Today I woke up at 8:30 to be ready to go to Orange at 10. I
got up begrudgingly and decided to take a quick shower. Madame wasn't home so
that made it less awkward. About half way through between shampoo and
conditioner, Paul came into the apartment and started talking to me through the
door. I decided to hurry it up. When I got out and was getting dressed he
started telling me everything he was doing such as wearing my 3d glasses from
last night. Here you buy your own pair and keep them so now I am a new owner of
3d glasses. Woo hoo. Also I don't remember if I put this in the other post but
those theaters are much nicer than the ones in the states. It's like the first
class vs economy on airplanes but with movie theaters! Same with their 3d
glasses. They look like hipster glasses rather than crappily made ones.
I got out and he played my iPod while I ate breakfast and
finished getting ready. Then Jean-Claude came up and took Paul. I was pretty
much done though so I finished a few more things and then Madame came up
putting stuff in bags so I helped her with that. We carried our bags downstairs
and then I grabbed the garbage and took it out. After that we loaded all the
bags. Paul wanted to sit in the back/trunk but I told him he couldn't because
there wasn't a seat belt. Last time I sat on the side and Madame sat in the
middle in the back but this time I told her I would sit in the middle.
It was only like an hour and twenty in the car so it wasn't
too bad at all. Paul didn't have time to really get riled up. He played on
Madame's phone and then played with my hands and even kissed my hand at one
point. We stopped for gas once and Paul tried to get his dad to buy him candy
but that didn't happen. There was a rugby team outside and Madame had showed me
the start of a rugby match with the 'all black' versus France. France lost as
the 'all black' have never been beaten. But when she saw them she told me to
look at how big and strong they were I jokingly (obviously) said yeah just like
me. We all laughed.
On the way there I learned that Madame had never been to the
house as he had just moved recently. Paul mentioned that it was very big like a
mansion. I was like on it's probably like average house size then. Nope it's a
four story house built in the 18th century. You can tell too because it is
really beautifully ornamented. The inside like plumbing and electricity and
stuff has been redone but the style is the same. It has mosaic tiles on the
floor and really ornamented above the doors and on the ceilings. There is also
a ton of art.
We came in and set the table with the nice plates and wine
glasses. I say wine glasses because that's what you drink at these parties.
Wine. And lots of it. Yeah. Hopefully we don't drink them all. We also have
already drank 6 bottles of champagne and 2 of red wine. Yep.
So after we drank three bottles of champagne in the kitchen,
I was informed that it was champagne from the family of Dennis who is Madame's
ex husband. Oh. Well that helps fill in some gaps as to why he was able to buy
this house and all this art. He also is a bit of a chef and while we were in
the kitchen he was making dinner which was a big leg of something. I just asked
and it was gigot d’agneau which is lamb. We also had hors d'oeuvres of sausage
and pierces of salami. Then a bit of cheese was brought out which we all tried
and I learned that it was cheese with truffles in it. As in truffles that pigs
sniff out and which ware super expensive. I was like. Well that was probably
the most expensive thing I have eaten since I have been here. Then we tried a
sauce with truffles in it. It was alright but honestly I didn't really taste
the truffles they were just a texture.
We went outside and looked around the house. He has lots of
art. Lots of art and interesting things. Madame pointed out a few things to me
such as some big multicolor glazed pots which she said were really expensive.
It got time for lunch and I was definitely feeling the champagne.
I then was switched from champagne to red wine. I was like Kay once I drink
this I'm going to find some water. For lunch we had pasta with truffle sauce
and the leg of the animal. The meat was super tasty. I didn't care much for the
pasta though. It's hard to eat politely, that dang spaghetti. We also had lots
of cheese. There was one type that Laurence told me I shouldn’t eat if I was
going to be kissing anybody because it is very strong. I told her I definitely
was not so I better have some! I did get some water and then we had cake after
lunch. There were two kinds of cake. The tarte tropezienne and the castel cake.
The tarte tropezienne I had tried before and it is kind of like brioche bread
with a sort of creamy custard in the middle. The other was a sort of like...
Coffeeish flavor but really not and not really chocolate either. I'm not
exactly sure how to describe it. It was good but by the ends I was full but
then they made me have another piece so I was REALLY full. I just googled it is
made with almond powder and the like cream part of it is with pralines. Both of
which are flavors that I don’t really know so now I do! I was really done
eating. When we were all done with dinner and cake I was
really tired. Going to the movies at 10 the night before was probably not the
smartest idea but it was fun, and I’m supposed to do those kinds of things when
I am here right!? Right.
