Flowers, Sunshine, and Newly Engaged

So the dates have been decided.

Benoit and I will celebrate our official engagement April 14, 2012.

NOTE: This will be the date where I will finally receive and be allowed to wear my real engagement ring!  The official French tradition concerning engagements is this:

-the man asks the woman if she will accept his request in marriage (without a ring)
-the couple makes the announcement to each pair of parents (separately) to see if they are willing to accept
-the family either hands-down a ring that has been in the family for now centuries or the parents leave the choice up to the woman to choose her own ring (it is the whole family, not just the man who pays for the ring)
-the couple now has the right to announce their engagement to friends and the rest of the family
-a date is then decided for a small service at the church in order to have the engagement ring blessed, followed my a meal with the family

In our case, Benoit's parents gave me the choice of 3 jewelry stores where there was an array of rings, which they had previously chosen, waiting for me.  I was to be the one to pick out which ring I wanted.  It was the whole family (including the Grandmother) who paid for the ring.  Therefore, it is now considered "a family jewel" which I am allowed to pass on to our son or daughter in the years to come.

WARNING: This ring is huge.  I mean I am talking enormous.  I have to carry special papers with me whenever I travel just in case something happens to it.  Holy poop!

Benoit and I will be getting married civilly at the town hall in Nantes sometime in the beginning of September 2012 (due to visa issues haha--Elizabeth you know what a joy immigrant paperwork is!)

We will receive the sacrament of marriage and say our forever lasting vows Saturday April 13, 2013 at Saint Donatien Church in Nantes, France.

Benoit and I will be hosting our wedding reception following the mass, which is at present being celebrated at 3pm (however, that might change if another couple is scheduled to be married that day, too!), at Le Chateau de la Pigossière (The Pigossière Castle).  Here is a picture and the website below if you would like to take a peek!

http://www.chateau-de-la-pigossiere.com/

(Keep a look out for "Save the Date" cards in the upcoming months!)

The following week, on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Benoit and I are planning for a mass at Saint Edward's Church in order to celebrate and possibly "renew" our marriage vows.  The mass will be followed by a tradition Polish/American reception.  Benoit and I are waiting until our trip to the US in August in order to decide on a place.  

Ideas of colors, dresses, decorations, etc. are all being tossed around.  I love all the wedding talk :) However, having the opportunity to enjoy a few simple moments with my new fiancé in the garden planting daffodils, well that's somehow (in a certain way) even better :)

These are for you Mom!

I think Benoit now regrets buying me the bright pink watering can hehe ;)

Why hello "Happily engaged couple!!"  I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

The infamous "February Trip to France"

So the long awaited "February Trip to France", although having ended a few weeks ago, is still fresh in my mind and gives me an extra Tigger bounce in my step knowing that my parents were able to make it and were able to share in the excitement of France and of course, The Proposal.  I had picked my parents up from the train station in Nantes Thursday afternoon with no problems whatsoever and in the moment that I saw them step off the train, I was overcome with emotion and joy.  I hadn't seen my parents since Christmas and I knew that this trip to France was extra special.  It was during this week that I knew Benoit was going to ask my father's permission to marry me IN ENGLISH, that I would show my parents the people and the places that make me love living in France so much, and that my Mom would finally be going to Lourdes.

Thursday evening, Benoit and I decided to have my parents over for the "aperitif" before heading to the restaurant.  We had bought a bottle of French champagne, a saucisson, and fish eggs to serve them!  We wanted them to get the real experience of a "French aperitif."  And there, Benoit and I sitting on one side of the living room and my parents seated on the other, Benoit address the question to my father.  He was so incredibly nervous (I don't blame him--try and put yourself in his shoes: asking the hand in marriage of the woman that you love from her father of whom she is his only daughter, all in a foreign language, poor guy!) He started stumbling and forgot a few words and I tried to help him along.  He got through the sentence beautifully and I was happy to find out that my parents understood what was happening, despite Benoit's heavy French accent.  We all started crying...again (this engagement has provoked many tears thus far lol).  My Dad had me translate the message he wanted to relay to Benoit in accepting his request; however, I had a hard time translating through the overwhelming emotion and realization of the fact that it was then at that moment completely official: I was engaged to be married, with the permission from my father.

