Siesta Wednesday?

Eric's schedule is always changing depending on when he has games. After a late away game last night he was off today, and we decided to check out some of the shops we haven't gotten to yet. Apparently, we didn't get the memo that Wednesday's are for relaxing? Everything was closed... SO after a quick and confused walk around town we decided to head to the park. Tito was the happiest camper that we came back and got him. He lives for the park, mostly because he has a toy that we only let him have there, (which happens to be his absolute favorite) but also because: who doesn't love the park? It ended up raining on us but was just what we all needed! 

Happy Siesta Wednesday~ 

New Timezone + New Neighborhood

The first few days somewhere are never easy, especially when you can't sleep on the plane because there's a passed out pup on your lap acting as your own personal heater the entire flight. Hopping six hours ahead seemed like a piece of cake, mostly because I was delirious & partly because I had myself convinced I was immune to jet lag. Turns out, I wasn't immune and neither was Tito. We spent the first few days awake and bothering Eric at the crack dawn.. Which in reality was about 3am. The guy is a saint for dealing with that during his preseason (Sorry Eric!). Then of course came the crash, which seemed to hit Tito the hardest.. 

But eventually, we got on a normal schedule and have been sleeping great! 

Going from the quiet suburbs to the middle of a city was something I gave no thought to. But it definitely is an adjustment.. There's always something going on during the day. Our street is packed with bakeries, shops, bars and apartments! But at night, it's a whole different street.. No one is out besides a few cats and there's silence (which is golden). It's crazy what a few hours can do! So far, we are really loving our new neighborhood. 

We also happen to have the prettiest & nosiest neighbor in town, but don't mind it one bit! 

The Amazing Race to Vitré

 A couple of weeks ago, I packed up as much of my life as I could fit into two suitcases, my backpack and my dog and boarded a flight from New York to Paris. I wish I could be dramatic and say it was a one-way ticket, but I’ll be headed home for Christmas! What brought me to France was my boyfriend, Eric, playing professional basketball in Europe. So, after months of casually talking about where he might sign his next contact (he was in Demark the year before), he decided on a team in France! It got a little more “real”, but I kept casually talking about it and feeling like it wasn’t actually “real life”. That changed very quickly when I realized how tricky & long the process was to apply for and get a visa (at that point, I had less than two weeks). Long story short, a couple of trips into NYC, lots of stress (and some tears) the super serious and not very understanding ladies at the French consulate handed over my brand new visa! Three days later I was hauling as much as my life you can fit into two suitcases into JFK and desperately trying to not look my mom (Joycie) in the eye, because I was terrified I would cry like a baby. 

 

 

A quick seven-hour plane ride later, Tito and I arrived in Paris! After an extra long and crowded wait at customs (something about an unattended bag and a lockdown), they let us right through. Cellphone-less, and not being able to speak French became all too real, all too quickly. After two and a half hours of trying to find Eric in the terminal, I sat down, had a granola bar and weighed my options. At that point… I didn’t have many. Somehow, I figured out how to connect to Wi-Fi, which is a miracle in itself considering I’m super technologically challenged. As soon as I got Wi-Fi messages and a voicemail came through that Eric couldn’t get me, the car had broken down. Amazingly, I didn’t panic and was able to talk to one of his teammates/friends who was an actual lifesaver. He talked to me and weighed my options (again not many) and ended up talking me through finding the train station, getting a ticket and not panicking. So, I hauled myself, Tito, two 50+ pound suitcases and what I’m guessing was a 25-pound backpack off on a train to Le Mans. All I knew was Eric would be there, somewhere, and we would get to Vitre from there, somehow. A week and a half later I’m still super proud that I held it together!

Tito was AWESOME the entire, extra long trip. I was seriously the proudest dog-mom around and couldn't get enough of his cute face peeking out of his bag. 

Here Goes Nothing!

Hi! I'm Amanda, a twenty something recent college graduate who found myself in an old medieval city in France, living with two of the best roommates, my boyfriend (Eric) and my dog (Tito)! 

 

I've debated starting a blog over and over in my head. There are pros and cons, of course. This is such a cool and fun chapter of my life, that I would love to-have all in one tiny corner of the internet, and at the time same, I hate how social media leaves little to no privacy in our lives ... it's all how you go about it though! I am by no means a writer, so this space will most likely just end up a little of this, a little of that, a whole lot of pictures of Tito and a bunch of ramblings. If you're along for the ride, keeping up with our adventures, or just passing by ... welcome! This is brand new for me and I'll figure it out as I go, so .. here goes nothing!