But anyways, after lunch and cake we did
presents. I gave Matisse a finding nemo card memory game and Elise a blue
Necklace that I brought but never wore in the states and was never probably
going to wear here. She really liked it. Then we went for a walk. I guess that
is a normal thing here is to go for a walk after a big meal. It does feel nice
but it was pretty cold. It was really funny though because the big dog ‘papoof’
ran off and then they were trying to find him on our walk. There was another
dog named cacahuète which I thought for some reason at
first was dog poop which is caca, because the word seemed really familiar. It
is actually Peanut which is why it is familiar because we talk about beurre de cacahuète
all the time here!
It
was nice to walk around after such a big meal. I was a bit cold wearing
leggings but it actually wasn’t that bad once we started walking. We walked on
a road without many cars and where there were some girls riding horses. It was
very pretty and sympa. The kids would run to the front and behind constantly.
There was a little stream on the side and their Grandpa said the first one to
go swimming would get 10 Euros! He was of course kidding. David (Madame’s son)
would take Matisse (5) and holding onto him swing him over the creek and he
would laugh. He also like leaned Elise over which was also really funny. We got
to a point and everyone was like when is the end of this road, and Dennis was
like well it’s in Spain so we stopped walking and turned around. Madame
jokingly told me to keep walking and go back to visit Barcelona again because I
liked it. I laughed.
Side
tangent: On the news recently was a story where some drunk like college aged
people stole the llama from the circus in Barcelona and then just like walked
him around the city all night. They took him on the metro and dressed him in a
team jersey and everything. They didn’t harm it and then they returned it but
it is a big story and now lots of people are going to the circus to see the
llama.
At one point in the walk though the kids
found a thicket of bamboo and took stalks of it and would hit each other with
it. Eventually Paul and Elise stopped but Matisse kept going. He hit Dennis who
told him to stop and when he didn’t he took him and threw him in the middle of
the bamboo! It was really funny and Matisse came back with a new vengeance and
laughing hysterically. He got a new piece of bamboo and came back and started hitting
everyone (with the strength of a 5 year old so it didn’t hurt). He started to
run ahead to hit Elise who was a ways ahead and on the way there his pants fell
down!!! It was sooo funny! He was just running with his pants around his ankles
with a bamboo stalk almost twice as tall as he was! It was quite a funny site.
When we got back to the house I went to
chill with the kids in the living room while they played games and such and
fell asleep on accident. Oops! So then everyone was like don’t wake her up! And
the kids would like shush each other and stuff. When I did wake up like 45
minutes later everyone was like oh you must have been out late last night! And
I was like yeah I went to a movie. They were fine with it though because I
guess it is really normal here for teens to go out. In fact, before we left for
Orange Madame was talking to Laurence who asked if I went out to a nightclub
and Madame was quick to say no no it’s not her style. Madame likes to talk for
me sometimes which is kind of nice. It’s because she is observing and learning
more about me and likes to show that she knows. I like it :-)
After I woke up we had just a good family
time. I went to the kitchen and watched Dennis cook for a while. He made me
taste his sauces even if I said I was alright because he said he was the boss.
His sauce was good though. Dennis put together a lego car for Matisse and I watched
him do that and offered help. We drank more champagne of course too. Then we
all went to the living room and watched a version of funniest home videos. It
was very family-esque. For parties there aren’t really any rules you just do
what you want which is good. Elise and I talked about Thad. She really liked
taking my iPod and showing everyone a picture of Thad and I. :-) It was really
cute. She said “look it’s Kacy’s lover!” There is a funny picture of us where I
am attempting to kiss him and he is making a face. She was like you’ve kissed
him! And I was like Yeah loads of times! She was shocked. She was more shocked
that I had hugged him though. That is not a thing here so she was like wow are
you going to get married? And I was like Maybe. Then her mind was blown.
After a while it got time for dinner. I
watched Dennis cook the steaks and finish the sauce and I also helped set the
table. Then we all sat down and had steak with sauce of mushrooms which were
not truffles but another expensive mushroom which were… m-- I don't know. It
was really good but very filling and I was already full so I refused cheese and
more cake. Everyone was like she’s full! And this is how the French eat a bunch
like this. It was funny. Also Dennis commented that I have an accent, and then
they started talking about it but it was hard to keep up because they switch
topics so quickly and everyone talks at the same time over each other. *I asked
Madame today and she says I do for sure but she thinks that it is a pretty
accent. She says some are pretty and some are not but mine is. She said not
like Celine Dion hers is horrible. I laughed.*
After dinner we hung out a little bit
more I think and I helped clean up a bit. Then we hung out in the living room
some more before getting to bed. I slept upstairs in the kid’s playroom with
Paul, Elise, and Madame. Paul and I had twin beds and Elise shared a big air
mattress with Madame. It was quite an event for us all to get ready for bed.
