We took showers...

... with hot water! Shown at left are the lovely blue flames of the long-awaited gas, which was hooked up yesterday (Sept. 4).

We have realized since arriving here how difficult it would have been for us, with our nascent French and our lack of knowledge about how French bureaucracy works, to arrange for various services (like turning on the gas) and how very grateful we are for the many people who have helped us with these things.

Katia and Christine were phenomenally helpful in Paris, as were various people we met during brief encounters. Now that we have moved to Olivet, the list of helpful people includes Michèle Scherer and Maryse Fauquembergue and Yves (whose last name we don't know), who work at le Studium. Michèle in particular (shown in red with the camera, on the first day of school) has gone a long way out of her way to help us since we moved into the apartment. Sometimes, she makes phone calls to agencies (like the gas company) that we could never make; other times, she sets up meetings with various officials and accompanies us to those meetings; some other times, she is simply there to serve as translator in case we need her. It reduces a lot of the stress of moving here to know that we always have the friendly people at le Studium to turn to with questions.

Absolutely everyone in Olivet has been helpful, from Molly and Betsy's teachers to Dave's colleague Didier Chauveau (who doesn't actually live in Olivet) to the guy who sold Dave his bike, shown in the picture.