Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Adventure Begins

Do any of you remember the song "Leaving on a Jet Plane"?  Well, that's what I'm doing right now.  The first leg of the trip, Rochester to Dulles.  Unfortunately no upgrades, but at least I have a seat.

We had a nice impromptu get together at the house last night.  Bryan and Kyrstin, Jeff/Kelly/Adam and Bob/Joan/Karin.  We shared some wine, beer, a big pot of chili and lot of laughs.  Thanks to everyone for stopping over.

Jill and I had a nice morning together.  Nothing too dramatic, we had to finish my packing, pick up a jacket at the cleaners, do some banking and a lunch at Slayton Place.  Nothing like a good ole hamburger.  It was a nice lunch, a good chance for us to talk and discuss the next step in this crazy adventure.  On the way to the airport we stopped to get the car washed one last time.

Once at the airport Jill and I shared a good chuckle as I prepared to move 3 bags, a carry on and a computer case into the airport all at once.  We shared a long hug, a couple of quick kisses and an "I love you (or two)".  And with that I made my way into the Rochester airport. Can't wait for Thanksgiving.  

Leaving on a jet plane...  

Friday, September 24, 2010

Apartment Update

We got off the plane today, returning from Paris, to learn that we got the apartment we wanted. Move in will be in mid-October. We'll get the visitor calendar setup soon, because the apartment is really nice and in the perfect location for visitors. Only a 5 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower.

Now it is time to start the packing process.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

French Medical Examination

As part of the visa process we have to go through a medical physical with a French doctor. It so happens that our appointment is scheduled for the same day as one of the infamous French labor strikes. This means no trains, no planes and limited taxis. Our appointment is for 1:30 PM and we are a good 45 minutes from the location of the appointment. To further complicate the situation I have an all day meeting in our main office (fortunately my boss understands the situation and gave me the option to call in).

As life has it we are able to get a taxi in a reasonable time frame, so we check out and start on the journey. The taxi driver drops off in this neighborhood that would remind most of us of old Olean. We have plenty of time, so we go for a lunch in the French version of Hastas. Everyone goes there from this small town (~15 minutes outside of Paris). We have a good meal, Jill had steak and I had rabbit (no, it doesn't taste like chicken - it's a white meat similar to pork, but milder flavor.

When we get done with a long lunch (we had 1.5 hours to kill), Jill has to use the bathroom. She asks the owner/bartender/server where to go. He politely shows her to the room and turns on the light. When Jill returns to the table I can tell something has happened. When she went into the bathroom there was no toilet. In the center of the ceramic floor there were two imprints of where to place your feet and in the middle was a hole to pee in. For those that know Jill, this was not going to happen! Needless to say we left lunch with full bladders and went to the office for our physicals.

When we arrive at the office there are ~30 people waiting in ,line for the same thing. Lesson #1 when the French say appointment, they mean cattle call. The doors open and we proceed in. By the way we have our suitcases with us because we are going to a hotel near the airport. So there we are, slepping our bags into this crowded office area. We hand in our forms and we are put in this room where no one greets you and you wonder what the heck is going on.

Away we go, they start calling us to different offices to take height, weight and blood sample. Jill's nurse speaks broken English. I don't know if mine does because all he does is grunts and points. They move us a number of rooms and we pull our luggage to each. With the preliminaries done, they put us in small rooms and tell us to take our shirts off. They need a frontal chest X-Ray. Of course we don't know what they are telling us to do. I know I moved twice - she was telling me to breath in, who knew??? Jill had to redo also. When she went in the second time they opened some other doors and other nurses came in to see Jill topless for the x-Ray. I can't write how mad / upset she was. All I know we're not allowed to do this again!

Finally we individually meet with the doctors. Fortunately both speak English. Bad news is even the French doctor noticed I gained weight this summer (thanks to the lake house). They give us a clean bill of health, a copy of the x-rays and a document to prove we were there. Funny, I don't think Jill or I will need a document to remember this one.

French Dining

We had a very nice French meal the other night, but it took some doing to make it happen.  We decided on Monday that we would try a good French restaurant.  The hotel provided us a list of local places so I did a quick google search and found a 4 star place.  Jill was still quite tired, but was willing to take the 4 block walk.  Of course on the way I took a few wrong turns and made it 8 blocks, but eventually we found the place.  Of course it was closed on Monday nights!  Thank goodness our favorite Italian restaurant was on the way back to the hotel.

Since we failed our attempt on Monday, we decided this time to have the hotel help us for Tuesday.  I had one of the service desk people call for reservations at the one we missed on Monday.  He called me back to inform me this 4 star restaurant was closed for unknown reasons, but there is another very nice place not too far away.  We agreed he should make us reservations for 7:45 PM at his recommended restaurant.  Jill and I got all dressed up and took the short walk to the place.  It was a very nice, small place.  We introduced ourselves and explained we had reservations.  He looked at his list and politely informed us he had no reservation under our name.

Fortunately, I was able to use my charm and get us a table.  There was no one in the place when we arrived but within 15 minutes it was full.  We had a good bottle of wine and a nice 3 course meal.  We started with scampi stuffed ravioli (me) and shrimp salad (Jill), followed by a fish dish that I still don't know what it was and sea bass (Jill).  Of course the sea bass was not what you would expect to see in the U.S.  It looked more like a small mouth bass filet.  For desert we finished with creme brulee (me) and apple tart (Jill).  The atmosphere was charming, the servers were nice with good English skills and the food was well presented.

We really enjoyed the French dining experience, but in the 4 nights we have been here we have ate at our favorite Italian restaurant 3 times.  In case you were wondering -- the Italian food in France is very much like Italian food in the U.S.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Apartment Search Update (Day 2)

At breakfast on day 2 of the great Paris apartment hunt, Jill and I discussed the houses we saw the day before.  We narrowed it down firmly to the two I discribed in the previous post, with the one on Lisbonne taking the #1 position.  However, both of us hoped we would see a place that blew the others away and would eliminate any decision.

