New Blog Site....

To everyone who follows this blog at this address....I've started a new blog, still this one really, but with a shortened name so it's easier to remember and to write.


New blog... http://anexpatsadventure.blogspot.com/ 


I hope you'll join the family there and become a follower or sign up for post alerts.  I won't be continuing this one any longer and would hate for you to miss any of the fun.


Thanks for following us on our Expat Adventure!!  The adventure continues.....

Taylor as Tarzan...

Today I went with Taylor's class on their field trip to the Pitchoun Forest in Villeneuve Loubet, just outside of Nice.  This place is so fun!  They have three different parks, all having to do with the outdoors like climbing walkways between the trees, gliding down wires, going through mazes and other cool stuff that makes you remember your small town upbringing.

We went to one of the other parks here, Le Bois des Lutins, in May with my friend and her daughter. You can read about it and see pics in this post.

The kids wear harnesses and go through the course from tree to tree hooked to a wire, so if they lose their footing they don't fall to the ground. Smart! Too bad this one is only for 3-10 year olds.  Those wire glides look really fun.

So here are some pics of T doing his best Tarzan impression. :)

A quick lesson on how to hook on. 

Mastering the course.

Looks like he likes the glides too! Wheeeeeee

See you soon......

The Week in Review...

Well, another busy week full of fun to share...

Monday was a holiday so as you saw by the last post, we spent the day at the beach.  Super fun!!

Tuesday we picked up the car.  YEAH!  The dealership was so sweet, they gave it to us with a completely empty tank of gas.  So, a quick lesson on European fuel prices....for everyone in America who complains about high gas prices, we filled the tank of a small car for...brace yourselves...75 Euros.  That equals $105 dollars at the 1.4 exchange rate!!!  But, as I thought about it, it kind of equals out.  Everything here is 1/4th the distance to get anywhere.  If I went half way across the state of New York, I'd have gone to a whole other country here, maybe two!

And to think...I can get a tasty bottle of champagne, okay, sparkling wine, for 4 Euros ($5.60)!!  I guess it all equals out. :)

We also went to the town Marie (Town Hall) and got info on all that we needed to inscribe Taylor into our local public school.  We like the ABC School, but are thinking he needs to be immersed in French before he hits the equivalent of 1st grade when the real lessons start.

Wednesday we packed up our little car and moved back up the hill.  We were sad to leave the beautiful Port apartment, but Grandpa was coming home the next day.  Our new view...

Not bad, but the balcony isn't big enough for my lounger and the hill is not fun to walk up with groceries or two tired kids. Plus you can't run next door to the market or across the street to the bakery.  (Maybe these are pluses actually, it IS swimsuit season.)

Since nothing can be done in one day here, I took all the paperwork back to the town Marie and in my broken French got the paperwork filled in to then take to the school.

Thursday J worked hard to find a good work space in the tiny apartment and I hung out with Emm downtown for her Gym class, picked up my first paycheck (yeah) in France, and did a bit of window shopping.

Now on our third day for this chore, together we went to the Terra Amata public school down our hill to meet with the Director.  He was nice and lucky for us there was room in Taylor's age group.  The classes go by birth year.  He'll be with all the 2006 births, so he won't necessarily be the youngest in his class anymore.  The bad thing, his class will now be twice the size.  Which means he won't get as much personal attention.  We have to work this summer on teaching him more basic French.  Ok, Daddy will have to work on that with him and me.

Friday after T came home from school we piled into the car and drove along the coast visiting a few of the towns next door.  Villefranche is still one of my favorites!  We drove around St Jean Cap Ferrat, ate in Beaulieu's port, played at a park in Villefranche Sur Mer and came home all in a matter of a few hours.  It's sooo beautiful here.  I feel like I'm on a permanent vacation living here.  Shouldn't life always feel this way?

Villefranche sur Mer

Cap St Jean Ferrat...

Beaulieu...

Saturday Taylor had a "Spectacle" at his school where all the classes performed skits/musical numbers.  I added a video but didn't cut it down.  So don't feel obliged to sit through the whole 6 minutes, although it is awful cute (biased, I know).

