Kids love the sports camp!   They love everything about it- the sports, coaches, food and even the bus ride because it has a TV.  Luciana was initially placed in her age group and she was the only girl with 4 boys.  However, by the end of the day- she was the only one who could hit the ball back in tennis and she moved up a level!

Wow!  I can't believe we have been here over one month!   I have learned a few important things...
1.  Always bring your own plastic bags to stores.  It costs money to buy bags to carry your groceries /goods home.
2.  Always have 1 Euro handy if you want to use a shopping cart.  They are all connected and you get your Euro back when you return your cart.
3.  Always have a 50 cent piece in case you need to use the public toilet
4.  When driving, make sure you stop plenty before the crosswalk.  Stoplights are right in front of crosswalk and at eye level so even if you go a tad too far you cant see the light when it turns.  I have had many quick reverses.
5.  The cafe protocol.  Sitting down at a cafe and ordering a cafe creme and croissant can cost  @7 euros depending on where you are.  That's way more than Starbucks!  If you go inside and order it yourself  at the cafe bar it will cost you @ 5 euros.  If you go to a bakery- it will cost you around 3 Euros.  There is a premium of getting served outside!
6.  We asked a Parisian how to spot a good restaurant.  He told us these things:
* never eat somewhere where you can see a tourist monument, etc
* never eat anywhere where you have to flip through a menu
* best restaurants have only 5 options for appetizers and entrees.  His argument was that too many options mean quality of food goes down and the plate of the day is always best.  It guarantees that the dish is fresh as the chef will have gone to the market that morning.
* the more cigarette buds outside the cafe- the better!

 Chris is in the USA this week so it gives the kids and I some time to reflect....Here are the things I miss (besides family and friends)
1.  My deep kitchen sink
2.  Garbage disposals
3. Air conditioning on those 90 degree days!
4. Large capacity washer and dryer
5. Mexican food

The kids miss:
1. macaroni and cheese
2. "normal" granola bars
3.  Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal- although they love the fact that there are toys in the cereal boxes here and I love the fact that there is significantly less sugar here.
4. gymnastics and hockey
5.  Abi's cheese empanadas
6. Emilia misses small door handles on the left side of the doors.  She doesn't like these "huge french handles in the middle of the door"

What I love:
1.  every grocery store has an entire aisled dedicated to chocolate
2.  Having wine for lunch and dinner
3.  Watching the kids bond with each other and become so adaptable
4.  Emilia and Luciana's school supply list requires a cloth apron for weekly pastry lessons
5.  Seeing Chris a lot more and having family dinner conversations
6.  Architecture in Paris- the limestone buildings and black ironwork balconies.
7.  All the walking!

Also as I have been driving now for over month, I have gotten quite comfortable with my skills.   Long gone are my hands on the 10 and 3 of the steering wheel.  I even honked at someone the other day. I thank my dad for all those years of his aggressive driving-it works for me in Paris!  I also noticed that I was jamming to the song "We built this city" in my minivan.  I hate that song. It was then I realized that there are no standards of American music in a foreign country- one is happy listening to anything in English!

We also started a chalkboard of things we want to do while we are here....here is what we have so far.....open to suggestions!!