I'm behind, so let me go back a few days.
Tuesday, January 16: Chicago
After spending a few days with my parents, we took a train from Kalamazoo to Chicago for the long-awaited visa appointment. The original plan was to drive, but an ice storm hit Michigan over the weekend and we weren't ready to take on the driving conditions.
We had all day to spend in the city, but the weather was so bitter cold we could only walk for a few blocks at a time before ducking into a coffee shop to warm up.
Our appointment was 10 minutes long (talking to a small French woman behind bulletproof glass), and it only took another 45 minutes before the visas were processed and ready to go. We had dinner in a local pizza restaurant and then hopped back on the train bound for Kalamazoo.
When we got back to Kalamazoo we picked up the car and drove straight home to Dave's parents' house in Ann Arbor. We arrived around 11:30 to find that the ice storm had been a bit more serious on the east side of the state and the Basson home was without electricity. It was about 48 degrees inside the house. We turned on the fireplace and set up a little bed in the living room to keep warm.
Well, let's be honest: I whimpered next to the fireplace while Dave set up a little bed in the living room.
Wednesday, January 17: Dave's Birthday
We woke up cold and irritable, so Dave's birthday started off a bit sour. But as soon as we got into the warm car things were looking up.
We spent the day running around, taking care of last minute details.
- Met the realtor at the house to sign over selling responsibilities
- Drove down to Livonia to sign the Power of Attorney
- Drove up to Lansing to pick up Oliver's second set of certified papers
Then dinner at one of Dave's favorite restaurants in Ann Arbor. He got a candle in his dessert, I'm afraid that's as festive as we got that day.
Oh, aside from the celebration when the electricity came back on at the house
Thursday, January 18
Our last day in the U.S. was spent frantically running around.
- Picked up my repaired car from the dealer. How I missed my car. They even fixed the scratch on the driver's side I'd been procrastinating on having fixed.
- Dropped off the car at chez Baillet for Virginie
- Came home and packed everything
- Paid all outstanding bills
- Met my brother for a quick dinner at the Heidelburg, then back to the house to pill the cat, then off to the airport!
Grant was kind enough to help us carry our bags in and drive the Civic back to Ann Arbor for us. Checking in was no problem, and the Northwest agent barely glanced at Oliver's certification paperwork. TSA had to check his kennel over, then he was gently carried off by a handler while I cried with guilt. If you saw how pathetic Oliver looks when he's drugged, you'd feel bad too.
Friday, January 19
The flight was good; we slept a lot (for a flight) and at least two stewards stopped by to assure us that Oliver was safe.
The weather in Paris was balmy, about 48 degrees (I really need to start using centigrade) and cloudy. We were so happy to feel the relatively warm weather after the past few icy days in Michigan.
Oliver was waiting at the edge of the baggage claim and the three men that I'm assuming were customs officials didn't bat an eye as we walked past. I have to hand it to Virginie and Marie-France, they were perfectly accurate when describing French customs.
Miraculously, Oliver hadn't made a mess in his cage, and he was just getting over the effects of the drugs.
Avis couldn't find a reservation under our name, so we got whatever they had around; a red Citroen Picasso. Dave's a little disappointed, but hopefully next week we'll have a Faurecia pool car. Which may or may not be any cooler, but the Picasso shouldn't be hard to beat.
Anyway, we didn't have any maps to the hotel because we had complete faith in our Tom Tom. Unfortunately, the Tom Tom couldn't find a GPS signal until we were literally half a block from the hotel. We guessed our way into Cergy using the static maps on the Tom Tom and making a lot of guesses.
Our hotel is called a "flat hotel" because the rooms have a tiny kitchen unit, which includes two stovetop burners, a mini-fridge, and a sink. Our hotel room is large by European standards, but
small by "have-to-live-here-for-a-month" standards. We're just a few doors from the lap pool, though.As soon as we let Oliver out he found a place to hide. He spent most of the day in a cabinet between the plates and the silverware.
We had just settled into our room and were getting ready to go to the grocery store when the moving company showed up with our air shipment. I'm happy to have my clothes, but there is definitely not enough room in here for us to unpack everything.
After signing off on the delivery we set out on foot for the grocery store. The Leader Price was about a quarter of a mile (I really need to start using km) away in the center of Cergy. Although
Dave thinks I'm crazy, it's always been my dream to be able to walk to the grocery store. We're lucky it was so warm, it was a really nice walk.On the way back we bought a bagette. The girl at the patisserie basically wrapped a tissue around the middle of the bread and handed it to me. I didn't mind, but I accidentally smacked the bagette on probably half a dozen dirty surfaces on the way back to the hotel.
Next we made a trip to the local pet store, Animalis, for a new litter box. It was a really big store with rabbits, puppies, huge tropical fish, and canaries. I took a dive into a pile of dog beds, good thing Dave didn't have the camera with him.
We came back to the hotel room and Dave slipped into a jet lag nap while I started this epic novel. Around 7 he woke up and we found our way to the Cergy port (on the Oise river) and a German restaurant I visited during a workshop last year.
That leads us to right now. Dave's watching Jeepers Creepers dubbed in French, which really doesn't take away from the plot at all. Oliver spent some time with us on the bed before crawling back onto the silverware shelf.
Sooo tired. I think I'm going to go to bed.
Bisous
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