Saturday, January 2, 2010

Trois Mois

It's been 3 months since we left our lovely home and life in the Aveyron. Every day we miss it. Every day we talk about coming back. It's in our blood now, in our future. I also miss blogging, but figured that you wouldn't be interested in hearing about my life back in Los Angeles on a regular basis. But figured every once in a while I'm going to update you on what's going on with our life and plans.

The first month back was very difficult, just adjusting to the noise and traffic and fast paced lifestyle here in Los Angeles. We were used to living in a house where there were probably 5 cars that went by in a day, and of course Laurent's tractor (down and back up to the farm). The only horns we heard honking were either from Nadine & Bernard coming in from Toulouse for a weekend stay at their home Lauérié or Grandma (Laurent & Nadine's mother) as she went to the boulangerie (toot toot). It always made us smile.

I don't smile when I hear the horns here in Los Angeles. They don't sound like (toot toot), they sound loud, long, aggressive.

The one thing that has been very easy is returning to the studio. It's like we never left. Slipping back into teaching art and spending time with the kids was a breeze. We were lucky to have our business to come back to, to have a job, to have amazing customers who stuck with us for the year we were gone.

Art-Works Studio

We couldn't move back into our house because it is currently being rented out. Sure, we could have told the tenants they were out, but they are really nice people, take great care of the house, so why disrupt their lives. We moved into the Archstone Apartments, in Playa del Rey.


They call it "resort living" and it's great. 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, hardwood floors, fitness center, pool, dog run (that's not just a run, it's about the size of a football field all grass and fenced in) which is perfect for the kids, 5 minute walk to the beach and safe. We moved into another Archstone 2 months before we left for France because our house rented early and we liked it there, so figured we'd move back to another one. It's great...but it's not France!

We sold Claude, our lovely 1985 Peugeot, 2 days before we left France. We were both really sad to see him go. That car took us all over France and even to Belgium. He was a great car. We had to buy a car when we arrived home. We wanted something small and test drove many cars, but they all seemed a bit cheap. We then decided to test drive a VW GTI (turbo) and Bruce fell in love with hit. We decided to go for it. Here's our new car. It's great. Small, but roomy and super fast.

zoom-zoom

What we had hope to do in France is open a summer camp for kids from the states. Introduce them to rural france, the lifestyle, the history, the people, etc.... They would stay with us (in our home) and in the morning we'd do art, then an hour of french and then activities in the afternoon (biking, rockclimbing, kayaking, zip lining, hiking, swimming). We'd shop together at the open market, cook together and visit villages, pre-historic caves, etc... We are still moving forward with that idea. This summer we are taking 12 kids to the Aveyron to spend 17 days in rural france. We'll be staying at our friends property Les Aleis. We'll all fly in together and eat, create and play together. It's going to be amazing and life changing. We'll spend 15 days in the Aveyron and then 2 days in Toulouse before heading home. This summer 1 group, next summer maybe 2-3 groups. We are excited to be going back and even more excited to be bringing kids over to see the amazing Aveyron.

We still try and speak french to each other a few times a week so that we don't loose what we gain in the year living there. I listen to french music when I run and still read my children's books. I also write to our friends (emails) who don't speak English, although it takes me forever!

Life is unpredictable and you have to adjust to things that come your way. If Plan A doesn't work, move to Plan B, if B falls through, move to Plan C. Sometimes the timing isn't right. Our plan to stay didn't workout, but that's not stopping us from moving forward to get us back there. We are working on it and we know it will happen. Our goals are written down and we have a plan.

Stay tuned.


8 comments:

islandgirl4ever2 said...

Hey Alisa!

Wow! This is really a big coincidence but I went to your blog this morning a reread the previous post out of nostalgia!! I read Mignonne's comment about being sad not to have updates and then voilà, an update!! I was sooo happy to see that you updated your blog that I rushed over here...
It's so good to hear what's new there... FB isn't the same as a blog, so it feels more like you're HERE on your blog! I hope you decide to do updates after all.
What happened to your L.A. blog-- Our Juicy Life? IF you still have it, maybe you can just do updates there or here, of course... You know that we are all still here and we'd love to here about life over there!
Glad to hear you and Bruce will be making it back here this summer.. How fun!! The kids will LOVE it! I can't wait to hear about it...
Take care and Happy New Year to you and Bruce.
I'm looking forward to the updates, whenever you feel like posting!
Hugs,
Leesa

Rose said...

I came across your blog today by accident and was at first sad to see that you had to come back but my sadness turned into admiration for you, for making that dream happen even if for only a year! Maybe reading your blog will inspire us to make it happen too. We left part of our heart in France a few years ago so I guess we should go back and get it, right? I will enjoy reading your archives!

http://roseintheslowlane.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

OOOhhh I love your camp idea! I had the same idea, just not in the same area of France... My house is too small now, but someday hopefully! I can't think of anything more fun. My husband has the same car, but with 4 doors and he loves it!

Cindy said...

You guys have great goals! The fact that you're both on board with them is key to making them a reality. I wish you guys all the best. The French camps sound awesome!

1A said...

Of COURSE I want to hear how things are going with you! Welcome back home, even though France feels more like home. Keep us posted on you!

Megan said...

of course we want to hear from you!
Glad to hear you are sort-of getting back into your rhythm.
That's a neat idea to do a French summer school. Hope it works out for you.

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

never saw this one either... goals seem more attainable when they are written down ... so maybe blogging a bit will be helpful!

小生 said...
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