Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Another Year Has Come and Gone

As 2011 draws to a close, and we've packed our bags and started our journey back across the Atlantic to the USA, we thought it would be nice to do one last recap of our adventure overseas. We were married in May 2010, and by July we had uprooted ourselves to another country and another life. We faced some challenges, rented a car and learned to drive a manual shift in a foreign country, we learned as much French as we could, cooked Beef Bourguignon, and learned about dozens of types of cheese. We made some incredible friends from all over the world and learned what it means to be an expat in France. It's an experience we wouldn't trade for anything in the world, and is something that will be a part of us for the rest of our lives. Here is a review of our 18 months abroad.

Goodbye Dinner at Rocky Point Club
Honeymoon in St. Jean-de-Luz
Rainbow over our honeymoon in Strasbourg, France 
Strasbourg, France
Oslo, Norway
Bruges, Belgium
Madrid, Spain
London, England
Chamrousse, France
Ski Trip, Chamrousse, France

Marrakech, Morocco

On ATVs in the Moroccan Desert
Provins, France
Provins, France
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague, Czech Republic
Loire Valley, France
Blois Chateau, Loire Valley, France
Chambord Chateau, Loire Valley, France

Southwest France
Martignac, France
Senlis, France
Ghent, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium
Metz, France
Hot Air Balloon Festival
Nancy, France
Freiburg, Germany
German Countryside
Bad Sackingen, Germany
Lake Brienz, Switzerland

Lake Orta, Italy
Munich, Germany

Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
Oktoberfest
And back home again.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

More family time in Paris

We were thrilled when Peter's mom, brother and sister-in-law wrote to us a month or two ago and said that they wanted to come to Paris for Thanksgiving for one last visit before we left! And the icing on the cake is that they'd be bringing our 5 month old neice, Haley! We were so excited to see her, since we hadn't seen her since she was 6 weeks old. After a relatively easy flight with an infant, they all arrived and we had a great week together!

We started with a trip to the market, and everyone had their first (but probably not last) taste of Kouign Aman, the most delectable, buttery and delicious dessert I've ever tasted.


 But we know who the real star of the show was! 
Baby Haley definitely seemed to enjoy her first trip overseas!


 We spent most of our time wandering the streets of Paris, and on Saturday afternoon we made it to the Christmas Market on the Champs Elysee. The weather was beautiful and it was fun to browse the market.








It was a short visit, but we were so thrilled to have everyone come to see us, especially since it was my very last weekend in Paris. They left on Monday morning, and I left Tuesday. Now I'm back in the USA, back to real life, back to work, back to my family, and so excited for Peter to join me here on December 21st once school is over.