Election Night!

Trivial Pursuit Genius Edition with endless references to French and European culture turned out to be just as difficult as I thought it might. But I had a really good time. Having people over was fun. We had crepes with Nutella, honey, jam, sugar, what ever our little hearts desired, along with cider of course. The alchoholic kind, as is tradition in Britanny. Then we played a game where each of us wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to someone else to stick on their forehead (without looking of course). The goal was to guess what was on our forehead by asking only yes or no questions. Mathieu has been learning all kinds of games like this at his school. I ended up being chopsticks, Mathieu was an apricot, Laurence was the Olympic games, and Fernand was a shopping cart.

Paris Tours Race

Mathieu and I stumbled upon the sprinters' race from Paris to Tours. It was the first professional race I've seen. They flew by so freakin' fast. Then we got to see them after the race "backstage" where they cleaned all the bikes and chilled out in their vans.

My birthday lunch

Laurence and Fernand gave me a wonderful meal and a great time.

Joyeux Anniversaire Laurence!

We celebrated Mathieu's mom's birthday in style...balloons and champage at Floriane's appartment, then a restaurant called Chez Toi, then cake back at Floriane's. Although it was simple, Laurence was very impressed. At first it was just Floriane,

then she put on a song and when the lyrics "Happy Birthday" began, Mathieu and I jumped out of Floriane's room. I think she knew though, because she said she saw a lot of bikes downstairs.

Mathieu off to school

Moving into his room and his first day at ITS Tours (Institut de Travail Social)

Chez Moi

In the center of Angers, in an old building on Rue Desjardins, I found a little appartment yesterday and moved in this afternoon. It came all furnished, with a little TV, a tiny coffee maker, a microwave, dishes, lots of room for storage, and a pretty big bed! I love the big green curtains and the high ceilings. Take a look!

Vélo!

Ca y est! Here I am in Angers. Other than the huge amount of construction that is going on because of the installation of a tramway (which won't be ready until 2010), it is still as beautiful as ever. The weather is absolutely wonderful, almost too hot...almost. I haven't found an appartment yet, but I think I'm getting there. Today I drove for the first time in France! Mathieu as my copilot, I was driving on the "autoroute" and I thought for sure we were lost, so I took the next exit to turn around, and it ended up being the right one! We arrived safely at EMAUS, the second-hand warehouse. I found a bike for 30 euros, and it's a Peugot! It was not fun to fit into the car, but we got it in after lots of struggling and lots of sweating. We're home now drinking Schwepp's. I put lots of ice in mine, just to spite the Frenchies! :)

4th of July

Sun, food, wiffle ball, ultimate frisbee, cherry cobbler, homemade icecream, karaoke, smores, fireworks, family, fun! What a view we have from Grandpa's house of Seattle and the water. After stuffing our faces with barbecued goodness, we went down to the beach, and were overwhelmed by the smell of seaweed. We ended the night gathered around the fire with s'mores, not knowing what to look at, between the two shows in Seattle, our own show, and those along the beach on either side of us.