First two weeks: September 11, 2007

Meghan writes...

We decided to go to France a few months ago because we were tired of living in Burns Lake and needed a change. Today is September 10^th. We have been in Strasbourg, France for two weeks. I really like it here.

The plane trip here was a little boring but there were TVs in the plane so there was at least that to do. First we took an Embraer 190 from Calgary to Toronto and we met Uncle Steven there. We had a five hour layover so we went to the lounge and tried to get some sleep. From Toronto to Paris we took an Airbus A-330. That trip was seven and a half hours. It was hard, but I managed to sleep for an hour and 15 minutes. We took a Fokker from Paris to here and then a taxi to the Residence Jean Sebastien Bach Hotel. All of us were really tired when we got here and went to bed at nine p.m.

The second day we went to the ATAC grocery store. It is about 6 blocks away from the Hotel. It has very thin isles but is not that small. In my opinion it smells a little. (Maybe it is because of the meat there). We bought some tea, cheese, chicken, butter, and our very first baguette. After that we went back to the Hotel and had lunch. The baguette and chicken were very good but I did not like the cheese because it was too waxy.

For the next week or so we looked for an apartment and found three. The first one is really small and old but it has a cat there and it has three bedrooms. (Cameron really wants his own bedroom and both he and I like cats a lot). The second one is big but only has two bedrooms. The third one is about as big as the second one and I think it looks really comfortable but it has two bedrooms and the bathrooms are really dirty, not to mention kind of ugly. Cameron wanted the first apartment and I wanted the third one but Mom and Dad decided that we will take the second one. We are going to put curtains in between Cameron’s bed and mine.

Several days ago we went on the tram (the train-like thing that runs around Strasbourg) to see the cathedral. It is huge! It is 142 metres high! All around the cathedral are little clothes shops and candy shops. We went into one of the candy shops and there were lots of varieties of candy. There were cookies, lollipops, and even chocolate olives. (Which I think is kind of weird). It smelled really good in there. Also, right by the cathedral is the tourism office. Once, some days later we went there to buy a map of Strasbourg.

I can’t believe it is only a ten minute bus ride into Germany! That is what I was thinking as we got off bus number 21 two days ago into Kehl, Germany. We shopped there because one of the Hotel staff said that that is where everybody goes to shop and the prices are lower. We went into lots of clothes shops and Mom and I bought coats. (I really like mine because it is very colourful). We also ate lunch at a restaurant and had a really good kiwi dessert.

By the end of the ten months we are here, we will have gone to Italy, Germany, Greece, England, and of course France. We already went to Germany and we will probably go to Venice, Italy next. I think the canals there are really neat. I’m a little nervous about going to Greece and Italy, though, because no one in my family speaks Greek or Italian.

We are going to move into our apartment in four days. I think this apartment is not so bad after all; Cameron is okay with it too. It is so exciting! I can’t wait to go to Venice!

Cameron writes...

In May 2007 our family decided to go to France. On the 26 of August we woke up and drove to the Calgary airport, that was the beginning of the realization of our dreams...

On our flight to France we had to stop in Calgary, Toronto, Paris and finally came to Strasbourg. From Calgary to Toronto we took an Embraer 190 airplane, from Toronto to Paris we took an Airbus A330, and we arrived in Strasbourg in a Fokker 10. In Toronto we had supper with my uncle (dad’s brother) Steven, and his wife Christine. It was delicious! At the Paris airport Charles De Gaulle we met Rachel and Eric, who had visited Winnipeg for two months and were just coming back. They were very nice and made me feel welcome so we decided we’d visit them once we got settled in Strasbourg. One hour later we were finally in Strasbourg.

The next day we took the Tram to the centre of the city, the stop we got on was Observatoire, and we got of at the crowded Homme de Fer (Iron Man). Then we walked up to the cathedral. It was a huge 142m tall!!! It also has detailed carvings all over. It made me feel tiny! From there we walked a little bit and stopped in a store to purchase two cell phones. Then we walked back to Homme de Fer and took the Tram back to our hotel, with some groceries we bought from the ATAC grocery store. We soon went to bed.

On our third day in Strasbourg we went to multiple “apartment agencies” (Immoblieres) to find an apartment for ten months. We located an apartment in Orangerie five blocks from the hotel we were staying in, so we took a short walk to go see it. The woman that owned it was called Mme. Kraemer. The apartment was a little old, but it had three bedrooms and a cat that came with it! (My sister and I love cats) It also had two different floors. Finally we had seen our first apartment!

The next day we contacted a Pied a Terre and someone there (Bernadette) decided to show us an apartment by the Tram station Homme de Fer. I didn’t exactly enjoy the neighborhood (graffiti everywhere, shops selling knives and guns that shot out little plastic balls). The apartment wasn’t that bad though, it had two bedrooms and a huge living room and dining room. It did only have a tiny balcony that looked about three feet squared, though. I liked the other one more, and that evening we told Mme. Kraemer that we would take it. I was glad because I really wanted a cat!

A week later Mme. Kraemer told us that the people that were in her apartment when we looked at it were still there. We decided to look at another apartment in Esplanade, just south of our hotel for another option. It was ok and had a huge balcony, but it was in the “Apartment kind of town” where there were a lot of huge apartment buildings. It was supposed to have three bedrooms but it turns out the owners had put all of their stuff in one and locked it up. It still had a huge kitchen with a nice view though. We decided we’d take the other one by Homme de Fer at the end of the day though, that was ok with me but I was a little disappointed by Mme. Kraemer.

Here I am, 6 days later, September 11^th waiting for the 15^th when the apartment is available; Sitting in the hotel writing this “Journal” and trying to get it done fast enough. I can’t wait until the 15^th!!!!!