The Au Pair Life: France Edition

    Hello or should I say bonjour! Welcome back to my blog, yes I know I haven’t been writing recently and I want to apologize but I have been adjusting to the college life away from home for the past month. Today I  will be writing about my experience as an au pair in the south of France. Before I get started I would like to thank the wonderful family who gave me this opportunity if they ever do so read this. God Bless you all, and thank you I couldn’t think of a better way to say it but I will truly never forget my time with y’all. I’m so grateful for every moment I spent in your beautiful, loving home.

     So let’s get started, I’m guessing that right now you are probably wondering how I landed this opportunity, well let me tell you. This opportunity was a surprise from God! There is a wonderful French family that attends my church.  After Mass this family  was talking to our priest, I happened to walk by at the right moment when my priest recommended me.   Needless to say my family and our Priests are close.  They are like family to us. (I’m not going to name anyone to protect their identities) The French family was asking my priest if he knew anyone who would be interested in being an Au Pair for the summer. I was immediately intrigued at the fact that I could possibly go to Europe with a French family to learn a new culture and see the world from a different aspect. So I talked to my parents about it and since I have a background with kids (being a gymnastics coach and babysitting) they thought it would be a great experience before college. So long story short I met with the kids and sat down with the family and talked it out before I left. I know there are other ways to be an au pair through online sites etc. but personally I never would have thought of doing this if it wasn’t for that day in church. This opportunity would have never presented itself to me if I had chosen not to be at church that day.  For me it was the opportunity that could possibly be the best opportunity of my life so far.

     There are six kids in this family all boys, ages range from 15 to 2. You are probably thinking Maddie, wouldn’t that be hectic and uncontrollable? Actually, no. I’ve never met kids so well-behaved and disciplined in my entire life, I aspire to be a mother like theirs. Anyways, since most of the boys are older my main responsibility was the baby as well as the four-year old, mostly the baby though. When I arrived the family was so welcoming . The transition was automatic. A new culture was thrown at me immediately when I arrived.  The family had the table set up outside and a bunch of cheese and meats on the table as a welcoming treat. Food is a lot different in France and I guess I knew what I was expecting when I sat down and had to tell them that I don’t like cheese.  Can you imagine telling a french family you don’t like cheese? Explaining in my American way that I have never been a fan of cheese but they were understanding since after all, they probably think I am a crazy American girl with no taste. I tried all the food because you have to to get the full experience of french culture.  I liked most of the meals but stayed away from the cheese, and this one kind of meat it was like a uncured ham or something like that. Overall I like the french cuisine especially the rosé 10/10.

The first two weeks were hard I admit it.  Switching from a lifestyle to another that is totally different from each other and also in a different country 9000 something miles away from your home is tough especially with a language barrier. The language barrier was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the job. I was grateful that all of the children knew English but at family dinners I had no idea what the adults were saying and I felt lost especially when the older boys went off to camp and the others went to stay with their grandparents for two weeks. So, the first two weeks I was just with the little ones and had no one to talk to or hang out with. I also worked a lot and felt overwhelmed all by myself but I didn’t speak up so that was my fault all of my fault to be honest. I cried to my parents and they don’t like seeing me sad so they would do anything to make me happy even if that meant me coming home and leaving my duties. But a little praying and I decided to stay and i’m glad I did because that was probably the second best choice I ever made.

The language barrier was hard but I got over it and picked up French and in as soon as one month I can understand French to a certain extent which is honestly incredible. I feel now that it is very important to learn more languages to fully understand another’s culture. I’m now interested in learning more French so I’ve been watching TV shows and movies all in French as well as learning vocab and pronunciation.  I am also now taking a French course this semester at college. I’m really excited to see where learning a new language takes me.

So a little bit about where I was staying; I stayed in the South of France an hour away from Toulouse in the countryside.  It was much different then what im used to. I loved it though, all the castles and old buildings as well as the farmers market on Saturday’s and seeing just how different the grocery store is from here in America. Also did you know that roads are tiny in the French countryside and everyone drives a manual car? Milk doesn’t have to be refrigerated, (don’t ask me how because I don’t know) the toilet paper comes in different colors, and the french stereotypes are false… they take showers y’all.  Also they cut pizza with a fork and a knife, the first time I saw this happen was actually shocking because I was picking up my pizza all with my hands and they just looked at me like I had underwear on my head they didn’t say one word but all of a sudden they started cutting their pizza, I didn’t say anything either just put my pizza down and started cutting it like them. Talk about awkward situations.

I got days off and some nights after I put the baby to bed, so I met a lot of great people some who knew English and some who didn’t.  At this point the language barrier did not  matter because it was a blast and I was not about to let it stop me from having a good time. French people eat very late every meal, normally I eat lunch around 12 and dinner around eight in France they eat lunch around two and dinner at like 10:30 PM…but that wasnt a huge deal because I was full after lunch till dinner most of the time.  Also because they have what is called an Apéritif before dinner, usually consists of everyone sitting around drinking typically alcohol and having a snack that lasts about an hour and a half or so, and then you eat dinner. So like I said it wasnt that bad and I actually enjoyed how every meal was a social event with a large family.

I got to visit some really cool places like the city of Carcassonne and Castre. I really enjoyed the pretty views it was sort of refreshing to get away from the big cities in America and get some fresh air. I also enjoyed running into people I met since the town I stayed in was so small everyone knew each other, especially the big family aspect of it all everyone I met and hanged out with were cousins or family (other than the friends they had over a few times) deep down the line which I enjoyed since I’ve never really had a big family.

      This is getting really long and I doubt anyone will read all of this so I’m going to wrap it up. My duties consisted of taking care of the baby so the mom could do work around the house, I would watch him from about the time I woke up to nap time around 12:30 to 3 when he woke up. Then from 3 to 7:30 when he went to bed. I got Wednesdays off and Sundays after church. By the way the churches are gorgeous and very historic even though the masses were in French and Latin, I loved it. I also did other things like do the dishes of course because I did live there so why would I not help around with chores. Overall my experience was great, an oppurtunity of a lifetime. I developed a love for these children and the family and I would go back in a heartbeat. I guess this is also a lesson as well; even though things get hard don’t give up because you will miss out on what is to come. Life is about the choices we make and I am sure blessed to have been given the opportunity and the freedom to make these decisions on my own.

     If you have read this far…congratulations you win $1 billion dollars!! Just kidding but thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this little bit about my experience in France and I hope that it inspires you to do the same.

With lots of love,

XOXO Madeleine

P.S. being in France it is the first time I haven’t had to correct someone on spelling or pronunciation of my name so yay peace to French names because I love them.

If you have any questions about my trip message me through the contact page.