Quite the View

This was the view from Thoiry on Saturday, November 14th. Views like this make living here absolutely amazing.

Getting Out of the House

Yesterday I hopped on a bus, then a tram, then another bus to go to the city. I went to the International Red Cross Museum near the United Nations. The museum was nice, the layout was strange but I'm sure I was the only one that cared about that. Then I hopped back on a bus and went to Starbucks. I tried desperately to like the Iced Gingerbread latte I ordered while I read a book. It was a rainy cold day, but it was really nice to get out of the house and explore. I don't do it enough, but I have promised myself now that babysitting has been cut back considerably I will do it more often. Today I am going to try to find the Library in English because they are having a book sale. Maybe I'll post up at another Starbucks (you can guarantee that English will be spoken). Regardless, I'm trying...God knows I'm trying.

Coming Home

We have officially booked our flights home for 2010, which will likely mark the end of our European (mis)adventure. We intend to fly home for the holidays on December 9th and we will stay in the U.S. through January 11th. Then we will be in France through May 30th at which point the lease is up in our current flat and we will be flying home.

Where will home be you may ask? This is something Jeannette and I will have to decide in the upcoming months. Why are we coming home May 30th? Well, there are a few reasons. For one, this is a safe date to choose because this is when our lease is up. We also recently came to terms with the fact that Jeannette is not, nor will be, allowed to legally work in either France or Switzerland in any capacity while we're out here unless her potential employer is willing to go through a bunch of rigormaroll (sp?) to get her an exceptional work permit. This is not a situation we were prepared to deal with...Its certainly not one that we want to perpetuate any longer than we have to. She has a fresh, crispy Masters Degree that she deserves to be able to use.

Of course there is a chance that circumstances will change which could allow us to stay longer, in which case we will move our return flights back and eat the $500.00 fees. But we have to book our flights back out to France now (for Jan 11) and it is cheaper to by a round trip then it is to buy a one-way international flight. Pretty lame isn't it? Its actually more than twice as much money to do a one-way flight.

Anyway, we thought we should let some of you know, especially those who maybe had some thoughts of visiting us out here. We still plan on having the most fun we can while we are out here. We are currently exploring the idea of taking a cruise from Venice to the Greek Isles sometime in late April or early May. Any takers?

Improvements to Quality of Life

On Friday, October 30th we got a dryer! It's a condensation dryer where the water is collected and physically drained after the cycle. It's awesome! No more drying clothes on a rack for three days because it's not nice enough outside to put the clothes out. This is a huge improvement and makes me happy!