Premier jour...

2 September 2008- Today is the day all the French return to school. First day of school! Ah, those were the days. We chatted with a lovely Italian girl who will be attending a high school down the street from us. We gave her the lowdown on the neighborhood- internet cafes, grocery stores, things to do. Still feel so inadequate when I hear folks switch between 2 or 3 languages. She had been learning english since birth but only started the french 6 years ago. Yeah, french books have been sitting right where they were the day we unpacked.
Yesterday was the first day our boulangerie was open. Hooray for Jesus! Chad's colleague is staying with us and he made the rounds. Chad himself made the rounds. Fresh bread surrounding me with a handful of pastries.
I read an article or book once that claims that in the Gaul calendar, September 1 is the first day. Must explain the whole August off issue that the french deal with. The grocery stores were packed full on Saturday and Chad went to one that was open late (10pm) but due to the volume of people, they were not allowing more in after 9pm. Yesterday people were still smiling and happy. Lets see if that trend continues.
Today is the first day of the Ashby Nickell biggest loser contest. We are both in need of some eating better and working out more- a lot more. We weighed in yesterday, ouch that scale hurts but I was already fore-warned after some pant-trying-on. The stakes are still be negotiated. I will report on any progress. It is going until December 1, need at least 6 weeks to really make long changes to this body.
Thursday will begin the best days of my life in Paris so far. After lots of haggling, broken glasses, cut fingers- we are getting a mini dishwasher. This thing is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Looks like a microwave or toaster oven. It will not handle everything, but at least gets the French porcelain sink from chewing up the plates and glasses. And with not one but two engineers at home to install it, all should (notice I say should) go well.
Off to lunch with friends to have the "what did you do over summer break?" discussion. A bientot!