Fourth of July!

As Mondays usually go, Delphine took the boys to school which warranted me a nice sleep-in which I desperately needed. That's about the best part of the day despite this having been the best day of my existence each year since I was a babe capable of wearing an Old Navy American t-shirt. To sum this post up: NOTHING happened related to the 4th of July. Nothing was extra American (except for me) or special or festive or fun. Depressing, right?

As it was my last day in Paris as an independent traveler (mom is coming to town), I finished up some very late blog posts then went into Paris to meet Hannah.

Our plan WAS to go to Sainte-Chapelle since neither of us have gone yet, but literally three minutes after I arrived, it was closed for the afternoon. Seriously? Does the church need to take a lunch break or something? To kill time until 2:15 and hopefully run through before I had to leave, we went off to the post office to find her a special envelope for the embassy. She has had the misfortune of scrambling to renew her passport while her time in Paris is ticking by. We got the 26 euro envelope (yikes!) and then made our way to the cutest pet stores in Paris!! Seriously, I'm not even a crazed animal person but this place brings out the obnoxious American high pitched voice squeals! Cutest puppies you ever did see. And then there's the cats. In all the times I've been in there, I don't think any of them have been awake, let alone moved, once. The puppies on the other hand; jumping and yipping and chasing your fingers across the glass. Ugh I love that place.

So once we pried ourselves from there, I commenced in having a nice photoshoot in front of the Seine while wearing my American 'Guts and Glory' shirt, bright blue pants, and flaunting a nice American flag napkin.

When I called mom that evening, she was already on her way to the airport and she said, "Are you just a walking and talking American flag over there? You're a target! Don't wear any red, white, and blue tomorrow when you pick me up!" Hahaha in fact, I wore my most French outfit to the airport. Striped shirt and black ankle pants. Can't get much Frenchier:)


We got in line for the church but I had to run off to cherche children so I missed out on the beauty of the stained glass but Hannah's pictures looked lovely! When I did pick up the kids, they couldn't even tell me why this Monday was so significant.... dang it, children.It was just another day at the park, just another water fight, just another night of playing, just another night of asian dumplings for dinner. *Sighhhh

As far as technicalities in this job go, there are so many but none that are ever followed. For example, the kids are out of school, therefore, I am done with my job! Wrong. Even despite the fact that my mom is going to be in town, I have to work all night Tuesday and Wednesday morning before we leave for Italy. Ughhhh. But back to Monday night, I finally got to Skype with Jorge and Juneau after having played phone tag a million times this week and even got to FaceTime Jaycee. What a good night! Next up, the morning craziness of picking mom up at the airport!

Last Saturday in France

Since my host family was gone for the weekend, I took advantage of the free house and relaxing day in and avoided the city crazies! First stop was Velizy Mall to get some ingredients for the macarons that I've wanted to test out before I leave and I ended up splurging a bit more and finding a bridesmaid dress on super sale! Needless to say, my bank account may go into the negative figures if my PayPal transfer doesn't hit it in time!

After the mall, I hung out at home, watched Netflix while attempting (and failing) at macarons. Since it was nice out still and I was restless, I decided to take a nice long bike ride around the National Park, Parc de Saint-Cloud, and drop by the summer rock concerts going on. That bike ride made my heart so happy! The fresh air, the green trees, the blue sky, golden sunshine, gorgeous view of Paris, birds singing, smell of fragrant flowers, and the wind in my hair made me feel so free and alive; something I haven't felt in a while! I spent nearly 3 hours exploring new roads and trails and soaking in every ounce of those moments that I could. Aaaaaand I took a ridiculous amount of photos.

Once again, the emotions kicked in and I got sad! It's going to be hard to leave a place I call home. But then what good comes from standing still?

Farewell Dimanche

My last church service in France was today! I wasn't as sad as I thought I might have been but I think I can attribute that to the fact that my closest friends in my ward are basically Americans who are going to be in Utah in the next year or so....Basically it was just a bunch of "see ya later"s. However, what surprised me the most was the outreach of love and good wishes from the French women today! Some were really enthusiastic in their hugs and "Bon retour!". I felt so special! They probably don't even know my name!

