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 unfortunatley 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. :)


Now, we just have to wait for the money to transfer from the US bank account to the French account and she's ours!

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 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.


Neither of us have owned a car for at least 10 years, so this should be interesting.  Let alone dealing with the French roads and rules!


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......

Ahhhhh....

My current location......

Certainly not a difficult choice on what to do with my afternoon!  After a week of working I'm spending the afternoon lounging in the sun.  Life is good here (at Grandpa's house) on the Riviera.  


We moved down the hill for a few weeks to Grandpa's apartment.  Safer and as you can see, quite a lovely location!!  Sure hope he decides to stay in Australia for a wee bit longer. :)

Ready, Set, Action.....

James has finally made it to Nice and my 3 and 1/2 weeks of "single mommy-ing" are over.  I bow to all the single parents out there!!  And of course as he arrives I jet off to Lyon to work on a shoot for a company that makes window shades, awnings, shutters, gates, you name it.

To help James out I hired him a "Daddy's helper" to mind the kids in the afternoon to evening.  Naomi is FABULOUS!  If I could, I'd keep her.  Need to book more jobs for that.....ok, goal is set!

Now....Ahhh, a week away to relax.  I mean, work.

I hopped a train to Lyon, a 4 and 1/2 hour journey and sat back while the beautiful coast and then countryside whisked away next to me. Landing in Lyon a lovely woman met me along with my print husband.  Surprise!!!  It's the same actor as the car commercial.  Ah, reunited once again!  Crazy, both my jobs in France have been with him!!

We headed to our hotel and the shiny vacation suddenly came to a screeching halt.  I walked into a combination of "The Birds" and "Friday the Thirteenth".  Needless to say I will NOT be recommending this hotel to ANYONE.  All night in my camper style room the sounds of the highway fought with the sounds of the crazy birds in the trees outside.  It's amazing I fell asleep.

Sitting on the toilet I can wash my face and my feet at the same time.

But, I did finally fall asleep, and the next morning was transported to a paradise.  The house we're filming in Wednesday till Friday is lovely.  It sits up on a hill and has a very modern but comfortable feel…as you can see.  When not shooting we all sit outside around the pool or table in the shade.  Maybe I should ask the owner if I could stay in their spare room. :)

And we get to work...

Beautiful all lit at night.

Next day we try a hair change....

For the model/actors, once again the work is the same as home, just in a different language.  So, I have to try a little harder to understand my direction and I spend less time gabbing between shooting. :)  The meals are different though.  We have more of a family style sit together type atmosphere and there are courses.  I must remember this so I don't fill up when a lovely cheese and then dessert is presented. And once again, they have beer or wine at meals.  Still, I didn't partake.

I have to admit, here in France I feel a bit like "Pretty Woman" sometimes.  In some situations the customs are a little different than ours and since I don't really understand all that is being said, I kind of watch and copy those around me. Like, waiting for everyone on this smaller set to sit all together before eating. Or...kissing hello and goodbye are big.  Sometimes even with people you're meeting for the first time.  (Maybe that's why the crime is so low.)  As such, I don't think I've made a complete fool out of myself, yet. :)

Moral...when in doubt, follow their lead.

Anyway, back to shooting….when the brochure and ads come out I'll post a few pics.

This New Cyber-World....

I just love this new Cyber-World we live in.  It makes me feel that the world has become so much smaller, more accessible.  I'm not a phone person, don't know why, but I just find it soooo hard to pick up the phone and call someone.  But to throw out an e-mail or text and get one back right away….I love it.  Yes, yes, "but it's making us less social and more solitary", but for me, it's made me keep in contact with people just a bit better. I'm almost more social.

Sooooo, now living in France I see it even more.  Facebook was taboo with me just 6 months ago, now I check it once a day.  (I don't go crazy though and get messages sent to my phone, but I do keep up.)  I feel that I can just let people know I'm thinking of them and care about their lives with one simple "like".  I can also let everyone know something with one "share".  It used to be I had to call a number of people to share any news.  And that takes time.  Sometime you just don't want to take that much time to do something.  Maybe that's why I have a hard time with making a phone call.  It takes time.

I heard someone say once that he was upset that his niece had sent him a condolence over Facebook.  He thought it rude, that she should have called.  Maybe, but she's young and he's not so much anymore, and she's of a new age, he's not so much.  Our worlds and etiquette are a changin'.

Even e-mail, texting, and instant messaging help us all to stay more connected.  I can have a conversation with someone for free basically through all of these, instantaneously, anywhere.  I don't have to wait for them to get home to check their messages.  And it's been awhile since I had to wait for a letter to be delivered and the reply to arrive.  Do we realize that our children will probably never write or receive a handwritten letter? (Although getting one is still super special!)

And Skype, wholly moses how fantastic is that!?!  Since Daddy is stuck in NYC doing work, we've been able to feel like he's right here, within reach.  He even shared bath time (with the kids).  It was like he was there in the room with us.  He even caught T pouring water over Emm's head while I wasn't looking.  Wow, does that mean that cyber babysitting will be next???

The kids getting to chat with Daddy.

Emmerson getting to see an old friend who got left in NYC...soon to be reunited.

So anyway, there are no worries about living a country away when I have the means to stay connected as if I was next door.  And the Grandparents can still have regular visits with the grandchildren and watch them grow.  (Although I may have to make a trip home to help them set up their camera and Skype.)