Ashleigh's Birthday!

I arrived where I was suppose to be at my new class yesterday morning at 10:20.  Just a little early, but not that awkward early where everyone thinks you're a goody-goody.  My school has 3 different locations within this one area of Paris, and often your conference class is in a different location than your grammar class.  Turns out there was some maintenance being done where my class was suppose to be, so I wandered around this floor trying to find the correct class.  I stumbled upon Laura, a girl who was in my previous class and we were looking for the same room.  Finally found someone with authority and found out that it was in one of the other buildings....so, we trekked over there ending up about 5 minutes late for our normal class.  Wasn't so bad, but...you know me, I h.a.t.e. being late!  

My last teacher was bubbly, fun, and we did a lot of other things besides the book.  My new teacher is a man, and we followed every activity in the book.  Not so exciting.  He seems to really know what he is talking about...I'm just not sure he will compare to Marjorie!  There are about 12 in my class which is slightly bigger and since I have skipped over about 4 dossiers in the old book, I'm having to do a little bit of catch up to get on the same level.  Which-is probably good for me because it is a challenge and I will really study to be able to do good!  First days are always awkward, so we'll see in the upcoming weeks if things with the new professor get better!

Chloé came home tonight and shared the news that I will now have the second weekend of vacations off too sooooo.....Ashleigh and I are planning our trip to the Cinque Terre in Italy as well as Pisa and a weekend in Cannes/Nice/Monaco to visit Kerry in her new au pair home!  Yes!  April holidays just got even more exciting!

We met at one of our favorite places near the Eiffel Tower to celebrate Ashleigh's birthday after work on Monday.  They have excellent service, and the prices aren't too bad either.  Always a winning combination.  After we forced Ashleigh to get dessert (she chose a boule of lemon sorbet) I plopped a candle in it, lit that sucker up, and we sang Joyeux Anniversaire right in the middle of the restaurant.  

I ordered tarte tatin....a yummmmmmy apple tart with caramel and whipped cream.  I couldn't even finish it all that's how rich it was.  The apples were warm and the tart on the bottom so crisp and flaky!  

At 20 minutes until 11 we walked over to the magnificent Tour Eiffel for cheeky photos and some champagne.  We couldn't find confetti or party hats so champagne had to do.  I love birthdays and they don't love them as much here in France so you really have to search for things like that!  We talked about how so many people were wishing Ashleigh a Happy Birthday from all over the globe...I only hope we did our part in this time zone!  As soon as it began to sparkle we shook the bottle and sent the cork flying.  And of course let the candid pictures rip as well.....

Being silly when Kerry has the camera.  She's an excellent photographer you know.  

Cheers to Ashleigh!

Don't know why this one's so dark.....

It was such a simple birthday...and yet so fun!! I think Ashleigh had a good night, and I was just glad I was there to celebrate.  I am so lucky to have found such wonderful friends this year on the other side of the world, and celebrating milestones only reminds me of that even more!  I really hate to see them both leave over the next couple of months, but these girls are two girls I promise to keep in touch with for a long while!  We've all started planning our visits to respective countries...Australia being the first and most exciting on our list!