So here we are Friday morning at the hotel enjoying our coffee and fresh croissants before heading out for a beautiful "promenade" in Nantes (yes, REAL French croissants.  Sorry Panera, I give you an "A" for effort but you got nothin' on fresh bakery croissants from France).  Our first stop was to go to the best and most famous Hat Shop in Nantes to buy a lovely hat for my Mom.  It was quite an experience to have the sweet French saleswoman place different hats of all colors and styles on my Mom's head and rave over the fact of how beautiful she was.  And she was so beautiful!  She chose the first hat she tried on, which she is wearing in the picture below.

So there we are in front of one of the worksite on which Benoit had previously worked right after his first apprenticeship as a stone mason.  The building is now a chapel, but used to be one of the first banks in Nantes.  (Mom you look STUNNING in your hat!)

Soon after, we went on a "scarf hunt" for my Dad.  He ended up buying a 100% silk scarf at La Gallery Lafayette, which is known to be the fanciest department store in France. (Side note--this is where Benoit and I will do our Wedding Registry--eeeekkkk!!!) The vibrant blue scarf suits my dad perfectly and the saleswoman helped him tie it around his neck in a chic and very classic French manner.

Here we all our in front of the famous mechanical Elephant in Nantes.  Benoit explained to us that it serves as a strictly socialist tourist attraction, constructed in order to bring more visitors to Nantes.  Obviously, it seems to be working lol.

That night, my parents and I were invited over to my friend Pauline's parents' house for dinner.  Pauline was nice enough to pick us up from the hotel and drive us.  The dinner was warm, welcoming, and lively, like the conversation the company that accompanied it.  To prove it, Pauline's mother presented us with a whole salmon (head and tail included) that she would cut and served directly in front of us, while Pauline's father continued to make light-hearted and hilarious jokes in English.

On Saturday, Benoit drove us to the beach.  The beaches of northwestern France are considered to be "les côtes sauvages," which literally means "the savage coasts." The sights are absolutely beautiful.  On the contrary to most American beaches, the beaches of Brittany consist of rocky coasts which lead onto the sandy beaches, giving a rather rustic and exotic look to the scene.   

That night, we had dinner at Benoit's parents' house.  It was the first time that our parents had met, so of course there was much excitement and some stress in the air.  My parents had offered a bottle of top-shelf American whiskey to Benoit's father, a Lenox jewelry music-box to Benoit's mother, and a bottle of California merlot and a bag of assorted American candies for the whole family.  

The aperitif opened with champagne, fish eggs, and foie gras (three French delicacies) in order to celebrate the long awaited "meeting of the parents" and the engagement.  We were surprised and relieved that find that Benoit's father speaks fluent English!  I myself in addition to Mrs. Roblin were particularly surprised for we had NEVER heard Mr. Roblin speak English before.  Benoit's father got a great kick out of my Dad's name "Bob" because it reminded him of all the American western films that he loves so much and the characters named "Bob."  He was absolutely delighted of the fact that now he actually knows someone named "Bob."  He now refers to the whisky that my Dad had offered him as "Bob's Bourbon."

Dinner was a great success.  There was never a dull moment and each family seemed to be so happy having finally met.  After all, we all are going to be officially family one day.  We left the Roblin's with smiles, rosy cheeks, a bottle of French wine offered by Benoit's father, and a bouquet of dark chocolate flowers for my Mom, given to her by the whole Roblin family.

