Bonjour France!

My bedroom view of Champagne Sur Oise.

I awake this morning refreshed in a darling home in Champagne Sur Oise just 50 minutes north of Paris. It was a long flight from Los Angeles to New York and then from New York to Paris, Charles De Gaulle airport. 12 hours, long. But, luckily, I met a kind person on the plane and we chatted most of the time about all sorts of things: movies, music, travel adventures, etc. So the hours sitting was not that bad. I've made a new friend; Puneeth is his name.

It seemed so long ago now when my Dad gave me a lift to the airport on Friday. I left with much love and appreciation for everyone who supported me to make this journey real. My family, my French teacher Lydie (also mom of my 2 garden students), and my students and their families. I had all the love one could ever dream of. And I brought it all with me.

Cards from my Loeb fairies!

I promised to bring Syd, Annie and Jolie along.

Bon Voyage! 4 am we got to LAX. June 26, 2015.

After landing, Puneeth and I gathered our luggage and said our goodbyes. I waited for my host parents, Katia and Omar to come pick me up. A few minutes later and there they were, with my name on a paper. It was our first time meeting after many emails and phone conversations getting to know one another. They both have such big hearts and are extremely kind people. I am so grateful to have been offered to stay at their home for a week before I start my WWOOF (World Wide Opportunites on Organic Farms) adventures and get to work on a Lavender and Bee Farm and on a cheese-making farm! More posts to come on these.

My frist taste of France. Homegrown raspberries from Katia's garden. 

We arrived at her gorgeous little home and I got a taste of the best raspberries ever. They were from her garden! Then I got a tour of the house and ooo-ed and ahhh-ed, they must of thought how silly I am to get so excited about everything. But it's so cool. The house is 200 years old but has been remodeled in ways to make modern, like their stove and dish waster.

Kitchen with modern appliances. 

Kitchen where we share meals. 

T.V. is a typical pastime here on the weekends. 

Upstairs and to the right "the cave".

Inside the cave is where food is stored. 

And wine!!

But then they have this cave where they store wine and other foods and drinks. Parts like that make it believable to be 200 years old. Katia's grandparents lived here and then sold it to her family. Her kids, Sophia and Redwann, 20 and 18, respectively, have grown up there and still live there. After a tour of the house, texting my family that I arrived safely and giving Katia a gift of some Jazz CDs, I headed to my cute room to put my things down and I hopped in the shower. It felt sooooo good.

On the road to Katia's house, lush and green.

Then, Katia showed me around her town Champagne Sur Oise, pronounced like champagne the bubbly drink, and Sur as looks, and Oise like "was". It is so green and lush, with trees lining the roads and parks everywhere. And every little house has a garden with some flowers and fruit, like in front of Katia's house. And the roads are narrow like in Italy, and the houses and buildings are classic looking like in the movies and magazine of what the country looks like in France, with brown rooftops and high ceilings.

Katia's front of the house. Wild grapevines above the swing and in front.

Katia's house is in the middle! She has grape vine, raspberry vine and fig tree.

There are flowers everywhere. Carefully planted in little corners of the road under trees and in long rectangular pots along the side-walks. French Marigolds and Geraniums are popular in these planters. This is a town that cares about its people. You can tell by all the beauty around. People are walking, there are lakes and green forests to explore. Even the ducks have their own cross walk and Katia says they actually use it! I am in love.

Ducks even have a cross walk. 

See the painted duck feet cross walk? Adorable.

Beautiful lake. 

Gardens like this everywhere!

A nice spot to sit and chat.

Katia, my sweet host mom. 

Restaurants look like houses. 

A temple makes for popular photo destination. 

I could walk for days around here. 

After my mini-tour, we drove back home and I decided to take a nap. Well, actually, I didn't decide, my body and mind made me. I couldn't stay awake anymore; the jet lag was taking over. So, I took a 4 hour nap and asked Katia to wake me up but then still felt like I needed to sleep so went back to sleep. And she woke me up for a home made dinner of Jewish salad, which is this tomato, peppers and garlic sauce you dip with bread and lettuce on the side with dressing (so delicious!). And then she made green beans and steak. The steak was cooked with butter like how my grandma used to cook thin slices of meat for a vietnamese noodle dish. I was stuffed. And then we had pineapple for dessert.

My bedroom, where I slept like Sleeping Beauty. 

I called my family after that, realizing that when I had called earlier and nobody but my Dad picked up, sounding groggy, that I had forgotten to subtract 9 hours instead of add! So I called my mom and we facetimed. She got to meet Katia and Omar and I gave her a tour of the house. She seemed happy. It was our first time face timing.

Katia, me, Sophia and Redwann. Lasagna for dinner made by Sophia.

After dinner it was straight to bed for me. I wanted to get as much sleep as I could. I did end up waking up around 3:30 in the morning but closed my eyes to try and sleep again so I could get adjusted to the time here. As I write this, the birds are chirping outside the sunny window and calling for me to explore. Today, Katia and I will take a train to the stop Pasteur where we will meet my friend Lindsay from college!! I haven't seen her for 5 years now and just so happened to see that she lived in France via Facebook. She just so happened to be in Paris this weekend, so we are meeting today just before she goes home to Toulouse! Then, perhaps we will explore Paris. A bientot.



*Photos by Tiffanie Ma, Katia, Coralina, and a friendly man walking.