Getting settled

Bonjour mon amis!  I am happy to report that we are getting settled here in Paris.  After a rough couple of nights, the kids are now sleeping better.  First the kids had to recover from their jetlag.  The first night, James woke up three times and the final time was at 12:30 am here.  He truly was wide awake as it was only 7:30 pm Atlanta time.  He kept saying he wasn't tired and didn't need to go to sleep.  I think we have cured that jet lag problem.  However, we are all adjusting to apartment living and neighbors.  No one is really loud, but there is noise that we have to adjust to.  Our building is probably over 100 years old and the wooden floors creak everywhere.  Additionally our neighbor upstairs plays a variety of wind instruments - I think I have heard four different ones so far:  flute, sax, trumpet and clarinet.  So far he (or she?) only plays in the afternoon and evening - nothing at night.  Sometimes we get music while we have dinner which is actually nice... 

James went to preschool this week.  For the months of May and June he will go to preschool from 9 to 12.  The preschool is associated with the Lennen Bilingual School he will attend in the fall.  This way James will meet some of the kids he will go to Pre-K with in the fall.  We also thought it would be a good way to get him exposed to some French this way.  So far he is having fun and enjoying his new friends.  They have a ton of trains in his class and that keeps him very happy.  They are studying caterpillars and butterflies this week and will have real live caterpillars in their class as pets by weeks end.  He has two teachers - Sophie who is British and speaks English and Stephanie who is French and speaks French.  There are 14 children total in his class.  The playground they visit every day is right on the banks of the Siene.  So every day James can watch the boats go by on the Siene.

After school, we have lunch and then Mary Martin has a nap.  It appears that our routine every day will include a trip to the park after MM's nap.  I am waiting for her to wake up now so we can head to the park.  We have found a better park then the first one we visited.  This park is in the Champ du Mars  - which is the long park that runs down from the Effiel Tower.  So the kids literally play in the shadow of the Effiel Tower every day.  We are a five minute walk from this park.  You can see in the picture.  Mary Martin is on the bouncy horse in the foreground.  The horse is dark blue/black and Mary Martin has on pink leggings. 

What else have we been doing?  Exploring French fashion... 

And, today, while James was at school, Mary Martin and I took Gee to see Notre Dame.  We didn't stay long but did get to show Gee its grandeur and size.  Mary Martin just rode along taking it all in. 

And, no, there are not palm trees in front of Notre Dame.  There was some sort of tribute to saints all over the world today in the plaza outside Notre Dame, with a tree for every saint, I think!?!?  Another French oddity - to ruin their sacred buildings and sites with modern exhibits like this. 

Bon voyage and merci beaucoup to Gee (Gail) who has made our first week so much easier.  She has been a great giver of baths, did not complain about my coffee, and was instrumental at the grocery store - is this flour? It looks like flour.  Is this garlic?  Smells like garlic...  She was right on both.

Come visit again soon.  You already know about the odd bathroom and our sax-playing neighbor upstairs.  I promise next time we will show you more than the Effiel Tower and Notre Dame.  And, maybe, just maybe, we will have seats for our terrace to sit on!