So I am assuming in the suspect of my engagement, Molly Black sent a gift with my Mom to give to me only after a "certain event" occurred.  For those of you who don't know the story, Molly was my first babysitter whenever my Mom went back to work.  She has a daughter around my age, Bethany, who ironically later became my best friend.  I would spend the days at their house while my mom was at work and Bethany and I would ALWAYS fight over who got to wear Dorothy's ruby red slippers.  Of course, there was only one pair.  Poor Molly had to present different comprises every single day of who got to wear the slippers and when.  Don't worry Bethany, I finally have my own pair now and no longer will be stealing yours!

On Monday, we arrived successfully in Lourdes.  I will not go into too much detail about our trip, for I would like to keep these moments in my heart.  We had a very spiritual and emotional journey during the 3 days we spent in Lourdes.  It will remain an unforgettable experience for me, and for my parents (I assume) as well.  Below are some pictures that I took during our days in Lourdes.

I absolutely love this picture.  On our last day in Lourdes, just before our train, we decided to have lunch at a restaurant  looking out onto the Pyrenees Mountains.  Such a wonderful and beautiful moment :)

We spent Wednesday night in Toulouse because our flight back to Nantes was leaving from Toulouse very early the next morning.  Toulouse is called "la Ville de Rose" ("The Pink City") because during sunset, the sun casts a glow into the brick building, giving the impression that everything is pink!  We were lucky to have arrived early enough to witness such a beautiful and incredible scene.

I was sad to see my parents go, for we all awaited this trip with such excitement and impatience.  However, everything must come to an end in order to realize who much you really truly appreciated it.  And I can assure you, from the bottom of my heart, that this was the best vacation I had ever been on in my entire life.  I love you Mom and Dad.  Thank you so much for being so generous, for bringing me so much joy, and for giving me so much love.  

See you in August! Only 152 more sleeps!

I love you.

Veux-tu m'epouser? (Will you marry me?)

So it started out as a Saturday similar to any other: 

-Get up around 10am, unable to sleep because our internal clocks tell us that we have to wake up early to go to work/school

-Eat breakfast: coffee, fresh milk, toasted baguette, lots of butter, and savory jams

-Watch music videos on TV in our pajamas because we both agree that they just don't make Saturday morning cartoons like they used to anymore.

Our Saturday afternoons usually consists of a sandwich and a pastry at the local bakery while walking around "downtown" and window shopping.  However, Benoit announced that he would like to do things a bit differently that Saturday, and let me be the one to say, "And OH BOY DID HE!" 

He told me that the Castle of Clisson was a rather nice thing to see that day, even though there was still snow on the ground and according to the thermometer in his car, it was a total of -7 degrees  C (which is approximately 19.4 degrees F).  But nevertheless, we hopped in the car and off we went to some castle that I didn't even know existed about a half hour away from where we live in Nantes.

"I know you're hiding something from me Benoit!"  He does look rather guilty in this picture lol.

So considering that restaurants in France are only open between 12 and 2pm and then again from 7 to 11pm, we decided it would be a nice idea to find a cozy place to eat on the way.  For some reason, of which I have now totally forgotten, I had always dreamed of eating at what would be known for us as a "truck stop" type restaurant, but "à la française."  As word may have it, these "restaurants ouvriers" (literally translated as  "manual laborers' restaurants"--I know it sounds a lot prettier in French), you can order an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for 10 to 12 euros and the carafes of wine are on the house!  What more could you want? French food and free wine--sign me up!

As soon as we saw small road signs advertising for such a "restaurant ouvrier," Benoit quickly made the detour so that we could have lunch there.  Ironically, the place was called "Le Gros Cailloux" which translates in English to "the big rock" (one of Benoit's nicknames amongst friends since he is a stone mason).  Although no one seemed to be eating there, we took the name as a sign and decided to go in.

Bad choice.  The bread was stale, my pâté was frozen, Benoit only got one beef shish-kabob, my frog legs were dripping in oil, and my chocolate cake was way over cooked.

