Qu'est ce-que c'est le truc?

Bonjour!
These couple of days have been quite good...A lot of work, but it's all worth it! My French class is very difficult, which makes me happy, I will learn a lot! I made quite some friends there already, which is amazing. After classes, which end at 12:30, I can do whatever I want until 4 PM, when I have to pick up the kids from school. So I often opt for a nice walk in the city with Simona, my new Swiss friend. She is so nice and so sweet. We shop a little, we walk on the boardwalk by the river...which, surprisingly, is huge!!! I've never seen a river this wide in my life and I've seen a lot.

Here are some random pictures I took :)

This is me and Simona near Garonne river

My car has finally a radio! But the CD drive ain't working, boo :(

This guy was pretty cute to watch...plus he was amazing on his in - lines! I had to wonder how he does it...I would be dead by now if I did all he performed...

Free Wifi connection sign on the road...

Huge straw...

Me trying to drink from the huge straw...lol.

The boardwalk

I bought this amazing book the other day, knowing that somebody told me it was good...well, it is amazing! Breathtaking!

I played with Gaspard....we finally finished the Kapla Tower....

...and I read him the Lion King for about a hudrieth time...

On Saturday, we celebrated Gaspard's fifth birthday

He got a new slide! Hopefully that will keep him busy for a while...

Le truc is a very French word, meaning the same as English "stuff"...so when I asked my host mom what is le truc? She thought it was very funny and she didn't know how to explain...

P.S. the food over here is amazing. Today we had an apple pie - French style and Salmon quiche, all of which was AMAZING! I need to write down the recipes...

Life on a swing!

Since yesterday made me miserable, today made me happy :-) at least a little bit.
It looks like I found a friend in one Swiss girl in my French class - her name is Simona! She is so sweet and nice to me and shares the same hobbies...she asked me yesterday what I was doing after school and since I had nothing to do until 5 PM, we went shopping! I bought some winter shoes and a shirt that I wanted to buy for a long time...I didn't take any pictures of it yet, though...
But when I got home yesterday, things got bad - Gaspard bit me more then once and I thought to myself that I cannot do this anymore...I wanted to call the agency and tell them that I want to find a new family...
I don't know what has changed, but today seemed like a better day. Gaspard was mean as hell today, but I had a nice talk with his parents, about him and also about other things and it was just so endearing that it kinda made me happy to be here. I think, I HOPE, this will all work out well!

Those are some pictures I took these pas two days :-)

Everything is clean over here...and nicely taken care of...even the garbage bins!

I found a NiceBerry! It's the same as PinkBerry in the USA...but way more expensive! It is so goood though! And it's only yogurt with no fat added...

French, here we go! This is what we did in class today! Take it right from the very beginning!

This is Simona, my Swiss friend! :-)

I love this snack! Mashed apples for kids...

And I got my car back, with the radio in it! Great!!

Weekend off! + clothes shopping!

This weekend I was not supposed to work at all. Like every other weekend. Well, that's not the case over here in this family, for sure. Estelle wants me to work Saturday morning for about 2 to 3 hours, which I said Okay to that. But then, in the evening, they got awfully quiet and all of a sudden, they knocked on my bedroom door, all dressed up, saying that they are going out and I just have to read a story to the kids and they'll sleep. I got so mad, but I didn't say anything...of corse Gaspard didn't sleep and kept crying and running around the house. Plus I was sick, wanted to go to bed early and had a skype rande - vous with my friend. 

I woke up on Sunday morning all sick as hell, with a slight temperature, and even though I really wanted to go to the Musée de Beaux - Arts in Bordeaux, as it was free of charge this weekend, I stayed in. I slept a lot, I read a book...I was home alone almost all day, which was great. I made myself a very french lunch (with wine, bread and all that jazz), painted my nails...it was a very relaxing day, thankfully!

This is their poor cat Scouzy that no one pays attention to...poor thing! :(

Estelle received a Mango cataloque via mail, so I flipped throug the pages. I took pictures of some things I might buy, since I don't really have any clothes over here. So please - let me know what you like in the comments bellow! I would really appreciate it! :-)

I like this coat, I saw it in the store and it's very cute, warm and French - esque! Plus it is not expensive...

