A Day in My Life...

Every morning I wake up in my beautiful house on the Seine and sigh in relief that I haven't been dreaming. After breakfast I love to take peaceful walks along the river where it's quiet and all you can hear is the birds, the flowing river, and your own thoughts. I may then walk through the tree lined streets of this quaint neighborhood of Croissy and admire the beautiful French homes on my way to the train station where I hop on one heading to Paris. The metro stations are a lively and quick pace part of my day, so many different people going in so many different directions. Often there are people playing music in the halls of the stations. Violins, accordions, wooden flutes, and guitars are commonly heard playing familiar French tunes of Debussy, or La Vie en Rose. I climb the stairs out of the metro and am faced with panoramic views of L'hotel de Ville, Notre Dame, l'Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. So many times during the day I have to say to myself, "you really are here." I stroll along the cobblestoned streets taking in everything around me. At some point I will stop at one of the many boulangeries and pick up une pain du chocolat or a croissant or maybe a piping hot crepe filled with mouthwatering chocolate. I may sneak into the Louvre for an hour or two, or perhaps climb the towers of Notre Dame to make friends with the gargoyles. It's then time to catch the train back to Croissy for dinner with my host family. Monsieur and Madame Julienne have four children. Lorene is twenty. Tristan is seventeen. Tiphaine is fifteen, and Lidwine is thirteen. We all gather around in the gorgeous dining room for a wonderful meal cooked by Madame Julienne. The conversation is lively, and there is lots of laughter as we try and understand eachother. My French is going to improve by leaps and bounds while I'm living here. After the main course, a basket of bread and a platter of cheese is passed around, which is then followed by dessert. After dinner, all of us crowd into the kitchen to help out with the dishes. I will then come downstairs into my French antique filled room, where the dreams I will have cannot come close the dreams I am living.