It happened at the first one we saw.  This one is in the 16th Ard on Rue de Eugene Manuel, near Rue de Passey (a very chic and interesting neighborhood).  The viewing was ackward to say the least.  The agency had scheduled 2 apartment hunting couples to see the apartment at the same time with each of our individual consultants.  So there we are, 7 of us parading around the apartment, whispering our comments and questions - trying not to show our level of interest.  What we came to find out is the apartment hunting business is VERY competitive and timing is everything.  The process is totally out of our control once we make the decision.  Our consultant has to file an application with the agency.  The agency has to submit it to the landlord or housing manager for their review and decision.  The owner makes the decision based on availability to move in, security of income and timing of the submittal.  Learning this, we made our decision by noon and now it is in the hands of others as to where we will live.

I won't give you the details of the area until we secure the apartment.  Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers because we did find the apartment of our dreams.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Apartment Search Update

Jill and I arrived in Paris on Sunday morning.  We decided to take a walk and look at some of the apartment buildings from the steet that are on the list our consultant provided.  The area is called Neuilly (pronounced Neweeee).  We liked the area.  It had a very residential feel about it, people/families walking, many little shops and lots of trees lining the steets.  After seeing the places today, I say one is off the list and the other is a distant 3rd.

Makes you wonder what we saw...

Today (Monday) we looked at 6 different places.  Two this morning and 4 in the afternoon.  The seventh appointment was cancelled due to the place got rented.  Just as fyi, two of the places we saw had wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower.  From what we are told, things move fast here.  If you find something you like - grab it.  Well we found 2 places we really liked.  One is on Rue de Lisbonne and the other is Rue du Bac.  Lisbonne is in the 8th Ard (ward for us U.S. people) and Bac is in the 6th.  Both are very nice places in the middle of typical Parisian communities.  If you close your eyes and visualize your idea of a place in Paris, this is it.  Both are in old buildings with many small shops very near by.  There are a number of great things about each and a few "negatives" or, as I like to call them, compromises.  All in all it was a good day.  I can see us living in either one.

With that said, our consultant has us seeing 3 more places tomorrow.  She seems to think we may find one even more to our liking.  I'm quite impressed by her.  She took the information we submitted on-line and translated to something we would like.  Let's hope her intuition is right.  But if not, both places have 2 or 3 bedroom options, so they are perfect for family and friends. 

Oh by the way, the 2 with the view of the Eiffel Tower aren't on the list.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Lake House Closing

I probably would feel a little melancholy closing the lake house this week regardless if we were going abroad or not. But there is something disappointing to know that we could have another 6 weeks up there. The hard part isn't missing the quiet tranquil life at the lake, but it's the "good-bye" to our friends and neighbors there. This was our first summer there and the neighbors fully embraced us and taught us how to live at the lake. I'll miss the gang. Hopefully they will come over for a visit.

One of the hard things about this assignment is the unknown of when we will get a chance to enjoy some of the things we take for granted now. Maybe this will give us a time to reconnect with those little things we really enjoy but don't appreciate as much today. Places like the lake, the local library (Jill's favorite), our church and the local establishments. Things like the front patio or back swing will be missed, but you know they wouldn't be accessible during the winter after all. When we return all these things will be here for us. I hope we'll take this opportunity to come to appreciate them more.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Language

Well I finally started my French language lessons. We're using an on-line version of Rosetta Stone. So far I like it. You use a headset and speaker system to hear and speak. If I don't say it correct, the system makes me do it again, and again, and again. I do about an hour a night - grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. No English, all in French. Maybe it'll go quicker once I've mastered the art of not pronouncing every letter.

Jill is somewhat reluctant to start. We'll need it soon. We go to Paris this weekend to look for apartments. Should be interesting. Maybe we'll luck out and find a cozy place where friends and family can come visit. I wonder if I can use this blog as our "visitor calendar"...

Au revoir for now!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Update

This week is my final significant week at work. Some many little things to finish off -letters to be written, reviews to give and my replacement in town for turnover. I really am excited to take on a new professional challenge. I will be able to experiment with my leadership style and meet a lot of new friends/colleagues

Jill and I had a nice long weekend at the lake. We spent time together alone and a few days with Bryan and Kyrstin. Next week we have to shut the place down. This weekend is a big weekend there. We are having a block party. Men have to BBQ their best dish and the ladies will bring their best dish to past. Matt, Alison and a couple of buddies are coming up, as are Bry and Kyrstin. Should be a good time.

When Matt leaves, he takes the Santa Fe. And then it begins...

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Fall

I'm just starting to realize that I won't be here for one of the best seasons of the year -Fall. Hard to think about, but that means no fresh apples, colored leaves, raking leaves (ok, not a favorite of mine) and football. Now for us Bills fans, that's not a bad thing unless this is the magical year we have been waiting and praying for. My guess is I'll miss the apples more then the Bills. Nonetheless please send me regular updates.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cell Phones?

So what do we do about cell phones???

Jill's phone broke and needed to be replaced. We went to the Verizon store to see what options are available. We need something that Donna, Mom and others can call us that doesn't require a 011-33-XXXXXXX. Or one that friends and family can call every morning/afternoon and not be charged international rates. Of course there isn't an easy solution with the phones in the store. Our sales person recommends Skype. Definitely a good solution for those who have computers or phones that support the technology. However, I have a hard time seeing Donna or Mom using a webcam, let alone a computer. I imagine we'll be able to do 90% of our calls with Skype, but it's that final 10% that is critical to this being a positive experience.

I guess I have a few more weeks to sort that one out...