cdg to iah

After only a little sleep, we were on our way to the airport; our final trip! Both of us are pretty excited that our 9+ hour commute home will be shortened to only three.

Two humans, one pup, six checked bags and two carry-ons all made it after an hour delay in Paris. We were told not to expect our shipment for 6-10 weeks from when it was picked up but we were told it will hit land on August 18! After being in the city for only 96 hours, we found a house, made and offer and accepted! All that is left is two cars and a job for me! It's really pretty weird arriving with nothing. It's like starting a new life and we are ready for what it brings! Thanks for following our adventure. It's been fun to find out who tunes in here. Unfortunately, I will be saying au revoir to this space for now... until our next expat adventure begins!

we'll always have paris

On our last night in the City of Lights, we joined as many friends who were available and had a picnic at Champs de Mars. Since it's summer, some people were on vacation, some had visitors in town, but sadly, our group is just getting smaller!

Yes, that's right, people are wearing coats and scarves. It was chilly! Our last few days in Paris only gave us a high in the 60s and we weren't prepared! We were prepared to move to Houston, where it would welcome us in the 100s. It got pretty cold when the sun went down but we couldn't complain knowing we wouldn't feel that kind of temperature until at least December!

It was a great night. It was sad to be the ones saying goodbye to the city and friends. We'd said goodbye before but the others were the ones leaving. We've been "home" less than a week and it doesn't seem real that we aren't just on vacation and will be returning. Paris gave us a lot of great memories. I don't know that I will miss the city itself but instead the life we lived there. Being just married when we hopped the pond, things could have gone badly but I believe it was really one of the best things for us. We learned together and got to experience so many things that I never dreamed of. We made a lot of mistakes along the way and have a good time laughing about them! I meant to keep a better journal while we were away, but this space is better documentation of our fun and struggles. It's hard to believe that two and a half years went by so quickly. When we left, I was convinced it would feel like eternity before we returned. Thanks France for letting us call you "home" for that time. You were frustrating at times but mostly great to us! We'll always have Paris!



around the 'hood

As I said before, I personally think our neighborhood was one of the most beautiful. The buildings all looked alike and window boxes were always filled with flowers while some balconies grew vines.

What I'll miss most about my neighborhood? The baguette tradition from across the street. Again, I might be bias, but I think they were the best in the city. We also had a chain bakery only a block away and they could always provide a promising croissant or pain au chocolate on the weekends when all the other shops were closed. The local residents were friendly and a few started to say "bonjour" as I would see them more often. It might not have been the most popular streets to live in in the city, but I'm glad we got to call them home!

48 bd de vaugirard

Once again, since we are gone, I will share where we lived and what it looked like. We really got lucky finding this apartment. It was big and right next to Gare Montparnasse, the train station that Mark used everyday to get to work. And I personally think the buildings around our neighborhood were some of the most beautiful in the city.

Our living space was spacious and more than we really needed. It pays to live in the unpopular neighborhoods when you are interested in some extra square meters!

We looked out onto a boulevard that was normally bustling with people, pets and motor scooters. You knew when it was vacation because the scooters and motorcycles parked stretched all the way down to our apartment or past for the train station.

I realized that I never got any photos of our kitchen or our bedrooms. I remembered to take the photos too late when piles were starting to be made and things weren't looking as tidy as normal! We really loved this apartment. I think part of it was because we decided to make it ours and homey. We realized that even though we were living temporarily overseas, we didn't need to make our living space feel temporary. It helps when you hang things on the walls and make it feel a little more permanent. In the last few months, I started to meet some of the neighbors and they were all very friendly and were sad to hear we were leaving. Well, they were probably only sad that Leila was leaving. One woman called her the mascot of the building! I really should have gotten a dog sooner to make friends! A few of my favorites stopped me to say "au revoir" and "bonne chance" (good luck) in our last few days there. Now that we are gone, it's a little sad to think that I will never see any of those people ever again. They really did make my day a little better when they just gave me the chance to speak some French and politely correct me when I was wrong. I tried to thank them and I think they understood, but they definitely didn't fill the rude French stereotype. They'll be missed. And mostly this apartment will be missed. I'm happy to say we loved where we lived and it made it a better experience for both of us. It was sad to turn in the keys to 48 bd de Vaugirard 3G. Au revoir.

moving day!

