Freedom is so sweet

I was told hardly anything before the family left. I need to turn on the sprinklers daily, and next monday put more money in the parking meter so the dad's car doesn't get a ticket. But other than that, no rules, no anything. Therefore, without rules, I believe no rules can be broken. I am sure they will come home from vacation with tons of complaints on what I did and didn't do while they were away, but at the same time it will be nothing like the guidelines I plan on laying down when the return.

For these 2 weeks, I am not being paid, nor was the fridge stocked before they left me on my own. In fact, they literally cleaned out the fridge with all food I could potentially eat while here. On top of that, the father told me that he hoped I would take the liberty in my free-time here to clean up a bit. Considering my room and bathroom are clean, spick and span, prior to their departure, I could only assume they meant the house and especially the kids rooms. Forgive me if I am wrong, but as an au pair, it is suppose to be a give and take, rather than an entire take. Therefore, I plan on cleaning up after myself during this vacation, but I will not be touching the kids rooms. I doubt all the same that they would even have the guts to complain.

To try and help them leaving the house on time, I woke up early yesterday to go help with breakfast. Upon entering the kitchen, I realized J-F was in no more than what in America we call tighty whities. Beyond awkward. I then decided I would not be assisting. Call me prude, but that is just too much. They eventually left, with little time to spare for their train, but what do I care, it was freedom to me all the same.

I wasted no time enjoying the freedom I haven't had in 3 months, and did some laundry wearing only a towel. If walking around in "your home" in only a towel does not scream freedom, I don't know what does! :) After my laundry was well on its way, I met a friend for coffee, and did a little grocery shopping, because the fridge was completely cleaned out. Insanity. I didn't have the slightest idea what to buy to sustain me for the next four days, make meal and what not, but the whole thing was quite liberating. After unloading the groceries and hanging out a bit, it was time to get my good friend, Lucy, from the train station.

I am so happy I met Lucy, our personalities click so well, and when talking to her I feel like I am talking to an old friend. She is also an au pair, so the relations with that are amazing. She came to the house and dropped off her stuff and then we went to the Latin Quarter for dinner. We found a place that served a 3 course meal for 10 euros. Nothing beats that. From there we went to Bastille where there are many bars brimming with young people. It was a nice change from the stuffy James Joyce Pub I usually go to. We went to one bar till happy hour ended and then popped into another Irish Pub to spend the rest of our night out. We had a ball and she was quite a catch with all the young men out and about. We had a ball, gave out our numbers and facebook addresses to a few too many people, but had a blast all the same. We stumbled back home at about 1, but without kids here, and freedom, I can do that.

This morning we woke up and went to Hillsong, after a lovely breakfast in the garden. It was quite a fun day at Hillsong. It was "Community Day," a day devoted to getting people to participate outside of just church service on sunday. It wasn't a message that really applied to Lucy, but Hillsong is a blast all the same. After waiting around for lunch to get organized after service for close to an hour, we made our way to Subway/Thai Wok Bar, to grab lunch and eat in the Luxembourg Gardens. It was a beautiful day for a picnic, but apparently the rest of paris also thought so, because it was super packed.

From there Lucy and I departed from the church crew and headed to Trocedaro *sp*, to suck up some sun and enjoy an ice cream next to the river. After so long with coats, after all it was only last week that we were indeed wearing them, Parisians are taking full advantage of the weather, and everywhere seems to be 10 times more crowded. I don't mind, it means there's more people to do a little people watching. We had a lovely time talking, and enjoying the view, but her train left tonight at 8 so we had to head back to get her stuff to make the train.

We hung out a bit at the house before we made our way to her train station. We ended up being early so we grabbed a bite at a cafe in the station, hanging out and talking more. Then she left :(. Its hard to see someone go after you have had such a grand time together. If nothing else, I will leave this experience with hopefully lifetime friendships. It makes it all worth it.

Tonight, I am just hanging out at the house, I may pop in a film and enjoy some alone time. Tomorrow I think I will be going to a museum and packing for MY TRIP TO ENGLAND! After all, I have to plan out what I am going to be meeting the queen in ;).

Stay Tuned.

XOXO,
Mandy