Voila!

Oh my new French class is sooo much better than any that I took before the summer. It was great taking individual lessons, but I like having others around too partly because it takes the pressure off, but mostly because I think I learn more from them than I do my teacher. It's funny how making mistakes with others feels so much better than making them alone. This class also only has maximum 8 people at a time, though most of the time it's 5 or 6. And my teacher is great too. He speaks very quickly, but I find I can understand most of what he says. We get a lot of talking time because he is constantly introducing concepts and then making us practice them or doing roll plays with each other. Even better is that it's about a 2 minute walk from the kids' school. Which means no taking the metro for 20 minutes to a chic part of town with no cool places to hang out. Now, I can walk and stay in the center of the city where there are a ton of people and coffee shops and what not. I've finally started to find "my hang outs" too. Like for expample, I've taken to going to Starbucks right after dropping the kids' off because they have the cheapest esspresso (imagine that huh) and are one of the only places to 1)be open at that time in the morning and 2)have comfy chairs you can sit in and watch the people for as long as your little hear desires. I've also found this little bagel place (yes, it's french) right around the corner that has a really great atmosphere, is also cheap, and has plug ins/internet. The French are really into hanging out, which I can completely appreciate. I've also joined a gym that is close to the kids' school. It is about a 1.5 minute walk and have taken to going there almost everyday. I've got a bit of a cold this week (as a result of being coughed and sneezed on by a little 5 year-old australian) and last week tweeked my knee a bit. I think this weekend I will be back on track though. Next weekend I'm heading to Normandy for a couple days I think. I can't wait to go for some walks in the countryside, meet some cows (and eat cheese of course) and hopefully see some WWII stuff. Welp, enough for now. I'll write more on my future plans soon. I'm digging Paris a bit more than I did before, but still can't wait to move on...