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Many of you have asked if I could show more of day-to-day life and routine so I decided this week to take you through the week! Thank you so much for caring about our comings and goings!!
MONDAY- Gant takes Henry to school and I go to Bible Study. We have been doing a book by Andy Stanley called Christian: It's Not What You Think. I have really enjoyed the book, but have enjoyed watching the Videos that go with it the most! Who knew that listening to a sermon in English would be so relaxing!! It takes a TON of effort to try to listen to one in French on a regular basis!
Here are some of the ladies at Bible Study. There are usually 8-10 of us and there is a wide range of ages which I really appreciate! I have a lot to learn and I love to hear from people who have already been through something I am in the middle of at the time!
Then I walk to school to pick up Henry for lunch. This is a picture of the parents waiting outside the gate for the children to be dismissed at 11:30.
It's nice to walk instead of being in a car mostly because I have a chance to visit with the other parents for a few minutes while we wait.
Home for lunch and hang out time!
And back on the bus to head to school for the afternoon.
Normally on Mondays I go to French class, but I was sick for the first time since we arrived and had to go to the doctor. Here is the reception desk and the waiting room- it doesn't look like any doctor's office I have ever been to!
It was a hilarious experience because I was thought I was going to an English speaking doctor- 45 minutes into the appointment after we had fumbled through the language barrier as I wrote the check to her, she saw it and said, that is not me! I was at the WRONG doctor!! Good thing she treated me anyway!!
Didn't love the look of this sink she washed her hands in, but just have to not think about it!! All it's missing is her personal toothbrush- yuck!
"To be a nonfluent foreigner is to pass through one gate only to find yourself outside two more" - Anthony Doerr
Gant passed on this quote to me and this doctor's office experience was a perfect example! After we left there we had to tackle the pharmacy and the lab!!
TUESDAY-
How I begin most days- a load of laundry! Each cycle in the washing machine and the dryer take 3-4 hours! So laundry is ALWAYS backed up!
Here we are in line at the lab. Thankfully, Gant went with me to translate!
I hate to generalize, but I am about to! The French as a culture appear to be SO funny about secrecy, privacy etc.
Maybe it should say " BACK OFF!!" instead because they have a VERY different idea of personal space here- (like sometimes you can feel someone breathing behind you 😜) so maybe that explains the CONFIDENTIALITY ZONE!
The pharmacy- here they give you the little paper box the medicine comes in and then you ask to borrow their pen to write the instructions on the paper box. They aren't written anywhere. It seems like that could be problematic, but they didn't ask me!!
Just like in Greenville, when you don't feel well you still need groceries! I took some pics to make the trip a little more fun. This store, Côte Halle, is like the Whole Foods of Clermont- Ferrand. It smells terrible ( like strong cheese or ripe fish) but the food is delicious!
Beautiful produce and they cook with fresh pumpkin here all of the time!
They always have interesting products I have never seen- I don't know what these are
Haven't ever seen these either and apparently they are not oranges!
Back to the bus stop to go get Henry! I walk sometimes and take the bus sometimes but not feeling well it has been more of a bus week!
Here comes the "B" Bus line- it is clean and pretty nice.
WEDNESDAY- we usually take the car on Wednesdays. Henry only goes to school from 9-11. We came out to find this!
But thankfully this was on the window!
Should be interesting to learn the world of French insurance, body shops etc! Good thing Gant knows so many car and tire words in French!
Just like in Greenville, you can't usually get all of your groceries in one place.
I thought I could run into a store to grab a few things but most things here take forever! So I went to a grocery store that is located inside a mall? I had not been to this store before but it was similar to most of the French supermarkets.
Walking through the mall to get to the grocery store.
The store just starts in the middle of a hallway!
I always see a few products that make me giggle. Are you Americans eating Hannibal sauce or Burger sauce since we left? Apparently they think this is what we eat? What is it anyway, I wonder?!
And nothing like a pig's hoof to welcome you to the pork section. Or in my case, to make you turn around and walk in another direction! Gross!
This glass case which is twice as big on the other side not pictured as well as the three aisles behind it are ALL cheese. That is A LOT of cheese choices!
The woman in front of me bagging her groceries. I didn't know how nice it was to have your groceries bagged!! Oh and you can't take your groceries unless you have your own bags!
A row of cars in the parking lot to show you the majority of cars here are all these little hatchbacks! I can't believe one day I'll probably be stretched out again with all of that room in a small SUV!!
Henry heading into soccer practice. Here most of the practices are on wed afternoons from 1:30-3:00 which means no night time practices!! It is soo nice!
I had not seen bagels here so when I did I decided to make the boys bagel chicken sandwiches for dinner!
THURSDAY- I spent most of the day resting and trying to get better but I did take Henry out for lunch, sleepy as I was!
Such a fun lunch buddy!
Geography Homework
English homework ( Henry is excellent in this subject- ha! )
Geometry homework...
Dinner time and Gant is home! Board games are typical after dinner- tonight was Clue.
I'll post "a weekend in the life" on Sunday night!
Maybe it should say " BACK OFF!!" instead because they have a VERY different idea of personal space here- (like sometimes you can feel someone breathing behind you 😜) so maybe that explains the CONFIDENTIALITY ZONE! 