Haha, I don't need this, but I still think it's very cute!

I've been lookin for a dress like this for ages...nothing seems to fit me. I like this dress though, I think it is at least worth trying on, don't you think?

Some cute sweaters and flats...

Trousers...

I like these skirts! 

Cardigans... 

Cute! Great for Fall and Winter...

Ahh and these skirts...I really got into wearing them a lot this summer...before I hated it!

These T's are cheap and cute...

And one last piece...I love this shirt, it must be very classy and comfy as well!

So let me know what I should buy! ;-) 

Trend's Academy

Yesterday was my first day of school! Yaay! I was really looking forward to it, I wanted to get away from the house for a little bit. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I hate it, but after being with the family and only with the family for a week I was looking forward to a nice change. And it really was pleasant! :)
I am in a class with another 20 girls, most of them au pair girls as well. The majority of my class is German, but there is one Polish girl, Agnezka, and one Czech, Anetka!!
Our teacher, Karin, seems to be very nice. She speaks very slow, which is great. She told us we need to buy two books for our lessons: the Bescherelle and Therese Raquin by Emile Zola :).
We all talked for a while and then me and Anette went into the city, talking and getting to know each other a little. She is so sweet! We bought roller skates together and we are going to skate next to the river Garonne together :)! I am really looking forward to it!

Today is my day off. I have to work only in the morning, which is nice for a change! I am not doing anything special though, just hanging around, doing some computer work and organization :) This weekend are all of the museums open and free of charge, so tomorrow I would love to visit the City hall and Musée des beaux-arts a Bordeaux!

I know I already showed this coke can, but there is another tres chic one that I wanted to show you, so here are both of them:

Here is my Renault Clio that I get to drive (seems like a nice ride, but the engins sucks!!! It won't work when it's cold, which is actually very dangerous...)

Inside the tram on my way to school :)

Place Rohan

A bientot!

Tired :(

I am getting very tired over here...even though the kids were in school all day today, I got stressed out a lot...First of all - my school fee is very expensive. It's more than a half of what I make here. I am a little afraid that I won't be able to afford some things, like gass, which I need to drive the kids to school...And I have to go there all year long. It is good for my French and it's great, because I'll meet some new people, but I want to be able to decide what I'm gonna do with the money. I couldn't even decide which school I want to study at and how often...
Well, but this morning I walked Gaspard to kindergarten and he didn't make such a scene. It was good. If it is like this every day, I will be very happy. Afterwards me, Estelle and Julien, we went into the centre of Bordeaux, had some coffee at the Grand Hotel and visited Cartier and all those stores...I felt a little out of place there. You have to ring a bell and then they check how you look, afterwards they let you in to a small hall, where you have to ring another bell to be let in!! Crazy...
Before lunch Gaspard's teacher called us and told us that he was not good and that he bit a little girl there. So we picked him up, we all ate lunch at a restaurant and after we dropped him off back at the kindergarten.
I had almost all afternoon for myself, so I cleaned my room a bit, I read a book etc. At 5 we drove back to school and I picked up the kids, then we all went to a mechanician to get my car. It is Renault Clio and it is very old...which is okay with me - the only thing is that Gaspard will be able to open his door ( I can't lock it ) when I am driving and the engine dies all the time. I just can picture very clearly driving to school, Gaspard climbing on my back, me getting lost, the car not working and the worst case scenerio - an accident.

This was our view while we were having a cup of coffee ( the best btw and it was black! ) at the Grand Hotel

Le Grand Theatre

Notre Dame de Bordeaux

At least one thing made my day today :) This tres chic Coca Light Jean Paul Gaultier

Julien and Estelle went to a bar with some friends today, so it was me who put the kids to beds. With Garance, there was no problem, but with Gaspard...as soon as they left, he started crying and demanding for his dad...but I told him that we will wait for him in his room, he sat on my lap and we waited...until he fell asleep. He's been asleep now for about 30 minutes, so hopefully he won't wake up...

Tomorrow is my first day of school, I am kinda excited to go :-) Hopefully the school is good and I can get some break from Gaspard...! Don't get me wrong, he can also be an angel...but only when he sleeps :-)