I intended to bear y testimony in church today as my last chance to do it in French but when I woke up to a text message at 9:04, I knew I wasn't going to make it. I made it to sacrament in time to heard Gerald Causse's (church's Bishop) testimony and then head off to class. As luck would have it, my French was awful. I didn't want to think in French, let alone try and understand it, so I should have seen the next part coming as inevitable fate! In Relief Society, Marie Chantal announced that it was my last Sunday and asked if I would give the closing prayer as a good farewell opportunity. My response was, "pas en francais!!" She gave me the option to do it in English or French and for some reason I chose French. Horrendous idea, Julia. Absolutely awful. Death wish for yourself? Yup.

I sat there during the lesson writing down whatever I could say in French and trying to memorize parts and running through conjugations and vocabulary and construction...The second I got up there, it flew right out the window. Basically, I just ended up saying a whole lot of "merci"s and not knowing how to finish them!! Oh my gosh, the number of pity remarks I got was hilarious. I'm so glad the women thought it was funny and commendable because I was mortified. But what can I do except laugh!?

Overall, it was a great Sunday of farewells and nearly every person who heard I was going to BYU projected my marriage in the next year and a return in the near future with my spouse....Ummm excusez-moi? No thank you!! Je suis trop jeune!

That evening, I was determined to try and find my rollerblading man, Tim, back at Notre-Dame. To my utter dismay, nobody was out skating since it decided to rain all afternoon. Seriosuly!? This close to a Paris fling and I get nothin'. Just my luck. But on the brighter side, a nougat vendor man totally flirted with me. As I walked by his booth, he called out after me, "Hey, want to try some?" I turned around and took a few steps back to his tent and said, "Sure". He went on to say that anyone who says "sure" is always from America unlike his people in London who say "ya". I admitted, he was right, I am American! His response was, "I think it's cute." Well, sir, you ain't so bad yourself. (Seriously. A british man with dark features? I'd agree that is super cute). If only I wasn't broker than broke, I would have bought some of that fabulous nougat. Dang it!

I wrote down my testimony in French (what I would have said). As I look back on it, there's a lot I would change or add but that's kind of what a testimony is to me; something always growing an changing and strengthening.

Bonjour a tous,

Je l’ai ecrie mon temoinage parce que c’est possible que je vais oublier tous les francais le moment j’ouvrir ma bouche. Alors…

Je suis reconnaissent pour ce dimanche. En fait, c’est mon dernier dimanche en France avant je retourne aux États-Unis. J’ai venu a France il y a dix moins pour travailler comme une fille au pair et aussi pour apprendre le francais. Je suis timide donc je ne parle pas beaucoup en francais mais quand meme, j’ai appris beaucoup- particulièrement quand je vous écoute partager vos témoignages chaque dimanche.

J’habite avec une famille francise qui, avant mon arrivee, ne sont jamais alles leur eglise catholique avec les trois enfants. Ils pensaient que j'étais fou quand je me suis réveillé tôt chaque dimanche pour aller à l'église . Je sais que mon exemple a entraîné le baptême des enfants de ma famille française cette année dans leur eglise catholique et je suis si heureux qu'ils savent qui est leur frere, Jesus, est leur père celeste.

Mon temonaige est tres simple mais c’est tres fort. Je sais que l’eglise est le meme dans chaque pays est que notre frere, jesus christ, est le sauveur et il nous aime et il nous connait. Et aussi notre père celeste. Il nous aime beaucoup. Il veut que nous soyons heureux et le bonheur vient d'être obéissant. Le premier nuit quand je suis arrivee en France, ma famille francaise avait une fete et m’a demandé si je voulais un peu de champagne. J’ai explique mes croyances et J’ai dit « non, merci » et depuis, j’ai dit « non » cent fois plus peut-etre. Toujours, j’essaye d’etre obeissant et je sais que je recois les bienfaits.

