We Arrived !

We arrived at CDG airport in Paris around 8:50 am Paris time. After getting our luggage which was much easier than expected (thank goodness signs were in French and English!) Note to self: You can never have too many translations!! We were greeted by a well dressed driver who drove us to our apartment in a brand new Mercedes (thank you Caroline from AirBnB) . He offered to pick us up and take us to Eurostar on July 7th so of course we said yes. After about an hour drive to the apartment we were greeted by Julian who gave us the run down on the flat and answered all our questions. After he left we walked about a block to the grocery store. From there we stopped at a little bistro and tried to order our first lunch in French. Again thank goodness for the English translations under the French descriptions. ( again translations !). I had the best clear colored lemonade soda you could imagine ! That was the highlight of food for today. Next we returned to our flat put our few groceries away and then headed out to Musee de L'Orangerie which is famous for Monet's water lilies (Decorations des Nympheas). They were amazing, 2 circular rooms filled with wall length murals!! After seeing many works also by Renoir I commented that he is one of my favorites and my daughter's comment was "I am impressed with the frames!" Very interesting comment because the art work in the frames alone are something to behold and yet do we know anything about the frame makers ? After a quick walk through Jardin des Tuileries we headed toward Pont Alexandre III. The view of the Seine was amazing and we saw several brides and grooms taking wedding photos on the bridge with the Eiffel Tower in the background. From there we decided we had done enough on what little sleep we got on the plane so we decided to brave the walk back to our flat. We gave it a good effort and then took a taxi the last leg of it. As I sit looking out my bedroom window I am living like a local. Listening to French conversations from the street Cafe below and the sounds of cars driving by. A cool summer breeze is blowing in the window and I am ready for some sleep !! Today's lesson learned : don't forget about translations !!! They keep our families of ELLs connected.