A little of this, a little of that

Hello!!!! (As Ines likes to shout) It has been 2 days since my last blog. Je suis fatigue. (I am tired) I had a busy, eventful and pretty great 4 day weekend. You all know about my day of museums and memorials...On Saturday I got kind of 'dressed up' in a cute dress and spent the day at Victor Hugo's house (SO great to go inside it). I loved his apartment...11 rooms! Technically...It was very pretty, and so neat to see where he wrote. In the end I purchased a small book of love letters that he and his wife wrote each other spanning 50 years. I ate lunch at Cafe Hugo, walked to H&M and bought an umbrella for 5 euro, just in case it rained (and it didn't). My day Saturday was fairly long, with lots of walking and some metro hopping, just getting more used to the city, etc. I ended my day fairly early (by dinner) and returned to the studio. I had a nice meal and went to bed fairly early (since Sunday I woke up really early to catch the Louvre when it opened). Yesterday, (Monday), I slept in which FELT GREAT! When I woke up I exercised for about 30 minutes, then got ready for the day. I also cleaned the studio a little bit, vacuumed and started a load of laundry, then I was off to the city! I went to La Madeleine first to do a little gift shopping. I was 75% successful...my goals were:
1)find the specific shop I was looking for
2) purchase the small gift I wanted
3) find la poste
4) mail the gift

I got through #3 without failure, but OF COURSE the post office was busy and after waiting in line, I realized it was too expensive to buy the envelope/box I needed...and so I left. Thankfully today I found a store with cheap envelopes so I HOPE it works. I will find out in a day or two when I return to the post office. I enjoyed walking around the Madeleine and seeing all the shops and cafes...definitely a fun place to hang out (and there's a great little restaurant I want to eat at, but I prefer to wait until I have someone to eat WITH, as this place was trendy and I just didn't want to go in alone that day). The weather yesterday was not optimal for a day at the park, so I WENT to the park just to see where it was (Bois du Bologne...a MASSIVE park, miles long with lakes, paths, and a horse track)...I didn't stay there long because it wasn't good weather and hardly anyone was there except for a few creepy ones...and I could tell I didn't enter at the best location. So I will most definitely return on a weekend (when they say its the most fun) and probably wear my workout clothes so I can jog along the paths and maybe rent a bike or a canoe for the lake! Then I went to Avenue de la Montaigne, which is the home of many 'haute couture', like Chanel, Dior, Escada, D&G, Cavali, etc...I took pics, but was way too intimidated to enter any store...I'd rather do that when I'm with a friend I think...it was fun to see though and easy to get to! After that
I went to the Champs Elysees again (because they are both on the west side of the city), where I picked up a ticket I purchased a few days ago. There is a 'track meet' here on Saturday, a BIG ONE, with professional athletes competing, called DecaNation, or something like that. Anyways I bought a cheap ticket because I thought it'd be a cool experience to see professional athletes run at a stadium in France! So I picked up the ticket, and then took a pair of my eyeglasses into a shop to be adjusted because they've been bothering me..haha...too tight on my head! Then of course I returned to my favorite cafe/restaurant and had an 'aperatif' for 4 euro (a martini, of course). By that point I was tired and ready to return home. I had FULL days this weekend, so my evenings were early.
Today I woke up early and went to Versailles, where ONCE AGAIN, the SAME FRENCH WOMAN was totally rude and turned me away for the 2nd time in a week (I am trying to turn in some paperwork so I can get my "carte du sejour", which replaces my VISA). Anyways...I was REALLY irritated, she turned me away and just started talk to the man next to her, not even giving me the time of day. I honestly couldn't believe it. So I left and called Virginie...and we'll try again Thursday. Apparently this is how some of them work here....don't really care about being friendly and helpful..??? I went to the gardens of Versailles and walked around the chateau, but did not enter (because I didn't have a lot of time and didn't want to waste my money on just an hour in the castle). I met up with Kirsty, a different au pair, an au pair for a family friend...she is from South Africa, is white and speaks English! (an English accent). She is 19 years old, and has been with the family since January, in Versailles. Anyways, she met me at the chateau and we walked around for an hour and visited. She is really friendly and fun to talk to...she leaves in December, so I assume we'll meet up a few more times before she goes (she isn't right in Bougival so we won't see each other often, but a little bit I think).
After Versailles I returned to Bougival to run a couple errands and get my hair colored again. It's darker now...but not quite as dark as I'd like it to be...since it fades in the sun. But that's ok! It's better than before (especially after the summer sun). I liked the girl a lot and think I'll go back to her and we both decided we'd go darker next time :)
Tomorrow the children start school! And for the first day, it's "mommy and me" during the morning, so Virginie is going with the kids to their classes, BUT since she can't be in two places at once, I will go with Tiphaine (I think) to her class, and be the stand-in mommy! Haha. I suppose I just need to pay attention to what information the teacher gives and maybe we'll do an activity or something? It should be fun to see how a French classroom works....although I may not comprehend EVERYTHING the teacher says, but I'll do my best. I think I might even dress up a little bit just for the hell of it....I need an excuse to wear my dressier clothes anyway, and it'd be fun to get dressed up for their first day of class.
I'm tired...must finish this blog for now.
P.S. I might go see Cabaret this fall at the theater! And also, there are a LOT of good looking men here, however it's difficult when I see them on the metro or in the street because one minute they're there, and the next gone! In the city life happens so fast, I don't think I can MEET anyone just on the street...and the metro-they just dissapear like THAT! So I might go out this Friday night to a bar or club (listed in one of my guide books) and just wing it...go alone, look cute, and see if I make any friends...haha...wish me luck!