Life in temporary housing

Many have been wondering about our day to day life in France. Posted are some pictures of our temporary house and other activities we have enjoyed in Romagnat, a suburb of Clermont-Ferrand. Romagnat is about 15 minutes driving from the center of the main city, Clermont. It takes about 25 minutes to get to the center riding on the city bus. We are in a neighborhood of several townhouses and it is very quiet (except for the dogs, one of them being ours!) We like living out here because it is close enough for us to walk to the market each Sunday in Aubiere (about 15-20 walking) and we have a yard. The downside is that we have to drive or take the bus to school and work daily. So we are going to move into an apartment in Clermont this week!

The temporary house is actually quite comfortable. We have 3 bedrooms, a living-dining area, a full kitchen, garage and storage room. The most challenging part has been having one shower. Fortunately there are 2 additional half baths. The house was equipped with linens and dishes, pots, small appliances, etc. But it has really been hard living out of our suitcases without our other things. But that will change this week!

One of the things I like about living outside of Clermont, for now, is how close we are to Auchun and other large Walmart type stores like it. Unlike stores in Clermont, Auchun is open from 8 am until 9:30 pm. Most grocery stores close at 7:30pm. Also in the Auchun shopping center, there are other retailers that stay open during lunch from 12 to 2pm. Other independent stores in Clermont and around shut down from 12 to 2 for lunch. Clothing stores, car dealerships, furniture stores, utilities, Michelin, you name it, they are not available between 12 and 2pm daily.

While we are on the lunch thing, I must mention that it really takes 2 hrs to eat lunch in a restaurant. Your service is paced to take about an 1 and 1/2. The upside is that you can really enjoy the time with friends and in our case, Preston and I get mini dates once a week by going out to lunch. The school children also get 2 hours for lunch. This gives many of them enough time to go home for lunch. Mine, however, eat at school!

Dinner is usually served in the restuarants around 7:30pm. In fact many restaurants in town are not opened until 7pm. Some restuarants outside of the city serve 7hrs a day nonstop, but it is strange to go in at 6 pm because they will be completely empty, except for the Americans!

Paris

Well we did it!  We took a one day trip to Paris.  In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought I would live so close to one of the world’s greatest and most beautiful cities.  We got up Saturday morning and took our Peugeot minivan on our first rode trip.   It took about 2 hrs for us to get up and ready, but with 1 shower and 6 people, I think that was pretty good.   We left at 9am and the drive was about 4 hours long.

Our main destination for this 1^st trip was the Eiffel Tower.  We plan on making many return trips in the future.  The weather was great!  We parked our car and walked about 4 blocks to the Eiffel Tower.  It was beautiful and breathtaking and larger than life.  We were not able to go up to the top this trip because we decided to bring Prince, our poodle along dogs are not allowed to go up.  But that will certainly be something we do on the next trip. 

The children were really impressed.  They realized how blessed they were to be able to be there.  This was John's first request when we told him we were moving to France.  He wanted to see the Eiffel Tower first.  

We had lunch at a café right across the street from the Eiffel Tower.  They had really good French fries!  We also had beignets (French doughnuts) and ice cream.  Then we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and down the Avenue des Champs Elysees.  The Arc was a grand site.  But the kids were really impressed by seeing the designer stores, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Aston Martin etc.  as we walked the boulevard. It was really a dream come true.  We left about 6 pm and were home before 11pm.  Can you believe it! 

Driving in France

Here are some pics of the rental car that I have been driving.  It is a 6 passenger vehicle, however the 5^th and 6^th seats are really popups in the trunk!  That’s were John sits if needed.  Last week, Preston went to Italy for 3 days on business, so I returned the 8 passenger bus they initially gave us for a smaller car I could drive and most importantly park!  It is a standard shift diesel, the most popular combo here.  Here's a shout out to my dad who made me learn to drive a standard shift before he would allow me to get my license.  Gas mileage is great in the car, gas prices not so great.  Fortunately, I have not had to fill the tank yet.

Some of the driving rules are different, so I am learning as I go along.  I can drive in France because of an agreement SC has with France.  Daniele thinks I need to go to driving school though!