Lunch for two at the worst restaurant that I have ever eaten while in France: 52 euros (approx. $70)
However, the experience and milestone that was patiently waiting for me: PRICELESS

My frog legs that day: the picture looks a lot better than it tasted, trust me.

After the terrible and EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE restaurant that Benoit insisted on paying for himself (note: The French may be considered chivalrous in their demeanor, however, that would definitely not be the adjective to describe them when it comes to money--I guess they have to have at least one flaw lol), I was not feeling very reassured about our Saturday "promenade."

We arrived in the city of Clisson which is known for its Italian inspired architecture.  We first visited the Church and I was surprised to find (and my Mom can now even vouch for me) that it was at least 20 degrees colder inside the church than it was outside.  Nevertheless, we lit a candle for my Mom, walked the perimeter inside the church leaving Benoit to critique the stone work, said a quick prayer, and left shivering!

Our Lady of Notre Dame Church in Clisson

Of course, admiring the magnificent chocolates and fresh pastries.  You really can never get enough.

And here we are at the "Chateau de Clisson" (Clisson Castle).  We bought out tickets from the lovely, old ticket woman who was sitting next to her little electric heater, gently telling us that she was so delighted to see such a lovely, young couple take interest in the castle and its history, especially on a day like today where the snow scared everyone away.

Benoit was rather quiet while visiting the castle that day, wondering off by himself and admiring the snow that lay on the ground.  I thought he was still upset about the terrible restaurant we had eaten at like I was.  

Then, we suddenly came to a landing looking out onto the small town of Clisson and we stood for a few moments in silence, admiring the charming little village that lay under its cold white blanket.  The wind was harsh that day and I was doing my best to concentrate on the simple beauty of what was in front of me in order to drown out the frigid air.  

And then suddenly, Benoit took both of my hands, firmly turned me to face him, and looked at me every so lovingly deep into my eyes and said, "Laura, je veux te demander une question." (Laura, I want to ask you a question).  This is where I started crying.  I mean not just crying, but playing the American card and saying "oh my gosh oh my gosh" and not be able to catch my breath because I was so cold and obviously I was crying too much haha.  Yes, I know, how romantic on my part right?  Here I am, standing in the middle of a medieval castle in France, Benoit in front of me, about to be proposed to, and there I am crying lol.  Ok so anyway, back to the romantic French side of the story.  "Veux-tu m'epouser?" (Will you marry me?) Benoit softly asked as he pulled out a small box where inside neatly perched the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.  On a fine golden band, there sat a ruby surrounded by 8 diamonds (yes I counted lol).

My answer: "YES! Oh! I mean OUI!"

(to be continued...)

Long underwear can be sexy

So after a full week of new classes, legal problems with Sophie (let's just say she did not take things lightly whenever I told her that I was leaving the apartment at the end of the month), incoming grades, and  lots of emotions.

At the end of the month I will be leaving my apartment in Angers and moving back to Nantes!  I am so excited to FINALLY be settling somewhere because frankly, despite my passion to travel, all of this moving around is a bit tiring (mentally, emotionally, and of course physically!)  I will be working at my internship one day a week, starting this Monday (ahh!) and then taking the train every day to Angers in order to attend my classes, which will finish at the end of March.  I figured that it will just be like taking a 40 minute bus ride to school.  People do it, especially for work, every day right?

So I orginally planned to stay in Angers the rest of the week (even though I do not have class this Friday) and join Benoit in Nantes for the weekend.  However, this week, I was missing him much more than usual.  And in need of a bit more adventure to break up the monotonous student life of class, study, eat, sleep, I took the train to Pornic Thursday night to see Benoit.  He was so touched that I came to visit and I am so glad I did.