Sunday we got back in the car and went all the way to Italy and ate in Ventimiglia.  There was a "little" parade, The Battaglia di Fiori, that had just ended so we hopped in line and walked along with them.  Too bad we didn't get out a wee bit earlier...

Charlie was King of the world. He really had a grip on that window! 

My next car...

Following the band.

These floats were decorated completely with carnations...the town folk compete with the decoration and construction of intricate displays depicting baroque figures for this yearly celebration.

A street in the center of Ventimiglia.

Thanks for hangin' with us.....

Whew, I gotta start making shorter posts. :)

Lounging at the Beach....

Today was a bank holiday here in France so Taylor was out of school.  Since daddy had oodles of work to do I took the kiddies to the beach with my California friend and her daughter.

I aimed us straight for my new favorite place along the bus line (as our money transfer STILL hasn't gone through so we have yet to save our little car from the lot), the Beach club at St Laurent-du-Var.

We took advantage of renting beach chairs on their private beach, felt like such a luxury!  Out here on the East side of the coast you have mostly rocky beaches. If you want nice sandy beaches, you have to go West a few more towns.  So, many restaurants create their own private beaches by bringing in sand to create a little sandy oasis for anyone who wants to pay for it. :)

Here are some pics....

I have to say...I love living here! :)

Our new car....

Okay everyone, thanks for staying tuned and returning for the third and final installment of "Car Shopping".  

The third day was our lucky day!  There, sitting on the lot, was the newest member of our family just waiting for us to arrive and claim her as ours.  She was the ONLY automatic available and she even checked off all our other boxes.

Now, a little game if you don't mind.  I like keeping you in suspense.

Don't look ahead or you'll ruin the big revealing. :)

Can you spot our car in this picture?

How about this picture?

Okay...may we introduce......

Our little Burnt Orange Peugeot. 

Yes, the same company I did the commercial for, and no, I unfortunately did not get a discount. :)


The poor thing had so many cobwebs on her that we just HAD to buy her and give her a loving home.  She may be colorful, but I'll bet we never lose her in a mall parking lot!!  

Although, with all the mom's in Mercedes A Classes at the ABC School, I may not be allowed in the drop-off queue. :)

Car Shopping Day 2...in a minute...

We're really looking forward to taking drives to see the country which makes buying this car our number one priority this week.  So, back to shopping.  

Today we went straight to the dealerships to see a couple types we didn't see yesterday, and one I kind of liked again.  Hoping one of them might have a nice, slightly used, automatic for sale.  I'll tell you, go into a dealership with two young children and they leave you alone to browse! :) 

A little video of our adventure....

Well, it was a short visit in each shop.  As much as I liked the shiny new cars, we were quickly ushered back to the big used lots with all the possibilities in our range, and for J's much desired automatic.

Tomorrow we jump back on the bus.  Fingers crossed we have better luck!

To Do Lists......

TO DO:

1. Buy a car

2. Find a new apartment

3. Learn French

Now that J is back and we've relaxed a bit we've begun working on the "TO DO" List.

This week....buy a car.

We have a list of needs.  J wants an automatic with AC and power everything he can get.  I want 4 doors and room for three in the back seat with plenty of leg room.

J is in love with the Mercedes A Class but we're sticking with a budget of 8,000 euros. Unless we go to Germany to buy our car we probably won't be riding in one anytime soon.

So we looked up used car lots and decided to head there first to see a few different makers and sit in each to narrow down the field.  We also didn't know where to get insurance or what we needed to actually buy a car in a foreign country. We figured we get some info from the salesman.

So, we all jumped on a bus across town and landed at a big lot full of possibilities.

The kids had tons of fun on this adventure.  Hold on you two, those keys will be yours soon enough.

I thought the Fiat Punto had a snazzy enough interior and room in the back.
Even the bright blue exterior wasn't too bad.

Then the Renault Clio snuck in...watching them on the streets I wasn't much of a fan.

Ends up, I like the Renault Clio as well.

Both of these were in our price range, but lacked the one important thing on J's list...they were manuals.  It seems that only about 1 out of every 10 cars in France is an automatic.  Hmmm, seems like this will be a longer search than we thought.

Stay tuned......