this weekend)...stay tuned!

Pic # 1 is his first attempt and Pic # 2 is when it is completed (darker flooring is the bedroom next door to compare sanded vs. unsanded.

in construction part trois...almost completed

As you can see the walls are completed and painted and the bathroom is tiled and the shower is in! We are currently only waiting for F's dad to stain and wax the floors and doors to complete the bedroom!!! He will be working on them this week.

And as for the bathroom this is a whole different story. In the bathroom photo looks completed but we are nowhere near completed. The contractors still need to connect the water execution to the neighbors, install the water heater, toilet, sink, and finish up the shower installation. They assure us that this will not take too long. But our Sea Shipment is currently scheduled to arrive on Monday, July 12th (that is 1 week from today!). I am going this afternoon to check if there was any progress today. Let's hope they actually came today and did something!

in construction part deux...

In these photos the contractors have put up the bathroom and hallway walls which have been fitted with Green Board. Green Board was used as the original walls were made of plaster and were cracked. It was suggested the best way to remedy this was to dry wall over the plaster to prevent more cracks and future repairs. Last photo is of the bathroom...sorry the angle is not good. It doesn't give you an idea of how big it is. But with only green walls you can't really tell anyway :-) More to come!

Photos taken May 2010

in construction...

Here are some photos during the demolition phase of the bedroom/bathroom.

In Photos # 1 and 2 they found more space which widens the room! They found about a foot of space which were a few small closets and an old chimney that was not working any longer. We were able to cap off the chimney and take them out which widened the bedroom to 9.5ft x 11ft!

In Photo # 3 the contractors removed the flooring where the bathroom will be placed.

Photo # 4 is a view from the main door to the Window.

These photos were taken back in April 2010