bon week-end

I can't believe this was taken a month ago! She's grown a lot since then! Anyway, Leila enjoys hanging out on the subway grates to attempt catching anything flying up through them or just to channel her inner Marilyn Monroe. This made her famous actually... my brother showed a friend this photo and a party and she said she saw it online. Someone must have found it on my photo stream and submitted it to the blog Animal Facts. It's a small, connected world! Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

you did what?

I drove through the Arc de Triomphe traffic circle... the busiest traffic circle in Europe; some say the world. Ahhh!

I obviously didn't intend to drive through it... on my way to pick up Allison and Annabelle for our country escape, I had to stop at a friend's apartment who had borrowed Annabelle's car seat for another friend who was in town. It was a quick stop in front of her apartment so she can throw the seat in my backseat and I could drive away. Since traffic in the city can be a bit daunting, I had my phone GPS set so I at the click of a button it had me en route for Allison's house. As often as you take cabs in this city, I still can get turned around while driving. Everything was looking familiar and then in front of me, a few blocks, I saw the Arc. There was no turning back. I did it. The tricky thing is in the cities, traffic IN the circle stops for incoming cars. In the country, those IN the circle have priority. So it's opposite. There was a lot of honking, not necessarily at me, but maybe, who knows! A couple swear words from me and I was in and out. I'm patting myself on the back and hoping to never have to attempt it again... at least not alone!

fontainebleu

My friend, Allison, and I decided to stop at Fontainebleu on our way back to Paris from the country. It was on the way and really isn't too far from the city.

I honestly don't know that much about it other than the chateau used to be owned by the Kings of France and the Fontainebleu forest is a well known city escape for Parisians. Before visiting the chateau, we got a quick lunch in the village.

I think I must be "chateau'd out" because I feel like when you've seen one, you've seen them all. It was very similar to Versailles and any others that I have seen. It was a quick walk through because strollers weren't allowed and Annabelle wasn't having the greatest time, but we still got to take in the very detailed interior decorating!

It's crazy to think the amount of money that was spent building these chateaus. And for only a few people to live with their staff.

The gardens were big and impressive. We didn't take too much time to explore the forest because we wanted to return to Paris before rush hour. Plus I was dreading finding a parking spot near my apartment on a holiday weekend. Since we live near the train station, it can be a bit of a nightmare if you get in too late. We've talked about packing a picnic and going back someday, but then I think of all the jardins in Paris and wonder why I wouldn't just go there!

another year

Even though Mark wasn't here to celebrate, this wasn't a bad way to welcome a new year! A bottle of wine, the pup and a couple friends... joyeux anniversaire à moi! 

month of holiday

With four holidays in May, traveling is much anticipated but can get expensive. The second holiday fell on May 8; a Thursday. My friend, Allison, and I decided Wednesday night to skip town and head for the country. Our car was in the city and Allison had just gotten her daughter's car seat out of storage so what better timing? Luckily, on Thursday morning at 9:00am we heard from our AirBNB request that we sent at 11:00pm on Wednesday that a room was available! At noon we hit the road for Voisines in Burgundy and this is what we found when we arrived...

It was beautiful. The village was very small, near Sens. When we arrived the sun was shining and the owner couldn't believe that all we wanted to do was sit in the grass and breath in some unpolluted air!

Allison's daughter, Annabelle, and Leila were having the time of their lives just running around (barefoot for Annabelle) in the yard. There was another part of the yard behind the owner's office too. The house could be completely rented hosting up to 16 people but we just rented one room for the night. The Hobbit room to be exact and I'm so mad I didn't get any photos. After scaling half of the stairs, a small (very short) door in the wall opened up to the cutest room. An elevated twin bed with a slide for the kid and walls lined with books and toys was found inside! It was really cute!

I'm still dreaming about this flower draped canopy over the patio table. I hope I can make this happen someday! Just enough shade but not enough to feel too covered. And the smell... I wish I was back there!

The house had some old, rustic charm and the kitchen was so fun! I could have spent hours in there cooking up some kind of French cuisine. I'm not sure how great it would turn out but it would be fun! We have already talked about getting more friends and the guys and heading back there for a weekend away! I hope we can coordinate everyone's schedules before many of our friends start leaving!

Allison celebrated her birthday on the Wednesday we decided to skip town and mine was quickly approaching so we stayed outside until it got too cold drinking champagne and eating some cake from a nearby patisserie.

As we left on Friday, we drove to a hill outside the village to snap a photo. If the house wasn't being rented for the next couple weeks, we were considering staying another few days! I was spoiled knowing how great the French countryside is when we lived in Lorient, but it was nice to share with friends and get away from the concrete! I guess I really am a small town, country girl at heart!