Les ecritures sont les paroles de dieu. Je le sais. On peut prier a notre père celeste et il vraiment nous ecoute. Je le sais !

Je voudrais dire merci a vous pour l’amour et l’aide cette annee. Vous allez me manquer. En nom de jesus christ, amen.

Fontainebleue with the Earl Girls

So after the whole "Gare de Lyon" story with Jordan, we actually did end up at Fontainebleue and it was great! Suzanne and Lily were so tired, poor things! Their first real day in Europe and I'm sure they were just jet lagged out of their minds.

Everyone enjoyed the castle and thankfully it wasn't crazy crowded (with Asians and their selfie sticks).

 Afterwards, Zabrina, Jordan, and I went out to get some amazing falafels. Gosh, I dream about those falafels....

Last Day with Aubs!

I was dreading the arrival of this day ever since the reality of "leaving" hit me. As my closest friend in Paris and maybe even ever, I know for a fact that this is merely just a "see ya later, Alligator' type of deal. Whether in Washington or in Utah or in Paris again, me and Aubrey have just begun our lifelong mischief together!

After I made the kids celebratory pancakes for breakfast on their last Friday of school, I went out to Montmartre to meet up with Aubrey and her family. Since I got their earlier than them, I decided to pay a visit to the fabric stores and see if I could find "the fabric" that I've had my heart set on acquiring since forever. Well, I got so lost and turned around that I climbed up and down hills and stairs for so long that I was about ready to die. Unintentional workouts are a pain in my derriere.

Finally found the stores when Aubrey called to say they arrived so I ditched that effort (good thing because I am so broke), and met them at the Funiculaire. On my way, I happened to see three more brides and their poor fiances getting their pictures taken. (Can you guess the nationality? Shocker- they were Asian!)

Suzanne loves churches so we spent a lot of time in Sacre-Coeur admiring the art and listening to their services take place. I am seriously in love with that place. Aubrey mentioned that they had slipped two candles from Notre-Dame into Aubrey's huge bag once so, as a tribute to this beautiful cathedral and and in respect to always remember it, I may have taken a big candle too....

After that, we walked around and ran into the best looking guards and thank heavens Mama Earl got their photo!! Us girls, however, ran as fast as we could when she said she was going to get their photo!Why did I run from hot soldier men???

I walked them down to see Moulin Rouge and then we went to eat food! It just so happened to be the Cat Cafe aka Aubrey's fav place in Paris! I will admit, it reeked like cat pee and was expensive and was kind of old and dirty....But Aubrey and Lily were in heaven so that's all that mattered! I enjoyed some fabulous quiche and the girls got some delicious looking hamburgers. Food was impressive, cats were a little freaky, and Suzanne was so nice that she paid for mine. I love the Earls!!

Since I really couldn't think of saying goodbye for good at 2:30 in the afternoon, I told them I'd be back that night with dessert!! I picked up the boys, took them on the tram to meet up with Delphine, and then went home and baked. I ended up with my own version of gluten free brownie cupcake smore nutella things. They were mighty fine :)

I hung out with the girls at their flat for a bit and then did the dreaded "see ya later". See you soon Aubs!!

Sk8r Boi

So on Zabrina's last Sunday here, we went to church in Versailles where she saw a guy who went to school with her in Hawaii, oddly enough. Once again, this world gets smaller and smaller! Anyways, after church, I went home to take a nap and Zabrina went to check out the catacombs.

That evening, we went out to dinner for the true French experience: escargot and frog legs. Next door neighbors to the best creperie in Paris, I practiced more French with the waiter who was eager to get us in. Turns out, we were not dissapointed! The escargot was fabulous; garlic and parsley butter can make anything delicious. And the frog legs were pretty good, too. While they actually freaked me out a bit just looking at them (and the leftover bones), I just envisioned them as chicken legs. It's funny because people always say "tastes just like chicken!" when actually it tastes like a fishy-chicken. I did enjoy them though!