On Friday morning, July 24, right on time (very un-French like), we got a knock on the door and the movers arrived to start packing our things.



Leila enjoyed one last morning out on her stoop! She would stay out there for hours watching below.

While they packed, we sat in the hallway and just roamed through as needed. I always find it a little bit awkward when someone else is packing your things and you're not supposed to lift a finger.

When we moved in, the guy pulling the lift got stuck in traffic so they carried everything up the stairs. Luckily, we only lived on the third floor (fourth in US standards). This time the lift arrived and they made many less trips to the truck. This lift system is normal in Paris because of the small elevators and staircases. And it's very popular right now. It's the time of the year when a lot of Parisians are moving!

Before we knew it, the rooms were empty.

When we did our walk-through to turn in our keys, this is how we found Leila. I guess she really didn't want to go.

one last

... trip up Montparnasse Tour for a glass of champagne!

beau temps

We've been spoiled lately with warm (er than normal) temps and cloudless skies! In the past few days, it's actually cooled down and I'm thankful. 100+ degrees without air conditioning was getting a little tiring! But you learn along the way... to sleep with all the windows open and close them, along with the curtains, the minute you wake while the sun tries hard to shine through throughout the day. Even though there's only sun outside, it feels like you're sitting in a dungeon!

sunset around the corner

Well today the movers are packing up our things and we will hope to see them again in 6-10 weeks! It's the last night in our apartment and luckily earlier this week, we caught the pink sky out of our kitchen window and briskly walked around the corner and up the hill to catch this view...

We might not have had a tower view from our apartment but around the corner was close enough for us! It's not sad, but a bit strange to think that we won't be seeing this on the regular! Au revoir Madame Eiffel!

palais garnier

One thing we didn't accomplish while we were here was attend the opera. I'd heard the building itself was awesome and it was number one on my "to-do before we move" list...

After visiting, I really wish we could have seen something there but the visit was good enough!

bonne fete

In our last month, we were able to finally take in the Bastille Day fireworks at the Eiffel Tower. A few people went around 3:00pm to get a good spot and we tried our hardest to hold it while the crowds starting coming in! Over 100,000 people watched the fireworks... and they were the BEST fireworks I will probably ever see. Unbelievable!

Leila is getting ready for Texas! Our friend's dog let her borrow his hat for a try!

lac d'annecy

Our time in France is quickly coming to an end. In three weeks, we will say "au revoir" to the country we've made home for the past two and a half years. But that whole sentiment will be saved for another day! Our last trip out of town was spent a couple weekends ago at Lac d'Annecy. We saw lake Aix les Bains on the train to ski and thought it would be a great place to spend a weekend in the summer, knowing we are both lake lovers. Instead of Aix les Bains, we chose another close by and were not disappointed!

Starting in July, rentals had to be made by the week. We snuck in right before that requirement to an apartment with this view from the front balcony. It was in the small village of Duingt, without a grocery but we didn't care. We had two bikes at our disposal and a bike trail that went around the entire lake. Each morning, Mark rode the bike to the next town to grab some groceries for the day and I walked the dog to the bakery to grab some breakfast. It's hard to believe we get to call this real life!

We paddle boarded each day and then just hung out in a small space in front of the lake with a dock. It was perfect weather to be swimming in some crystal clear crisp waters! It's difficult to see, but in the above photo there is a pack of wind gliders. It was impossible to count the number of them but it was fun to watch as they dotted the sky from dawn until dusk!

One evening we took the bikes south to a village to eat dinner. Because of the view from our apartment rental, most nights we cooked ourselves and ate on the deck.

And each night, this spoiled pup got a long stroll on the path behind our apartment including an abundance of sticks and sniffs.

I can't believe we didn't find this place before. Neither of us wanted to leave! It was just too perfect of an escape from the city.

It definitely got busier on the weekend, but since we weren't leaving until Monday, Mark got to take advantage of a wakeboard session without too much other activity on the lake. I think we would both agree that this little local lake was the perfect "you're welcome" to us from France!