I think I will really enjoy my time here.....

Woo! So today I went to Sainte-Germaine-en-Laye to take a entry test to determine what class I will be in when I start my course, and it was really neat!! St. G is a BEAUTIFUL city!!! To get there from where I am staying I have to drive to the train station from my french home, take the train to Poissy, then take a bus to St. G. Right across from my bus stop in St. G is amazing!!! There is a huge castle, a magnificent park with beautiful tree lined walkways, a fountain, and a beautiful view of Paris!! It is amazing!! I couldn't believe it when I got off the stop! And my school is right around the corner, right in the heart of St. G, with all these shops, bakeries, and AMAZING arcitechture!!! It is soo lovely and I am really excited to take my course!! I think I will really enjoy staying here!!

So yesterday was my first offical day of being an au pair, and it went well! I picked the boys up from school, played with them for an hour or so, then it was bath time for the boys, while I made supper for them. After supper we played for about an hour or so, help Gregoire (the older boy) with his homework, then Veronique and Fabrice came home around 8:00. Usually Veronique comes home around 7:15, but she had lots of work to do so she didn't get home till 8:00. It was actually pretty fun!! Everyday here seems to get better and better, because each day I get accostomed to the family more, the town, etc, etc!! So things have been going good, but there have been some minor bumps in road in regards to driving!! So in France, in general, French drivers, roads, and rules are comletely crazy. They have the most retarded rules here, like Priorite a Droite, which is Priority to the Right in english. So for example, if you're driving on the main road and another small road joins the main one on the right, you would have to stop for that car!! I know, completely retarded!! Not only that, they have traffic lights in the most useless places!! On the road I drive on to go Vernouillet, right in the middle of no where there is a traffic light. No roads joing the traffic light on either side, you can only go straight. Yet I still have to stop. So those are just some of the wacky things in France!! Not only that, there are a TON of one way streets that are not very well marked!! For instance, when I drove to the train station today, I couldn't find any parking in the parking lot. So I drove down a little ways down a street just near the station, parked, and started walking to the train station. But something in me was telling me that I can't park there. So I turn around, look down the street, and sure enough it was a one way, and I was going the wrong way!!!! Thank god it was only a residence street, but just at that moment too, some ticket officers were walking to my car!!! So off I ran, yelling "EXCUSEZ-MOI, EXCUSEZ-MOI" to the ticket officers. I caught up to them and told them I would move my car as I just realized this was a one way street!! Thankfully he didn't give be a ticket, and obviously could tell I was a foreigner!! I was just about to say "I'm not from here, I'm from Canada! I'm not used to this kind of driving!" But he told me I could park somewhere else and went on his way. So OK, avoided that mishap, but where to park now?? So I turn around drive out of the train station and start looking for places to park. Well there aren't any near the station. So I had to dirve all the way up to the town center where I knew there would be parking, and walk back. So I found a parking space and walked to the station, which took me about fifteen minutes!! Ohhh, goodness!!! But I still caught my train and on the way back I looked around the train station and found a side street that I can park on!!! haha, Everytime something like this happens to me, I keep saying to myself, "Well, think how good of a driver I'll be when I come home in the summer!!" Oh my goodness driving in Penticton will be a piece of cake when I come back!!!! Ahhh, nice wide roads, stop lights that are usefully, drivers who aren't insane......ahh it will be nice!! But I think I've figured out the general layout of the streets around the town center and the train staion, so I should be fine from now on!!

But I should probably go now, I have to pick up the kids from school soon!!

Bisous!!