Paul was worried about falling out of bed because the mattress frame was really
slick so we put some couch cushions under his bed so if he fell he wouldn’t be
hurt. We also were on the top floor so it was freaking cold up there! The
ceiling is actually like a preserved monument status. There are these two big
tree trunks that stretch across the top and Madame was telling me that you can’t
like modify the ceiling or paint or anything because the house is so old. I
forgot to get a picture but because of this it wasn’t very well insulated so it
was freaking’ cold. We each had 3 big blankets though so I didn’t get cold
during the night.
I woke up to the giggling of Elise and Madame and Paul. Paul
had climbed into bed with them and they were all playing footsie under the
blankets. Every once in a while Madame would shush them so as not to wake them
up but the silence didn’t last long before one of them would start giggling.
Not a bad way to wake up honestly! However it was 7:30… I could have done
without that but we had to be up early anyways. Pretty soon Matisse came up and
joined the fun and there was no stopping the giggles then! I woke up finally
and then Madame went downstairs to help figure out breakfast. Then the kids
decided to have a pillow fight and because I was there of course I was made the
victim of an all out attack. They piled all the pillows and cushions on me too
and then were like try to get out. So ten I jumped out and scared them. It was
pretty funny. Then we all went downstairs. I didn’t bother changing because the
last time I did and then no one else was. We were all in our pajamas eating
breakfast. We had he cake that Madame had made. Dennis also made me fresh
squeezed orange juice which was pretty darn amazing!!! He has a swanky orange
juice machine that he was excited to use and show off. And I wasn’t one to
complain about delicious juice! Paul of course was reluctant to eat anything.
He didn’t even drink his hot chocolate! He did spill a bunch of it though if
that counts. After breakfast I helped clean up and got dressed. I also packed
up all my stuff because I knew we were leaving in the morning because Dennis
has a meeting or something somewhere.I then sat with Matisse for the better part of an hour while he played with Madames phone.
I went outside because the kids were out there playing. They
had these empty beer bottles and were making like “drinks” and stuff by putting
in leaves and dirt and rocks and things like that (Matisse put ‘poison’ in his).
They had me be the shop owner who they would buy stuff from. They would just
like take the plants and the leaves no matter how like central to the garden or
view of the house was so I guided them away from those. Then once Matisse tried
to take a gardening stake with a sharp point and I told him it was too
expensive so he put it back. Crisis averted. Then after a while they wanted to
put all their drinks in like a bowl. So they started trying to get all the
leaves and stuff out by shaking them. But then suddenly Matisse broke his
bottle and before I could process what to say the other two started breaking
theirs too! I finally just started yelling Stop because they get told that as
well as arête. They stopped and I made them put the glass in the bowl gently
and then took it away and put it by a wall and said it was not allowed to touch.
A piece of glass though hit my nose close to my eye so I am just glad that no
one got hurt including me. That would really have sucked. Then they broke a
bowl on accident so I went inside and ratted them out by saying there was broken
glass. The adults then started paying attention and went and yelled at them for
breaking things. So then David got a garbage bag and we picked up the pieces
and packed up the car to leave.
We did kisses to everyone and then we got in the car and
left. We drove through Orange and stopped in front of the theater where they
still do opera things. It was really big… Then we went and drove around until
we found the arc du triumph in the city. It was pretty big. On the way home
Paul slept on me. It was kind of cool. Then we drove home.
When we got home we woke up Paul and grabbed all our stuff
and got out. Then Madame went and talked to some neighbors with a dog. I came
upstairs and put my stuff away before attempting to do some homework. Madame
made lunch of pasta and chicken from the market and we ate lunch and talked and
watched Friends. Madame broke a big glass bowl to a thousand pieces and i learned she has a vaccum as a result. the pieces went everywhere but everyone was fine. Then Madame went out to buy some bread. I gave up on homework
because I was so tired and wrote a note saying I was taking a nap so that Madame
would know where I was when I got home. The plan was to wake up at 3:30 but
then it became 3:45, and then it became 4 and finally 4:15. I just could not
bring myself to get up. My whole body just felt like it weighed a thousand
pounds and I was stuck inside it. Blech. Finally I got up and found Madame
sitting at the table with an ancient computer. David had given it to her to see
if it worked and she could use it. I helped her get a bunch of photos on it
before trying to update it and see if it could use wifi. It was pretty old
though so I didn’t think it could. The whole process took several hours most of
which was just waiting for it to process what it was doing. After that we watched
Despicable Me which Madame had never seen. I told her I liked it a lot. Then we
figured out the computer was not going to work but that I could put the photos
on a flash drive for her if she bought one. So she is going to on Wednesday. We
gave up on the computer. Then I did a little more homework and we had dinner.
Tonight we had the pumpkin and potato soup which was bland but with croutons,
salt, and pepper, it was really good! We also had bread and cheese and mandarins.
It was all quite good. I enjoyed it.
