Funnily enough, there is not a direct translation for this phrase in French. Although I’m sure the French feel the same way about their abodes, it is strange for us now living in neutral, foreign territory.
After an absolutely fabulous girly trip to New York (breakfast in Paris, lunch in London, dinner in NY!), it was back to Paris, back to reality. Weird coming back to this city, instead of England…. instead of Canada!! Home is becoming an ever elusive place for me, but it certainly didn’t feel like I was coming ‘home’ from NY, not been here long enough for that, although not sure if here will ever feel 'homely'
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Sam also made the acute observation that Paris and this flat feels more like a hotel than home, not like his cosy house back in England, and the one downfall of living in a furnished flat.
Sam is really getting fed up with all the busy people in Paris. He comments on the grumpy people in the morning and we tell him to just smile at them. Once on the packed bus he couldn’t get a seat and we were moving at a snail’s pace behind a rubbish truck. He said loudly and in a very adult like manner, ‘now there’s more bloody people getting on this bus, and I never want to be a bin man!!’ Whew, what a relief!
And to lay the complete guilt trip on, Sam is also complaining of being lonely, outside of school. When I suggested playing with some of the other kids at the park I can already sense his unease and frustration, ‘but they speak french, don’t know what they’re saying, don’t know what they’re playing’, he says. It's a growing experience I keep reminding myself.
On the bright side, Funky Monkey has now taken a shine to Sam, and being that her stunning mother was a previous cover girl model Tom’s encouraging him of course.
After an absolutely fabulous girly trip to New York (breakfast in Paris, lunch in London, dinner in NY!), it was back to Paris, back to reality. Weird coming back to this city, instead of England…. instead of Canada!! Home is becoming an ever elusive place for me, but it certainly didn’t feel like I was coming ‘home’ from NY, not been here long enough for that, although not sure if here will ever feel 'homely'
.
Sam also made the acute observation that Paris and this flat feels more like a hotel than home, not like his cosy house back in England, and the one downfall of living in a furnished flat.
Sam is really getting fed up with all the busy people in Paris. He comments on the grumpy people in the morning and we tell him to just smile at them. Once on the packed bus he couldn’t get a seat and we were moving at a snail’s pace behind a rubbish truck. He said loudly and in a very adult like manner, ‘now there’s more bloody people getting on this bus, and I never want to be a bin man!!’ Whew, what a relief!
And to lay the complete guilt trip on, Sam is also complaining of being lonely, outside of school. When I suggested playing with some of the other kids at the park I can already sense his unease and frustration, ‘but they speak french, don’t know what they’re saying, don’t know what they’re playing’, he says. It's a growing experience I keep reminding myself.
On the bright side, Funky Monkey has now taken a shine to Sam, and being that her stunning mother was a previous cover girl model Tom’s encouraging him of course.
Although the kids are getting more streetsmart, they are also still a bit too free of inhibitions and completely spatially unaware. This city is just too busy, too full of people, everywhere and all the time, and they still haven’t realised they’ve got to share the road/sidewalk with them. Numerous times they’ve been bowled over and nearly knocked down by rushed business suits who pat (or grab) their heads, trying to be nice but really just preventing their sticky faces from touching their Prada suits. Then of course you get the odd tourist who is so enamoured with the scenery that they just completely trip over Ruby doing pirohuettes in front of Notre Dame or Sam sitting in the middle of le trottier refusing to walk any further………such fun.
There are of course still some magical moments when it all feels like a dream and we can’t believe we’re here. However, the consistent reality of life in a big city with small children, few friends and language problems is not as glamorous as it seems, but always entertaining not to mention character building!
There are of course still some magical moments when it all feels like a dream and we can’t believe we’re here. However, the consistent reality of life in a big city with small children, few friends and language problems is not as glamorous as it seems, but always entertaining not to mention character building!
