European Tour 2011: 18 Nov - Travel and London

On our way to Paris we decided to drop by London. We are in London to celebrate the 80th birthday of my mother-in-law Marie, and to visit Westminster Abbey.

Click here to view these pictures larger

My mother-in-law is a real world traveler.  She's been to Japan, Hawaii, Australia, Ireland, Paris (for someone's wedding) and Egypt to name a few.  She has even been to London a few times.  In fact, her first time in London was at the same time as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June of 1953. Unfortunately, Westminster Abbey was closed to prepare for the ceremony and Marie was not able to go in and see it.  Throughout the years she returned to London, most recently in 2005, and each time Westminster Abbey was closed for one reason or another. 

So, Fred and I thought that it would be cool to try again. We decided to make a trip of it.  Fred, Marie, Bianca - Fred's daughter- and I hopped on a plane, which was delayed due to a "Suspicious" Man, and went to Europe.  

Here are some pictures of our European Tour 2011-18 November - Travel and London

We did get to go into Westminster Abbey, but there is no photography allowed, so no pictures of the inside.  BUT we do have the ticket stubs to prove it!

Enjoy,

Johnette

Waking up to French confusion

Waking up to French confusion - I wonder if this is how the few prisoners felt when the Bastille was stormed?

We are renting an apartment in Paris for the second leg of our "Winter European Extravaganza" - not the official title- and I let the apartment owner know that she can call me any time after 5:00am Eastern to process the credit card deposit.  Well I forgot! and so this morning I was not only woken up at 5:00 sharp by our hungry and barking dogs, but by the telephone.  On the other line was a very sweet French woman who might just be thinking twice about renting her apartment to some crazy drunken American.

The conversation went something like this:
Me: What?  Hello? What's wrong?*
Florence: Bonjour Johnette.  This is Florence from France.**
Me: What? Who? Where? Huh?*
Florence: Oh, is this too early? I am sorry but you told me that you wake up early and that I can call you after 5:00am.  My husband is here with his iPhone and I can now call to the US and we can process the credit card for the deposit on the apartment.  Is this ok now? Are you awake or have I woken you?  Hello? Johnette are you there? **
Me: What? Huh? Oh, yes. I'm sorry. No, no, I'm awake (drop the phone), I'm here, It's no problem. I just have to find the phone. *
Florence: Excuse me? Yes, I am calling you on the phone.**
Me (talking on the standard corded phone): No, no... I just have to find the...can you hold?***
Me (wondering to myself): How do you say cordless in French?

*In groggy English
**THIS WAS ALL IN RAPID SUCCESSION FRENCH - which is usually no problem as I would like to think that I am fluent, but just not at 5:15am!
***Talking now in the hybrid language of French-English-Sleep

I found the cordless phone and we were able to get through the transaction quite smoothly after that. My French even improved a bit, but really, I can't be held responsible for my grammar in my mother tongue before 6:00am let alone in a second language.

Work from Big to Small - FFFPPPALITP - how's that for an acronym

I wrote in my journal that I had to blog tonight, so I am going to take 30 minutes to do this and see how it goes.  I hope that I am able to wrap it up well at the end of 30 minutes. BTW - the last time I wrote in my Journal was on October 6, 2008.  We were still in Paris and I was watching the Eiffel Tower twinkle from the honeymoon apartment (picture above).  That is my motivation to not only get back to Paris, but to get back in style and not have to worry about money.

Don't forget to have your money work for you. $$$

The theme today is to work from big to small.  In keeping with my France themed blog, or life, I have realized that this is what has to happen if we want to move to France in 4.5 years and have it work.  The big is that we want to move to France in 4.5 years and the small is keeping us on the path to get there.  This is where the acronym comes in: FFFPPPALITP
1. Future
2. Fitness
3. Finance
4. Planning
5. Preparation
6. Positive Attitude
7. Living In The Present

I am going to focus on and do all of these things listed above.

It is unbelievable that it has been 1 year and almost 4 months since we've been back from Paris and, it has been almost that long since we've consistently worked out.  By the way - I am about 12 lbs heavier this December than I was last December - and I was at post-wedding weight to boot.  I recently realized that I have been in some state of depression since October 2008 and this has got to stop. In order to conquer this depression, I am going to live in the present and plan for the future.  I am very good at both of these things.  I am also going to stop looking back at the past - it was awesome but it is over.

I have 7 minutes left and 8% left on the battery in my laptop - I'll continue.

A few things that I have to do:
1. Continue to gather the paperwork for possible EU citizenship is a good thing to start with.
2. Exercise
3. Turn down new student but get the ball rolling for substitute teaching - Do CARTUS paperwork
4. File on my desk
5. Schedule next French tutoring session
6. I can do this and I deserve this
7. Blogging and writing in my journal.

Thanks for reading!!!

When I Grow Up- a look back at my future

It's always so hard to know what you want to be when you grow up. I know what I don't want to be, but when what you don't want to be helps you get where you want to go faster, then it's a tough call.

These next few entries will be a look back at my future. I will revisit my most recent trip to Paris and work my way back to my first impulse to move to Europe. It should be interesting.