Midwestern Visitor!

____April 4_____ At the Races ________

Something amazing about living in France is that nothing ever seems normal to me. There was a wine & cheese 'dégustation' that began at 10 am on Easter Sunday, just before the races. Everyone who was able to drag themselves out of bed showed up on the steps in front of the swimming pool and walked over together for our first equestrian race ever. Colors, french fries, cold rain, the hollow sound of hooves on hard ground, an incomprehensible commentator rambling on in rapid phonemes. I won on my very first bet, one I was sure of: Oh My Love.

____April 5 ____Scoot's Honor______

After a long period of sitting still and solitary in the garage, the brilliant orange scooter made her maiden voyage of 2010. I drove all the way to Carrefour, respecting the city speed limit (the scooter can't go faster than 50 km per hour) and causing major traffic back-ups all over M.

___April 7____ What comes first? The Emily or the Egg____

SNCF, the train company in France, always strikes before/during/after a school vacation. So, of course, preceding Egg's arrival, the strike began, just in time to interfere with every perfectly planned aspect of the trip. After a day of waiting at the station, she finally arrived at 9:30 pm to the lovely, sleeping town of M where it felt like a dream to see my French life and my American life come together at last.

In what must have been a haze of jet lag and a jumble of language for Egg, we spent a few days in M, checking out the sights, spending time with my friends, visiting my Goat Baby Love, discovering the random giant golden Buddha, bowling, taking goofy pictures and catching up.

Saturday, we made our way up to Paris sitting on the floor of the tightly-packed train, a few hours later than we were planning. After a crazy trip through the Métro and up a billion stairs with a heavy suitcase, we finally found our hostel where we stayed with crazy, smiling neighbors but had delicious and free breakfast. Our days in Paris were spent walking along the Champs-Elysées, discovering the Louvre, eating Nutella crêpes, sandwiches and sushi, strolling through the gardens of Versailles and marveling at the Sun King's indulgence, taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower and soaking in the budding Spring.

Luckily, she made it back to the US before the crazy volcano explosion.

___April 17____Farmers R Us____

Comme d'habitude, we went to the farm on Saturday morning for a day of driving tractors and transporting cows from barn to pastures.

In the evening we went to see a basketball game, which was a total blast!

While my co-pilot slept in the passenger seat, I drove the 2-hour trip home to M, feeling like a total rock star.

___April 21___French Inquisition_____

On Wednesday, I had my first French job interview. Angleterre and I went to Clermont together on the train, and she did some shopping while I was pitching my positives and down-playing the imperfections. I hate job interviews, as usual, but found that somewhere along the way, I have learned to be frank and honest in a way that I am quite fond of. Apparently, they are also fond of it, because I have a second interview tomorrow.

In the evening, Sylvain and I went to his parents' house to pick up a tent and had a very nice dinner with his parents. It marked my second night drive of the week, and was pretty amazing until I stalled as I parked. Haha there is always room for progress, alors.

___April 22___ Birthday Girl___

I'm 25! Lots of "hellos" from friends and family, plus a dinner with my M friends and an evening at our favorite bar made me a very happy Birthday girl.

____April 23___Bicycles, Baguettes and Beautiful Weather____

With a car packed full of clothes, sleeping bags, a tent and food, we went out West in the little blue car headed for La Rochelle. After six hours of driving, one hour totally lost in the ridiculous city of Poitiers, we arrived to the touristy town and meandered around the coastal town. Before the sun set, we drove onto the island, across the 3 km bridge, and made a temporary home on the packed Earth of the camp ground.

An incredible weekend ensued, filled with picnics, salty air, sunshine, bike rides all over the island, oyster farms, a lighthouse, little villages, lots of stick-shift driving practice and beautiful weather.

While packing up the tent, we peeled off a dozen miniature escargots, happily oozing their way along the seams.

_____ April 28____Meander my Way____

I was a chaperon for a school field trip today. The 7th grade students went to study the meander in the Allier River, learning about erosion and deposition, calculating the speed of the currant, and taking field notes on meticulously-constructed work sheets. I was impressed by the teaching skills of Monsieur Le Stagiaire, and now I am exhausted from the histamines going crazy from the butter-cup colored Colza fields, plus the dandelions and trees and every other beautiful thing that my body mistakes for the enemy.

Tomorrow I will return to Clermont for a second interview, and then attend what could be my last dance class.

Friday is the end of my contract, and the beginning of my journey into the Really and Truly Unknown.