Day one in France.

After sleeping for roughly eleven hours, I awoke to the sound of laughter upstairs.  Wayne, my "British Dad", was over planning the worship with Sandy for the weekend retreat.  After breakfast, I figured out a few Internet things over here, and then had a delightful true French-style lunch with Randy and Sandy, lasting about an hour.  One of many things I love about France!

We went over to the church so I could familiarise myself with the neighborhood and the building in which I will be spending much of my time.  We had an appointment with a real estate agent to look at an apartment right across the street from church.  It was really lovely!  An interesting thing about the French apartments (and houses I think) is that in the kitchen, there is rarely cabinets and appliances.  So in this kitchen, there was a sink and a radiator.  That's all.  However, Sandy was on the phone with a woman from church who said that they still have the cabinets from their old place that she would be happy to give me.  What a wonderful church family I have here!  The rest of the apartment was really lovely too.  Two bedrooms, a dining/living room, two balconies, built in closets (hard to find here) and a newly-redone bathroom.  The price was well within my budget, and literally a two minute walk from church.

Randy and I went to see another apartment in downtown St. Etienne this afternoon, and it was quite charming.  It was on the top floor, had a number of skylights, and a complete kitchen with appliances and all!  It had some lovely woodwork which added some nice colour and a great loft area.  However, seeing as it was in the center of downtown, there were a number of guys smoking and hanging out in the doorway before the courtyard.  After overhearing what the guys were saying when we were waiting for the realtor, he said "I would not be a happy pappy dropping you off here."  I'm sure my own parents would feel similar too.  It may have cost less than the first place, but with the cost of transportation, it basically would even out.

I feel a little like I'm on House Hunters International!  I think I'm going to take the first place!  It couldn't be in a more ideal location, seeing as I'll be at the church nearly every day, it's a safe neighborhood with good people there, and it's close to a number of people who go to the church.  Plus, it really is quite lovey!

It may be rainy today, but it has been a wonderful first day back here.