After dinner, we walked around in the still-bright city despite it being 10pm and we ended up on the pedestrian bridge of Notre-Dame. That proved to be a fabulous choice of entertainment for the evening. There was a roller-blading show going on by four very attractive men. Immediately, we gave them names: Blue Shirt was the most attractive right away. Black Guy was a fabulous dancer and performer with some nice little dreads goin' on. Gerard Butler look-alike was alright, both in looks and performance. Then there was Black Shirt. He looked like the youngest out of them all with some nice skater hair goin' on and just killing it on the course. Hands down, he was the most skilled performer of them all. My eyes were definitely on him the whole night. And he knew it.

Zabrina and I went from standing in the crowd to sitting on a bench and watching the rest of their performance while definitely cheering louder than the rest and enjoying the music they had going. At one point, Zabrina gave a huge thumbs up to Blue Shirt which then prompted him to come sit next to us and talk. Well, he only spoke French so I did all the talking hahahaha. He got up and did some more runs, I was still eyeballing Black Shirt and I'm pretty sure we were just giving him more motivation to keep going.

We were enjoying ourselves so much that when they announced the music was over, I was so sad! But since I'm a dummy and I have no experience with guys, I took that as our cue to leave. So we left! Whattttttt!? Immediately I regretted it. In fact, I was acting like a weirdo and just wanted to go back so badly. The guys were still practicing but with headphones in. We actually walked back up to the bridge but I chickened out and kept walking away. I devised a plan where we could walk around the back of Notre-Dame and come back over the bridge on the opposite side because, why not.... We ended up back on the bridge but just staring awkwardly the other way. How awkward are we!? Finally Blue Shirt came over and started talking to us again, me in my broken French, and him in his thick Portuguese accent. Finally, finally, finally, Black Shirt came over and introduced himself. Turns out he spoke English! Holla at me. The shocking thing though (if you know me) is that he was actually from Moscow and moved to France for his Master's degree and was now working in banking. Portuguese guy was out of the loop because he really spoke zero English. Unfortunately, all I got was Blue Shirt's contact info and not Tim's! I am still kicking myself. I don't like Blue Shirt, I liked Tim! Needless to say, I'm going back to that bridge on Sunday night and really hoping Tim is there. And NOT Blue Shirt. My last chance for a Paris fling? Even Zabrina got one and she was only here for two weeks! What is wrong with meeeeee. (Actually what's wrong with all the guys!?)

Zabrina's Last Day

It's Monday morning and we had two things left to check off the list for Zabrina. 1) go to the top of the Eiffel tower and 2) go to Angelina's cafe so she can buy some cocoa to take home. After being elevatored up to the top of Paris' finest tower, we met up with Lily and Aubrey for a picnic next to the Seine. We got some lunch meat, cheese, and rice cakes for me and I brought my kilo bag full of cherries. The security at the lady thought I was a freak for carrying around a bag of cherries, but hey, they were only 4 euros at the Versailles market!

Anyways, us girls sat along the Seine and had a cherry seed spitting contest in which I barely won after Lily proved to be quite a formidable competitor, Zabrina in third, and Aubrey whose first seed went about two inches from her feet. In the meantime, we were definitely taking turns staring at the attractive men running, stretching, and doing pull-ups on the bars behind us. What a prime picnic location. Like Aubrey said, "why haven't we done this before?"

Afterwards, we went and picked up Suzanne from the Louvre after she had an absolutely miserable time with the crowds, the shoving little Asian people, and hardly seeing anything at all. Poor thing! We all walked over to Angelina's for a little chocolate therapy and enjoyed some cups of cocoa to go. Zabrina and I headed back towards home where she left to meet up with her boo from Hawaii who she randomly saw at church and I went and fell asleep on the park bench for a good thirty minutes before getting children.

Our dinner that night consisted of a big meal with the grandparents and a cousin who came to get Julie for a surprise vacation and Zabrina did a nice send off with kekui shell necklaces for the fam. That night, she went out again with her boo thang and then got back at 4 in the morning before taking an uber to the airport two hours later. Crazy girl!