If you’re here for the INSIDR smartphone giveaway, just scroll down to about two-thirds of the way where I list the details of the contest. If you plan to come to France before April, 2019 then this giveaway will make your stay in the City of Light that much brighter. I can’t wait to see who wins!
If you’re one of my regular readers, I thought you might like some news of la rentrée. The kids went back to school this week and are in 9th grade, 7th grade, and 5th grade – well, the French equivalent of all that anyway. (3ème, 5ème, CM2) They didn’t start on the same day, so I didn’t get a cute picture of them all together like I usually do, but we’re all really ready for the rentrée this year.
Last year was tough. I hobbled on one foot, torn in two places, for about 6 months, and then immediately upon healing from that, started getting one infection after the other. Our house had some construction done last September, then we spent the rest of the school year trying to get estimates so the insurance company could calculate the total amount our construction company had ripped us off, after taking their huge advance, then abandoning us. (And of course the companies we tried to get estimates from never came). Because we were in such flux last year, I never did any kind of organisational prep work for back to school and the year pretty much reflected that. I was tired emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically.
Howevah, my friends …
This year, after our whirlwind vacations, I had 3 weeks at home and I spent it doing a deep cleaning of our house. We must have evicted about 20 spiders from the kids’ rooms (which are partly underground with the windows at ground level). With the dust, humidity and easy access, those spiders had it good. But now there are squeaky clean corners, a dehumidifier, new rugs, and plants!
I gave away bags and bags of toys, clothes, and sundry and probably threw away about as much. We cleared all the old school papers from the last two years (seriously – I’m not even tempted to hoard anything. It was just an ineffective year that led to much accumulation).
Then I started on the linen closet.
And the old bonnetière (large wooden cupboard in the living room that mainly has school supplies and the larger kitchen appliances that don’t fit).
followed by the buffet with all our dishes. We had boxed up a bunch of china and other kitchen supplies because we lost some living room cupboard space when we started the construction. I had been waiting until the house was completely done until I could find a new home for all these things, but I finally gave up on that and sorted through everything we wanted to keep, washed it, and put it in the buffet.
Isn’t that just a work of art?
Finally, my husband found a solution for the knives, which have been shoved, dangerously, into various cupboards ever since we redid the kitchen and added the tile backsplash.
Woah. That’s a lot of knives. What can I say? I like to cook.
He put the picture back in place and added the spice rack.
Remember how I had my kitchen painted pink (which became more of a lilac when we had to repaint it after the water damage) to match this flowering plum outside the kitchen window? Now we have a picture in the same color scheme to match!
So this is what I’ve been doing on the home front, and I’m feeling so great about making lemonade out of lemons following our abandoned house construction. I’m ready for what this year has to bring.
And … I’m super excited about this giveaway because it’s valuable and three of my readers will win. If you’ve been contemplating a trip to France any time before next spring, this might be the thing to encourage you to book it because I’d say, with three prizes and not everyone about to fly over to France in the near future, there’s a decent chance you’ll actually win. Have a peek below.
INSIDR GIVEAWAY
THREE of you will win a 10-day INSIDR smartphone package for your upcoming trip to France. The contest will be open from September 5 – 18, 2018 on this blog, and your trip to France must take place before April 30, 2019). If you’d like to know more about what the INSIDR phone service entails, you can read my post about it here.
OFFER:
– Free INSIDR Smartphone rental for 10 days incl. pickup at CDG and postal return in France (worth 80€).
– Possibility to add paid options for extra logistics and phone insurance.
CONDITIONS :
– Winners are requested to support INSIDR by completing a detailed survey at the end of your trip, and by leaving a review of INSIDR services. Although we cannot require you to do this, I think it’s a small way to thank INSIDR for their offer and I hope you’ll consider this as a condition of your contest entry. (I’m not an ambassador for nothing, right?)
– Booking done directly online by the traveler with 90% discount code for immediate discount.
– 10% additional refund provided when phone is returned and survey (& review) are completed.
– Offer eligible through April 30, 2019
To enter, you have to use the Rafflecopter box below and click the button when you’ve commented on my post (or followed my page or re-tweeted about the giveaway) because the names will be chosen automatically through Rafflectopter. If you don’t enter that way, your name can’t be picked. The only entry that is mandatory is the comment, though the other options give you more points toward winning.
Make sure to say in your comment when you plan to come to France, even if it’s only a determined dream for the moment. If you feel like saying a bit more, I’d also love to hear what sorts of things you plan to do when you get here!
All right. Are you ready? On y va!
UPDATE : UNLESS YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY BLOG, TELLING ME WHEN YOU PLAN TO COME TO FRANCE, YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.
I can’t wait to see who wins and I hope you have the most magical time in the City of Light!
Your pictures are lovely (as always) and your HOME IS SO CLEAN! Are those knives hanging by magnet?
THAT is amazing!
I love these peeks into your life, my friend. Forever.
XO
Yes! We have a magnet there, and my husband didn’t want to drill into the tiles so it took him some time to come up with an alternative solution. Thank you, my friend. 🙂
I plan to take a trip to France in March 2019.