Whew! our return week has turned out to be a busy one so I haven't had any time to blog about China or even upload my photos. We still have all our suitcases lying about. My in-laws were here to drop off the kids and they stayed a few extra days. It's always hard having visitors when you yourself have just gotten back from a trip. What can we say though because they did really help us out by watching the kids. On Tuesday morning as I was getting Little S shuttled out the door for his school field trip to a this really pretty chateau in the Oise (French kids are SO spoiled) I got a "where are you!!?" phone call from a mom, or maybe I should say a "Where WERE you!?" phone call because apparently the rendez-vous for the field trip was thirty minutes before school started and they left without Little S. Of course typical small town style everyone knew about the early meeting time because it was discussed ad nauseum the week before in front of the school while we were in China, so poor us we were completely out of the loop. What's funny is that someone actually did call me to remind me about the picnic lunch but then didn't bother to tell me about the early leave time. It seemed typically French to me to worry about the food and not the most important thing! Anyway everyone said "tant pis" and "oh well," even the teacher who I called on the bus, but I did the American mom thing which was to jump in the car with the two kids and drive the two hours to the chateau (really it was 1 hour 15 minutes--everyone was dramatic about the length of time it would take--it wasn't going to deter me though). The look on Little S's teacher's face when I showed up was priceless! She stuttered "but how....what...." I didn't see the big deal about it. I didn't want him to miss his class field trip but it seemed to everyone to be so crazy. I'm still not sure why. I ended up staying the rest of the day with Charlotte and it was a fun family day. I had lots of little babysitters keeping an eye on Charlotte. She was delighted!
On Wednesday we all had to go to the American Consulate in Paris to renew Little S's expired passport. Children have to renew their passports every five years and I guess I should have thought of it on his birthday but I didn't. I hate leaving passport stuff to the last minute. There's also a new rule now that both parents need to be physically present to renew a child's passport so Seb had to come too. The American Consulate in Paris is so efficient that we were out of the building one hour after we checked in. Everyone is so nice and friendly. I hope they get the passport processed in the time they said because we leave in three weeks for the U.S!
I'll get around to uploading my pictures soon. My head is still in Asia and it's been tough readjusting to French life. At the same time my six euro bottle of bordeaux tasted pretty good this week. I guess I'm a little stuck in my gastronomic ways. I really missed French food by the end of the week.
(this is the chateau we visited but it's not my photo -- found here on flickr)
8 comments:
I got my baby's first passport I think one week after we applied at the consulate, so I think yours should be there before your leave time in three weeks!
I loved the American Embassy such a nice experience.
I've had incidents like that...where everyone else knew about something important like a departure time and not me. You definitely made the best of the day, by going anyway and bringing Charlotte! :)
maybe they're just not used to "can do" americans?!
Ashley - We got it this morning. It only took four days!
meredith - they apparently posted a note on the classroom door but with all the parents lingering about socialising there's no way I could have read it.
jadie - haha, maybe. I think the idea of jumping in a car and driving an hour away for something is not so automatic for a French person. I've had this reaction before. I think we grow up with a commuter attitude in the US and driving an hour in the car for something isn't such a big deal. Besides everything is so far away in the states--big open spaces and all.
People in the US are used to driving more and longer distances. I am turning into an Italian though. Everything seems soooooooo far away! We went to Ferrara on Sat and I thought it was going to be an interminable car ride and it ended up being only one hour! Less than it took us to go to Bologna two weeks earlier! If only I had realized, we would have gone earlier.
That was sweet of you to take him yourself. And what a great day you must have had, and Charlotte, too.
p.s. I am so glad you posted about the passport because Jack turns 5 in April and I just realized his passport expires soon too. We aren't going to the US until Oct but I am glad I realized in plenty of time.
Still patiently waiting for stories about China .... but you have been pretty busy!
Three weeks, eh? That's pretty soon! I was thinking the other day how fun it would be to meet you. I had always hoped you would make it to the beach house in Mexico, but it wasn't meant to be.
The weather is just gorgeous now. You're going to love it!
I attended a conference for school/work a few weeks back at the Sheraton Sand Key--and I think I recall you mentioning that to me once? Did I remember correctly?
Anyway, I can only imagine how much you'll have on your plate when you're here, but I'll e-mail you my number, and maybe we can meet for a coffee or a drink? I live in a VERY fun part of town!
Also, my hubby is THE entertainment at Channelside on the weekends (He's a painter: Find him on You Tube under "Spray Paint Art Channelside" or follow the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VliSgEmj_-Q
Kids absolutely love him, and I know you and little S do lots of art together, so that could be something really fun to do-- That is, if you feel like venturing to Hillsborough County!
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