The voyage

Well, we have internet, phone and a few English speaking channels on the television.  It's starting to feel a little more like home.

So, here is a recap of the trip over. I'll just say that when I first titled this "The Shafer Adventure" I meant the overall adventure of living in Paris.  I didn't realize how many little adventures we would experience... and experience so quickly.

Getting checked into the airport was a breeze.  No issues at all.  We had a layover in Newark and got to spend some time relaxing a little before the 7 hour flight.  The flight to Paris was fairly long and the plane was VERY warm.  Nick ended up getting sick right as the doors opened in Paris.  I think it was a combination of the lack of sleep, long flight, and heat of the plane.  Thankfully, there was an airsick bag close and he got it all in there. 

We got our bags and found our shuttle bus.  There was a guy standing there with a plaque that had my name on it.  I made sure he knew that we had to go to a cargo area to pick up the dogs.  Let the adventure begin.  I had the address of the facility, but he didn't know where it was and it wouldn't come up on his GPS.  Like a typical guy, he appeared to just go ahead and drive around hoping to find it.  We circled Charles de Gaule airport a few times.  He drove into some cargo looking locations which turned into nothing.  He called several people.  He asked random people on the street.

As we were driving around, we passed what I was sure was the building.  Right past that was some sort of police checkpoint.  We were stopped.  As the police officer took the driver's paperwork, we watched as several guys that apparently didn't have their paperwork in order had the license plates removed from their vehicles by the police.  Sandy and I just stared wide-eyed hoping that wouldn't be us.  After about 10 minutes, we were moving again and we still had the license plate.

We found the correct building.  I went into the building and paid an airport fee for processing the dogs and then was told I had to walk 150 meters to the next building and get the paperwork validated by Customs.  Even with the driver accompanying me, I couldn't find the room.  After about 10 minutes of walking around, we found it.  Once that was done, I had to walk back to the first building to get the dogs.

All told, we spent an hour and a half trying to get the dogs.  They were very relieved to see us, and we were relieved to see them.  He then took us to the apartment.  The good news is that Nick slept during much of this time and was feeling better by the time we got "home".

To be honest, I don't think I've ever felt so helpless as I did the first 3 days here.  It's one thing to visit a country for work and get yourself around.  It's an entirely different situation having your family rely on you to get them around and keep them safe.  The safety thing wasn't an issue.

We spent the first few days walking around and figuring out where to shop, what to buy, and where we were going in our own little neighborhood.  We had a few other interesting adventures along the way.

We went to the American Library in Paris and became members.  That will be a huge help with the kids and the home schooling.  It's maybe a 10 minute walk away.  The Metro can get us close to that, too.  We walked under the Eiffel Tower, and as I mentioned earlier the kids ate a Nutella crepe underneath it.  After all, Mrs. Sparks (Nick's teacher) said he should do it!

Just past the Eiffel Tower is our bank.  We went there to get Sandy's bank cards, which she has to sign for before she can take possession.  The problem is that after 2 months without being claimed, they were sent back to be destroyed.  New cards are ordered.

We received the Orange cable, internet, and phone boxes in the mail on Friday.  I hooked them up and realized that we were supposed to get a welcome letter with our log on and pass code, which we didn't have.  We desperately wanted to get connected to the internet so I tried calling a few of the numbers, only to find that I really didn't speak French well enough to maneuver through the automated prompts.  There was an Orange store not too far away, but when we went there, they couldn't help us.  I got a phone book and found an assistance store that I visited on Saturday morning.  After some pleading, the one guy there called the customer help line for me and got me the codes I needed.  That man is my hero. 

Overall, we've realized that the people in Paris that say they don't know much English know more than enough to help us.  We've also realized that we need to learn more French to help us out at times.  The French people we've met so far are great.

I have more to post about the last day or 2, but I'll save that for another posting.

Tomorrow is when our boxes that we shipped will arrive.  That will be great.  The kids will get their belongings that have been boxed for up to 2 months now.  It will help to make this apartment more our home.

A bientot, my friends.