1. The stereotype is true- they wear A LOT of black

2. Everyone smokes

3. Some men wear pointy shoes

4. It’s common to park on the curb

5. Despite the delicious bread and cheese, not many people are overweight

6. The French are not in a rush like Americans

7. Meals are meant to be enjoyed and are a time to socialize and relax

8. Most places are not baby-friendly – many restaurants and cafes don’t have enough room to bring a stroller in, nor do they have high chairs.  Bathrooms don’t have a changing table.

9. Milk and eggs are not refrigerated at the grocery store

10. The stereotype that the French don’t like Americans is not always true.  They are SO appreciative and friendly when you try to speak French, even if you butcher it like I do!

Wow we had a crazy first 2 weeks in France.  Our tiny hotel room was just the beginning.  For 3 days in our hotel, we only had hot water for a short amount of time in the morning…and of course twice the hot water ran out while I was mid-shower.  That was one of my “I hate France” moments haha.

Next, I had to try and find a hypo-allergenic formula for Makenna because of her milk protein allergy.  In the US I can just go to Walmart, but here the formula has to be ordered from the pharmacy and you can’t get it until the next day.  Of course I didn’t find this out until I was almost out of formula.

Another different thing about France is that in order to lock your front door from the inside you can’t just turn a lock.  You have to put your key in the door to lock it.  So of course one morning at the hotel while I’m rushing to get Makenna ready and head downstairs for breakfast before I have to meet the electrician at our apartment, I get locked inside the hotel room.  The phone in our room had no indication of how to call the front desk, nor did I know how to say “I’m locked in my room” in French, so I had to call Ryan and get him to call them for me.  The maintenance guy came up and got the door open and had to oil the locks.

My first driving experience was interesting as well.  The parking spaces are pretty tight here, and our car was parked too close to a wall to open the back door to put Makenna inside so I had to climb in the other side and try to strap her in that way.  Then I had to squeeze through to get our stroller in there.  The garages here have a pay station where you can pay before you get to your car…but this process of trying to get everything in the car and then figure out how to use it took me so long that by the time I went to leave the garage I owed more money.  Our rental is an automatic but has the eco transmission where it basically shuts off anytime you’re idle.  The gps is in English but can still be hard to follow sometimes so of course I got lost.  The streets and signs are a little different than the US so I’m still not quite sure what I’m doing when I drive around here.  Thankfully  I’ll be walking everywhere most of the time!

We moved into our apartment a couple days ago because anything is better than that hotel room.  We  already bought our fridge and the apartment came with a stove so we had the necessities and we just needed to order a washer and dishwasher.  We bought a cheap pot and pan from Ikea to hold us over until our stuff gets here, but of course they don’t work with our induction cook top!

Other expats have told us it takes about 3 hours to get anything done here and I’ve definitely found that to be true.  I went with our relocation agency to set up our cell phones and was there about 3 hours and they didn’t even put the new SIM cards in our phones.  Yesterday I went to Darty, a store where you can buy appliances and electronics, and was there about 3 hours trying to pick things out and then trying to pay with my Amex (since the money we tried transferring into our bank from the US still hasn’t been transferred) and of course the purchase was flagged by American Express because it was in a different country for a large amount (and yes we called them before we moved to tell them we’ll be in France).

When I got home from Darty, there was a note on our door that said something about dogs.  At first I thought it meant dogs aren’t allowed in the apartments and even when I tried translating it the words didn’t quite make sense so I started freaking out.  Thankfully it just said something about dogs can’t go to the bathroom outside the apartment.  We always pick up after Bailey but Ryan noticed an old lady watching him while he was walking Bailey out by our courtyard…so now we just walk him on the street.

We had some other hiccups along the way but we got the best news yet that our container will be delivered today and I could not be happier!  We will feel much better once we have our stuff and things are a little more normal for us.

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Many towns in France have Christmas markets.  They usually have different booths with handmade crafts, food, toys etc.  When we went to the one in Clermont, we took Makenna to see Santa and get her picture taken.  She loved it!  We also went to one in an old medieval village called La Sauvetat, about a 30 minute drive from us.  It was so pretty and interesting to see.  They had many different shops selling things like homemade Christmas ornaments and decorations, crafts, chocolates, cheese, hot wine (which Ryan and I tried and it was not good) and jewelry.  We also saw a welder and someone literally roasting chestnuts on an open fire.  At the end, there were 2 men in costume (I think they were supposed to be “guards of the village”) and they were marching around and shouting.  I took their picture and suddenly they decided to put on a show and start saying things to me but of course I had no idea what they were saying!  There was also a small band walking around playing music.  It was a really neat experience!

