07.16.08...On the road again...

So, we got a call yesterday morning announcing that our application had been accepted and that all our conditions were agreed to (have a service come in and spring clean, fix the broken mailbox downstairs, take care of the broken toilet seat and replace the gas range with an electric one). There you go, folks, we're signing the lease on Tuesday, getting an etat de lieu (like a state of the apartment check) and the keys on Wednesday and moving in on Thursday. We're actually going to go this weekend and buy a futon (because, did I mention that our BED didn't make it over in the air shipment?) and our kitchen appliances. I'm actually excited about that part!

After an otherwise uneventful morning and a lunch of a creamy, cheesy, hammy, zucchini thing my father-in-law made, we shoved our stuff back into our suitcases, loaded up and headed for Lyon. We got into our hotel and I played house while Sam went grocery shopping (with a list, of course). Funny thing about that. Back in the States, when I send Sam shopping it takes him FOREVER. He'll call me from the store ten times to find eleven items. But HERE, I guess because he knows the stores (his father ran a grocery store for crying out loud... they never went shopping because he grew UP in a grocery store), he knows where everything is. So, he got home fairly quickly and with ALL of the items on the LIST!!!!!

When he got back, I made a simple dinner of tomatoes, cucumbers, Saucisse de Strasbourg (basically lightly smoked hot dogs, but SO much better than most dogs I've eaten in the States... you can eat 'em cold) and lentils. I sprinkled it with salt and pepper and splashed a little vegetable sauce on it. Top it with a little shredded Emmental (what we call back home "Swiss" cheese) and call it dinner. I made a simple chicken sandwich for the kids, because I knew they weren't going to go for the cukes. Not a battle I had energy to fight.

They all played nice and quietly for a few hours while we checked our email (because YES, Sam was able to find an adapter) and balanced our accounts. When things started scream and cry, I got everybody naked, threw 'em in a tub of bubbles, hosed 'em down and put 'em to bed.

I finished my Stephen King and, as usual, wished I had the sequel here to start (what am I going to do when there are no more Gunslinger books?). Instead, I started a Hal Higdon book on training for marathons (the half marathon here in Lyon is in September... think I'll have time? I should probably at least be able to walk it). But after a chapter, I got antsy and played on the internet until it didn't work anymore. But that was okay, because I didn't work anymore either.

Saying goodbye to Pepe:


Excited to be alive (as usual):


Hotel pics...
Master bed (yes, folks, that IS two single beds pushed together):


BATH room (not the water closet where the toilet is):


Bidet and towel warmer(in the bath room):


Kitchen (all that stuff on the counter is the stuff from the "mini-bar" which is essentially our only fridge... I didn't want to accidentally drink a five dollar bottle of water or eat a seven dollar mini-bag of chips, you know?):


Hide-a-bed:


We put up all the pretties that were in the living room because we don't want to have to pay for them... I don't think these would survive the shaking pull-up by my baby and the fall to the tile floor, do you?:



Street views:





Lily helping unload:


Watching TV: