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This past year I have been serving as the President of the IWC (International Women’s Club) and it has been a great experience.  Being that our little boy will be arriving in September, I have decided to step down from my role because I know I will have my hands full!  We had a few fun events before the summer break, including a private after-hours evening at Sephora, a family picnic and a catered farewell dinner.

The night at Sephora was really nice and the best part was it was free!  A few store employees kept the store open just for us and created several different “stations” to demonstrate products and techniques such as nail art, summer makeup and a new Korean skin care line.  I especially liked the skin care station because the lady gave me a hand massage with a hand lotion she was demonstrating for us 🙂  Of course we all wound up buying some new things and we were given gift bags at the end of the night.

Our family picnic was held at Parc Montjuzet which is on a hill overlooking the city.  It has beautiful views and has many different playgrounds throughout the park.  Everyone brought food to share which was fun because our members are from all over the world and we were able to try dishes that are traditional in other countries.

The farewell dinner was catered and included an international menu of tapas and finger foods.  Everything was really good!  We also had a “photo booth” station with fun props (there is a photo above of me with some of the other committee members).

I really enjoyed working with the other ladies on the committee and have treasured getting to know women from other countries and cultures.  I will continue to help the committee when I can, and of course I will be looking forward to participating in the club events/activities when I can!

One of the perks of having a baby while in France is Michelin pays for us to have a shipment sent over from the US.  We could ship anything (even non-baby stuff) except food and liquids up to 230 lbs.  Of course I had to do some online shopping and the grandparents had to buy some things for both the baby and Makenna.  We stocked up on Costco diapers because diapers here are so expensive (like twice the cost of what we paid in the US!)  I also (with the help of Mom and Dad P) shopped Craigslist for a baby swing and a double stroller.  Mom and Dad P stored everything for us until the movers came, and then the moving company boxed everything up and shipped it over to us.  It was like a mini baby shower/Christmas for me!

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Recently a cereal bar opened called Bol & Bagel and I think this might be one of the most genius ideas I’ve seen.  They import cereals from different countries and they have many American cereals that you can’t buy at the store here.  Their menu consists of different “cocktails” which includes 3-4 types of cereal plus add-ons such as ice cream, nuts, fruit, and candy.  They serve it with a straw so you can drink the milk at the end. You can also order bagel sandwiches (bagels are also hard to find here, and you don’t really see bagel sandwiches anywhere).  Another cute concept is they have a box of little plastic toys that they let children choose from, to mimic how cereal boxes used to include a fun prize inside.

The seating is made to look like beds which was also really neat.  They also advertise “breakfast dating” where you can order a meal for 2 in the morning.  I really loved the concept and uniqueness of the restaurant…and these cereal cocktails are a pregnant girl’s (or maybe just my sweet tooth’s) dream!  The owner is English so I talked to him for awhile and tried to convince him he needs to deliver to the hospital after I give birth 😉  Until then, we’ll have to make a few more trips for my cereal fix!

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One of the ladies of the IWC (International Women’s Club) planned a lunch at Le Bus 26.  It  is a double decker bus that was transformed into a mobile restaurant, with the kitchen being downstairs and the seating upstairs.  The food is very gourmet and unique (made with seasonal ingredients), and the restaurant is often booked completely several months out due to its’ popularity!  The bus will park at a specific area for 2-3 months, often a place with a beautiful view and they serve both lunch and dinner.

The seating was really nice, with wooden holders down the center of the table to hold glasses of wine and flowers and very comfortable benches.  The food was really delicious, and the presentation was nice as well!

There were 2 menus to choose from.  The menu I chose included a mise en bouche, a starter of shrimp with coconut lemongrass sauce and artichokes, a main dish of cod with pureed potato and passion fruit mousse, a “palate cleanser” of lemon sorbet, ending with a dessert of dark chocolate ice cream with red fruit.

It was one of the best meals I’ve had here so I might just have to make a reservation again when Ryan can join me 🙂

Makenna and I participated in La Clermontoise for the second year in a row.  It is a 5k breast cancer fundraiser and the race route goes through the center of Clermont Ferrand.  This year it was a little chilly and we had a few drops of rain towards the end, but we still enjoyed it!  There were almost 20,000 participants, and Makenna loved that at several spots along the route were different bands playing music.  Ryan is always out of town for work at this time of year, so next year I’ll have to do the race with both of my babies!

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Ryan’s brother Jon and sister-in-law Janet were recently in Paris so we went to visit them for the weekend.  This was our first trip to Paris since we’ve moved here!  It is about 4 hours away and we decided to take the train.  Our seats were in the “kid car” where there was a play area for kids, so it was great that Makenna could play and run around rather than be stuck in a seat for 4 hours.  Unfortunately, halfway through the trip we had to stop because there was a storm the night before and a tree knocked down some of the power lines.  We were stopped for about 3 hours and then had to get on another train for the rest of the trip.

We didn’t wind up getting into Paris until after 5, so after we dropped off our bags at our hotel we went to a cafe to meet up with Jon and Janet for a little while before their dinner reservation.  This was Makenna’s first time meeting her Aunt Janet and her second time seeing her Uncle Jon since she was born, so it was great to see them!

Jon and Janet headed to dinner and Ryan and I headed back towards the hotel to find a place to eat.  We were tired from a long day of traveling and Makenna fell asleep on our walk (which was so nice because Ryan and I were able to enjoy a some peaceful time to ourselves for a little while!).

The next day Makenna made sure we were up nice and early, so we headed to Starbucks for breakfast (the hotel breakfast was the typical French meal of only coffee and croissants) and then walked to the Louvre to see how an artist covered the pyramid to make it blend in with the palace behind it.  It was really neat to see!  Then we walked around the gardens for awhile and admired some baby ducks that were huddled around a fountain.  We then crossed a nearby bridge that people have started putting “love locks” on after the locks on the infamous “love lock bridge” were taken down.  Jon, Janet and their friend Frank met up with us and we browsed a farmers market and then headed to lunch.  After lunch we walked around for awhile and visited 3 different macaron shops including Angelina and Ladurée.  Then we stopped for a drink at an American bar, Harry’s New York Bar, which was fun because they had flags from many different US universities including Virginia Tech and Clemson!  I was so excited they had ginger beer, which is the “mocktail” I had when I was pregnant with Makenna.  We were supposed to go to dinner, but Makenna had a long day and didn’t nap, so by 7pm she had enough.  Instead we headed back to the hotel and ate gyros in our hotel room while Makenna played with her magnetic fishing game.

On our last day we decided we would do something fun for Makenna before we headed home since she had a long day of walking around with us the day before.  Our plan was to first get breakfast at an American-style diner, but of course they were closed so we had breakfast at Starbucks again.  It was pouring rain but we bit the bullet and made our way to the aquarium.  Makenna loved seeing the fish but when we got to the tank where you could touch the fish she was scared (to this day she will still randomly say “Kenna touch the fish jamais!” (jamais means never in French).  The aquarium is located across from the Eiffel Tower, so Makenna got to see the famous landmark for the first time.  We then had to catch our train back to Clermont.  It was a nice weekend but we were exhausted and ready to be home!