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The first few days after we arrived we had some time to explore the city.  The architecture is beautiful and the city is so picturesque.  There were so many cute shops and restaurants and it was interesting to see people sitting outside to eat when it was about 45 degrees (you don’t see much of that in the US!).  There’s also a beautiful garden in the middle of the city called Jardin Lecoq and a huge cathedral.  The main square is decorated for Christmas with a large tree, ferris wheel and lights.  It’s so pretty and festive; I’m glad that although we won’t be with our family for Christmas, we get to see the city at this time of year.

I also took Makenna to our first Mommies and Babies meet-up with some other English speaking women who are members of the IWC (International Womens Club).  Most of the women are from other countries such as India, Sweden and New Zealand.  It was at a cute café that had a separate room for kids to play.  Afterwards, my friend Jena and I went to lunch and I had my first crêpe here.

Over the weekend we decided to buy a couple things so we could move into our apartment as soon as the electric and gas is turned on since we’ll have to wait a little while for our container to arrive.  We stopped at McDonald’s to get a quick bite to eat and we were surprised at the food they had to offer!  They even had a case of desserts such as macaroons and tartelettes.  The French don’t drink just regular coffee, so of course McDonald’s has espresso served with a little biscuit (cookie).  I guess the higher prices are worth it!  We bought a fridge, futon, and a few essentials to get us by until we get our stuff.  Living out of a suitcase gets old after awhile and we’re ready to get settled!

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We live in France!  I can’t believe I can say that now.  Our trip and the first few days have been tiresome and a little stressful, but things are getting better.

It took us about a full 24 hours to get to France.  We flew out of Atlanta so we had to leave early enough to make the 2 1/2 hour drive and to arrive at the airport 3 hours before our flight as they suggested.  We flew Bailey in the hold since we had enough to handle with Makenna and 3 carry ons.  The flight to Paris wasn’t too bad; we sat in Premium Economy which gave us a little more leg room and the meal was a little nicer.  We didn’t get much sleep and Makenna would sleep for about an hour at a time and then wake up for a little while.  We had a 4 hour layover in Paris and then our flight was delayed almost 2 hours.  We made it to Clermont around 7:30pm and our friends/fellow expats greeted us at the airport.

There is a wonderful community of expats here, and they were so kind and helpful to us before and when we arrived.  We had some groceries, dinner, wine, toys and a gift for Makenna waiting for us.  I can’t thank the Jones’ and Keefe’s enough for their help!

Our hotel room is about the size of our kitchen in our old house, I feel like we’re living in a closet!  After a long, tiring trip I was about to cry when we walked into this room with 8 suitcases, a baby and a dog.  There’s not many dishes so we wound up having to put Bailey’s water in a wine glass, he’s living the French lifestyle already!

The day after we arrived, we met our realtor and looked at several apartments in the city.  We quickly made a decision so we can get out of the hotel as soon as possible.  We should be able to move in in less than a week, however, we were told we probably won’t get our container until about a week after we’re supposed to move in.  I just hope that we’re able to move in and get settled so we can decorate for Christmas!

We also went to the bank to open our French bank account and have unfortunately found out trying to transfer money from our US account is not a quick nor easy process.  With trying to pay apartment fees, and buy a car (and have plenty of baguettes and wine) this has been a little bit of a headache.

I’m glad we made it here safe and we’re so excited for what’s to come!

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Our last couple weeks in Greenville were spent tying up loose ends and saying our final goodbyes to family and friends.  Ryan sold his car, we finished our French classes and we bought a few last things to prepare for our trip.

Our neighbors were super sweet and threw a little going away party for us.  We were so lucky to have had so many great neighbors who became friends over the 2 1/2 years we lived in our house.  We’ll really miss our house and our neighborhood!

The nanny that we share with our neighbor gave us a photo album of Makenna and her friend Parker which was so nice; those babies are going to miss playing together every day!  We are so grateful that Makenna got to stay home with a nanny who was so thoughtful and caring.

My mom came down for Thanksgiving and our realtor fried our turkey for us.  We didn’t have much to work with in our apartment so we bought some sides from Whole Foods but it turned out to be a nice little dinner.

We also had a few last visits with some of our friends.  We’ve met some great people during our time in Greenville and are so thankful for the friendships we’ve made.

Tomorrow we make the big trip overseas!  I can’t believe the day is finally here and that our adventure will be starting.  Au revoir South Carolina!  See you in 3 years!