He was 10 minutes late picking me up from the train station and at first, I was a bit floored do to the fact that I just spent 17 euros and 2 hours on the train just to see him.  Thursday nights is "aperitif night" between Benoit and his colleague (there is only two of them working on this particular worksite in Pornic) and I thought that he had forgotten about me after he had too many whiskeys.  Silly Laura, he was late because after he had a drink with his colleague, Benoit rushed home to straighten up the house and light a fire in the fire place so that I wouldn't be cold whenever I first arrived.  Then, he drove 30 to the nearest open grocery store (most all grocery stores in France close at 8pm--can you imagine that functioning in the U.S.?) in order to get exactly what I told him that I wanted to eat for dinner that night.  A plate of fine meats and cheeses with red wine of course was my choice.

Whenever we got back, we quickly revived the fire and poured the wine into a beautiful caraf that we inherited from Benoit's boss because it was slightly cracked on the inside.  We'll take it! lol.  I had just sat myself down by the fire in order to de-stress and enjoy the fresh moment of the present when Benoit walked in from the kitchen in nothing but his long underwear!  I didn't even know long underwear existed in France!  "I hope you still love my even though now you know I wear something so ugly underneath my pants at work," Benoit said meekly while imitating a ballerina in the mirror.  "I still love you if you still love me," I said as I lifted my turtle neck in order to show him that I too wear long underwear in the winter.  Yup, we were definitely made for each other.  We finished the evening by have a wonderful fireside dinner while watching and making fun of trashy French reality shows...there was really nothing else on tv that evening lol.

Thinking of you all.

Love,
Laura

current updates (it's a dry title I know, but it's the best I can do at midnight on a school night lol)

So despite my intense courses in computer science for translators, I am still incapable of converting the size of a video in order to successfully post it on my blog.  All films directly taken from itunes over 20 seconds have taken the liberty to manifest against publication.  Sorry Dad, despite my 11,5 on my recent Masters 2 computer class exam, I am no Bob Namestka lol.

However, Benoit and I are still holding true to our promise in filming the simple event of our lives.  We just haven't figured out how to post them yet!

Upon my return to France, we've had 1 death and 3 additions to the family.

George (one of our two turtles) decided to leave us.  He was never really active.  He reminded me a lot of Pistachio (my albino guinea pig whom we always knew wasn't exactly apt to play the game "survival of the fittest" and spent her days in the food bowl as her lack of 2 of the 5 senses impeded her from living otherwise).  George was always the slow one and was always a little bit too lazy to poke his head out of the water and come up for air.  One day, he just decided it was better to stay under water.

On a happier note, we bought a new refrigerator!  Being deprived of such an electronic necessity for a week and half taught me two very important things in life : always appreciate the simple things because you never realize how essential they truly are in today's technological and modern world (Grandma Trach, I don't know how you managed for so long using an ice box and putting the milk outside--bravo!) and secondly, if you leave camembert cheese out for longer than 2 days, your whole house spells like sweat socks (yes, Mom, worse than the basement smelled after 8 of Aaron's friends spent the evening dancing and singing karaoke).  

Second addition to the family, George V! Sea turtles were on promo at the pet store (24 euros those little buggers!) and Benoit, being the caring animal lover that he is, just couldn't go another day without giving Caroline (the other still living turtle) alone without a "lover."  He is such a romantic even when it comes to reptiles.

The third addition is television, internet, AND a landline which includes FREE calling to any landline in the U.S.  Hope everyone is ready for some phone calls, especially you Mom :) 

Our communication package is supposed to arrive in the mail on Monday.  As soon as we have everything connected and running, I'll be ready to pass my number onto anyone who has free calling to an international landline.  

Well the French Martha Stewart is one TV and tonight revealing the secrets of making the most wonderful tasting French crepes.  It's making me hungry!

Love and miss you!

Bonne Année! (Happy New Year!)

So this New Year's Eve will definitely stay with me forever.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Our plans this year were put together rather "last minute" to say the least.  Nothing seemed to be coming together, so we more or less "got ourselves" into a party that was being held at "Le Mouillet"(which in all other circumstances is about 45 minutes from Nantes).  The theme this year was "Metro Stations" and Benoit and I decided to base our costumes on "L'Opera."  Seems like a wonderful idea right?  Long gown, old fashion opera glasses, high-heels, gloves while Benoit would be wearing a tux fully equipped with a bowtie, top hat, cane, and a mustache.  I offered to make him a "cummerbun" and of course he said "YES" not even knowing what it was.  I guess men don't wear cummerbuns in France, but they have seen them worn in American films.

