Weekend de repos : Weekend of rest

Bonjour mes amis (hello my friends)

This last weekend even though it was long, Pace & I stayed local. We rested. Pace has 2 confrences this week, so he did a little work also. I got Pace to the gym for a slightly easier class this time. It still was hard. The biggest thing we did this weekend was to buy a couch, a small kitchen table & chairs and put together the armoire. I am so happy that we finally have some household furniture. The couch arrives this Thursday. I went to the doctor today to get my prescriptions refilled. I found a doctor who grew up in Queens (Thank God). He was great, but I have to have my blood workup done to check my thyroid levels. Things are okay here. The weather has finally gotten warm & clear. It is beautiful everyday. Warm, even hot, in the sun yet cool in the shade. Noname has even gone out on the window ledge in the kitchen I am going to get Jamie a Birthday gift tomorrow, but I don’t think it will get there in time. I’m sure at 3; she’ll have enough on her Bday to not miss it. She’ll probably enjoy the gift later anyhow.
So that’s it for now. We’ll get to Italy soon enough and tell you our adventures there

a prochaine fois (until next time)
Maria

Lake Geneva

This past weekend Pace and I drove to Switzerland. We went to Lake Geneva, where we had been 3 years ago. It is a small town called Ouchy off the lake. You can see the snow capped mountains and yet the green valley. I love that look. We want to go back in September when they pick the grapes and walk up in the vineyards. There are many caveaus (small winemaking stores) that give guided tours in each little village. This time we hope to speak French to them. It was strange to be back in a foreign country with a car you own and it took about 3 hours to get there. It's mind bending to me. Anyhow, it was rainy and slightly cold, so we spent sometime there and traveled back. On the way back we saw fields of wild flowers, red purple and yellow. It was beautiful.
The weather here has been rather abnormal. It is pretty cold out. The people say by now it should be 23 degrees Celsius (times by 9, divide by 5, add 32) about 73 degrees F. Well it's not that temperature at all, it barely in the 50's. This morning people were wearing coats. I wonder how this will affect the flowers
I joined a gym finally. I did the Body-Sculpt class yesterday in French. It's great, but I don't understand a word the guy says except ENCORE, which means again. I am so sore today. I've also joined another French class. This one is from 12:30 to 1:45. It's a conversation class. I knew my pronunciation was bad, but when Luka told me he finally met someone with a more American accent than me, I knew it was really bad. So I've had 2 classes one in which I looked in front of a mirror ooooing and ahhhing at myself, the next we talked about terrorism. Not such a good subject if you want to make friends.
This weekend is a long weekend again. Let's see --- We had the first 2 Mondays in May off, the third week was a full week, last week was Ascension Thursday. Now this Monday is Pentecost. Well it keeps me up to date on my catholic holidays for sure, but I have to know before hand. I'd like to take a quick (5 hours) road trip to Milan, but I have to see what Pace's schedule is like.
Also I hope this Tuesday to FINALLY go see some improv.It will be in French, but improv nonetheless
So we'll see. I make plans, then get depressed or fatigued and don't follow through. I see the doctor this Tuesday for a Synthroid refill; I'll talk to him about things. He's from Brooklyn,thank god, so we'll talk English.

Bisous (Kisses) Oh la la that's tres french
Maria

Bambooseraise

Two weeks ago Pace and I went to a Bambooseraise with my French school. Everyone is suppose to speak French on the trip, but for some reason we had an English speaking only couple with us. That made things easier for Pace & me. Well we left the school at 7 am for a 2 1/2 hour ride south of France. We were to spend a nice afternoon in Nimes for lunch, then take a steam train to the giant bamboo garden. Well,.... the driver got lost. So the trip took a lot longer, also there is a rule that the bus drivers must stop for 15 minutes after driving for 3 hours. (a union thing I'm sure) So my teacher annouces, "change in plans...we must stop at this little village and take lunch here before going on to the steam train." He tried to make the little town sound quaint. It has a church (what village doesn't) and also a park. Well Pace and I made the best of it and hung out with a friend of mine from school named Luka. He's a real funny person. We took the train ride and got to the Giant Bamboo garden a little late, so we couldn't see the whole thing. Then on the way home, as Pace puts it : Instead of enjoying the beautiful scenery outside our windows, they put a french movie on. I think Pace really enjoyed himself, and we both realized this was an amusing situation that could only occur with French people (35 people on a trip and they can't get it right.) We will not go on the next group trip in June, but maybe the July one. My teacher told me that this next trip South would definitely have a different driver. But he didn't say if this driver knew where he was going either.

Other news: Pace & I have been looking for furniture for the house. We realized we needed a closet for our clothes and bought one at IKEA. As for the living room, dining room and kitchen furniture we are still looking. I saw a table I loved for the dining room, but it was sold. So we continue the search. As of now we have the TV, Computer desk and chair, bed and now a closet to put together. So that was last week