goodnight supermoon

Another one of those, "you don't know what you have, 'til it's gone." I never realized how spoiled I was growing up in rural Iowa. With the big city lights missing you can see each and every star out there and I swear the moon is bigger and brighter coming up over fields of corn. I was excited to spot the supermoon (wishing it was in Norway) this past weekend, but this is as good as it got. Darn clouds!

 Yes, it's still this light out around 10:30pm!

Now clouds go away and warm up a little - brother is coming to town and we've got some road trips to make and sites to see!

goin' to the zoo

Unfortunately, I don't have endless fjord photos because bad luck struck and my first flight to Paris was delayed just enough that I wouldn't catch my flight to Norway on Wednesday... so I never left. When you live where we do and are traveling to where I was going, that means you're buying 4 one-way tickets. It ended up being the most expensive trip I didn't take. Mark hopped an earlier flight back and we took a very impromptu trip to the zoo on Saturday afternoon.

After pulling up to the entrance and parking in a dirt parking lot, we weren't really sure what to expect, but we were really impressed! The elephants were temporarily unavailable, but the giraffes made it all worth it. And we got some pretty great entertainment from the baboons. In the US, it seems like there are always zookeepers and trainers everywhere... not in France! We didn't see anyone until we made it to the seals and they were being fed. Another visit to cross of the "to do" list!

can't resist

since we are coming up on our six month anniversary of moving here, I couldn't resist to share this!

Feel free to click the link, I just highlighted some of my favorites!

35 THINGS YOU APPRECIATE ABOUT AMERICA AFTER LIVING IN EUROPE

 

1. Convenience Store - I was actually just thinking today how nice it would be if I could walk down the street and grab some toilet paper (since we were out and it would be the worst to come back from vacation sans tp). Convenient stores in general are few and far between!

2. Soda - Eh, don't really care, but Mark misses his Mt. Dew (not diet - I married a 10 year old).

3. Ice - TRUE.

4. Iced COFFEE - I MISS IT SO MUCH.

8. Electrical Outlets - Finally getting the hang of this since we bought mini-adapters for every outlet!

12. Free Bathrooms - Yes, you have to pay to use a public restroom, but they are CLEAN!

13. Peanut Butter - You already know how I feel about this!

15. Personal Space - Yeah, the French kiss even when you don't know each other. I'm still getting used to it. And I still forget all the time! The best is when you try to shake someone's hand and they wonder what you are doing!

17. No Smoking - True. We are the minority.

19. Football - Mark misses this! I did see some guys throwing it (well, I could have probably thrown better) on the beach Sunday. Maybe I'll make some friends!

20. American Candy - Mark wants SourPatch Kids ASAP

21. Cell phone coverage - Don't have one! And I do have to say, it's GREAT!

22. Swim trunks - (and tops) Already talked a little about this!

24. American Holidays - Well the French get more holidays than anyone I know, BUT it will be strange to send Mark to the office on the 4th OF JULY!

25. Ketchup - Mark's got this one too...

28. Pancakes - Aunt Jemima to the rescue!

29. Air Conditioning - It's not hot here.... yet!

31. Food delivery - Got it! Just don't know how to order it!

32. Screened Windows - YES! I WANT THEM NOW!

33. Store Hours - I never know when anything is open! I still go around lunch time to find a "Store Closed" sign on the door... usually hand written!

34. Bagels - The pastries win!

35. USD - COINS, COINS EVERYWHERE!

 

 

pirate ships and sunsets

There has to be at least one person on this bateau with an eye patch...

Mark was lucky on Sunday and got to go sailing as a work team building activity. They took out one large and two smaller boats and traveled to Groix (where we were last weekend) for lunch. On my way to the market, I saw them on their way out but caught a picture on their way back in.

Last night had to be the prettiest sunset (except for the fact that I face southeast); setting sun on white beach houses and pink clouds... can't get much better than that!

Off to Norway tonight! Mark is there for work and I'm joining in the fun for the longest day of summer as far north as I could get! Au revoir and see you next week - hopefully with an obnoxious amount of photos!

all things ocean

60 degrees + sun = beach day

we spent our last free Saturday of the summer on our first trip to the beach.

it's not too bad when it's only a walk across the street.

groix

During the past two weeks, there have only been few days without sun, but we picked a gloomy day to take our friends to Ile-de-Groix, an island that we can see from our city on a clear day. We hopped on the early ferry, rented bikes and made our way around island.

 ...and shared a Kronenberg on the windy cliff-side

One of the most beautiful sites on the island (or so we were told) was

trou de l'Enfer off Pointe de l'Enfer which means Hell Hole.

 trou de l'Enfer and Melissa getting a little too close for comfort!

After lunch, we made our way to the beach. There were a few brave swimmers and a lot of sail boats.

 You could just barely see the mainland through the salty sea mist.

We both agreed this was one of the most fun things we've done around our area.

It was especially great to share it with some friends!

night light

 At 9:30pm, it looks like this - the sun doesn't set for at least another hour!