I'd say that we clean up rather nice!

The party was scheduled to start at approximately 9pm.  Benoit and I arrive at approximately 10:45pm. Although Benoit's hand written directions of "gauche et ensuite droite et ensuite droit encore" (left then take a right, and then right again) were exactly Magellan's best choice, I definitely didn't help with my wonderful sense of direction and my knowledge of French round-abouts and non existent street signs.

When we finally arrived, we realized that "we weren't in Kansas anymore" or were we?  We had the priviledge of parking next to 35 cows and walking through their wonderful smelling and fresh "merde" (excuse my French by "shit" in English) ruining our shoes and our sense of humor.  Everyone was pretty much "well lit up" to say the least by the time we got there, which they had every right to be because not only was it New Years Eve, there wasn't any heat in the house except for that produced by the fireplace in the kitchen (that no one really attended to).  However, after a few glasses, we fit right in.

(I apologize, I'm still trying to learn how to use my new camera--I swear! lol)

And take two:

Ok, so maybe the third time we'll get it right:

At midnight, champagne and "bisoux" (kisses) were had by all and the speakers too had their fair share of alcohol.  Just as in the U.S., French speakers are not waterproof so from midnight on, we had no music.  Good think the French like to talk!  So despite the long interuption of sudden silence, the invitees continued on, drinking, eating the unfortuately not so great food (I was surprised and very disappointed), talking, and having a relatively good time.  

We went to bed around 5am; however, the party still carried on without us.  As I said, there was no hear in the house so you can imagine that it wasn't exactly the best night's sleep I ever had.  

The next morning, we woke up around 9:30am and I was again completely reassured that I was currently dating the best man in the world (besides my own father of course--Hi Dad!).  In order for me not to retrace my steps through the rain and cow poop, Benoit went to get the car (in the rain the in the cow poop) drove the car as close to the house as he could, carried me the rest of the way, and plopped me down in the front seat.  Now, anyone who prevents me from stepping in cow poop, that's romance to me baby!

Some Christmas Cheer

So even though I was sad to leave a scene as beautiful and wonderful as this,

I was happy to run into this whenever I got back (yes, I am talking about both Benoit and the chocolate lol)

As Benoit already mentioned to you, he was waiting for me at the train station with a bouquet of red and pink Gerber daisies and our usual "Welcome back to France" meal consisting of all different sorts of cheeses, a fresh baguette, and always something chocolate for dessert.

So things have been pretty eventful here at 64 bis rue général Buat.  We recreated Christmas as soon as I got back and opened up all the gifts that were patiently waiting to be opened.  Benoit offered me a beautiful silver bracelet.  Small, simple, and absolutely lovely!  It is the second piece of jewelry he has given me since we've been together, the first being a blue cross made from Murano glass that he bought during our summer trip to Venice in 2010.  

As you can tell from the picture below, Benoit was absolutely thrilled with all of the gifts he received from the family.  He confessed that he has never received as many gifts than what he received this year.

In addition, we were forced to buy a new fridge due to certain complications with the one we had before, and after spending a week without any source of food conservation, we finally bought one!  And as with all new household appliances, we did a photoshoot.

I must say that there is a reason to why we must refridgerate cheese, so we don't pass out from the rank odor of  Camembert that has been sitting out for the past 5 days.

I will post the videos that Benoit and I took over the passed few days whenever I return to Angers.  Let's just say that our gadgets here in Nantes aren't as up to par as those of Gadget Dad ;)

          hi! it is Benoît  thank you very much for the presents and this chrismas I had the most presents of my life. :-)