J'ai perdu mon appareil photo numerique! - I've lost my digital camera!

Pictures from Veronica's trip over last week with her pals:

Veronica, Gerard, Chris, Michael and Victoria in Paris

Max shows off his 'wheels'.  We bought this from an American couple who were heading back to the States.  They lived on the other side of Paris so we had to cart this back to the flat via a few metro stops!

A cloudy day at La Tour Eiffel after a lovely lunch with Veronica, Gerard, Victoria, Chris, Michael and Max

Apologies for the lack of blog action of late, but I had been putting off updating the blog until I found my digital camera.  These pics are courtesy of Veronica following her trip over last week. I'm gradually coming to terms with the fact that it's gone, but I still keep expecting it to show up at the bottom of a bag.  This grieving process is made worse by the fact that there has been no definite 'closure' - it would probably be more satisfying if I could remember that I stupidly left it down in a shop or something, but no, it just VANISHED.  I remember taking a few arty shots of Montmartre a fortnight ago and deciding to hang the camera from the pram as I was too lazy to rake through the bag every time I faced a new photo opportunity (which was all the time, Montmartre is beautiful, but unfortunately I'll not be able to share that for now!) but don't remember touching the camera again and it ain't on the pram!  I feel like a right eejit, or as Canadian Martina would say, a total doofuss!!  We went back to Montmartre this weekend with my school pal, Robert, who was over with his French girlfriend, Aurelie.  Like dad searching for his glasses, I couldn't help scanning the pavements and gutters in vain for my camera.

Speaking of feeling like an eejit, I got into the French class!  I don't know how - I suspect that the course co-ordinators are just plain greedy and wanted to get the numbers up, but it's challenging to say the least.  I thought that a 'post-beginners' course would be good for me as it would force me to work, but I can't actually do the work as I've no idea what I'm supposed to be doing!  The teacher speaks in French THE ENTIRE TIME!  She doesn't allow you to speak in English at all, so I don't really speak.  I mastered 'Je ne comprends pas' pretty early on, but that just encourages her to re-phrase what she just said, but she still does that in French.  Most of the time, I still don't get it and it's a bit humiliating as there are some people with a decent grasp of the language in the class, so I normally just pretend to have understood the second time around.  In my head I tell myself that the teacher canny speak English.  

It's probably actually a good way to teach the language - it makes you feel quite smug when you think that you're getting the jist of what she's saying until she finishes and you can tell from her tone that she's waiting on responses.  It's at that point that you feel that you might be a bit behind the others, but when the others start responding in whole sentences which you don't understand a word of, you feel completely stupid.  Fortunately, I've befriended two fellow bottom-groupers, a German and a Singaporean and we giggle our way through it.  It does feel good to get away to do something on my own, even if it is a bit of a joke.  

Max keeps me busy during the day, so I don't have nearly as much time as I'd envisaged I'd have.  He doesn't nap easily - preferring to just catnap during the day if he's being pushed in the pram.  That's been great for getting out and about but I'm hoping it'll change before the winter when long walks will be less appealling.  I've joined a group for English speaking mothers in Paris.  Don't laugh - it's actually been a real lifesaver.  It's called 'Message' and it's terrific as it's a strong network of people in very similar situations.  Some of the mothers have moved here permanently and would like their children to get to know other bilingual children so that they keep up their English, but many are here for just a year or so and just want to get to know other people.  There's even a sub-group within my arrondisement (area - kind of within 20 mins walk) of mums with babies born in 2008!  I went along to the last 'babygroup' which was held in one of the mum's apartments.  She'd had her wee boy just 3 weeks before.  There were about a dozen other women there either with wee babies or pregnant and it was lovely to just chat away in English about baby stuff.  It's strange just how interested I've become in such detail as the fact that you can make broccoli more palatable by mixing it with sweet potato!  I still feel as if I'm playing at 'houses' a bit and I catch myself reacting with shocked surprise that you can't buy self-raising flour in France and have a wee laugh.  The other women in the group are great and I met up with an English girl yesterday for a coffee and a blether.  We're taking our babies to a 'Singing with Babies' class on Friday morning, which sounds right up my street.  It should be a real hoot although it is all in French!  I've a feeling I'll probably learn more French at this baby class than I do at my French classes!