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!

comin' to america!

This was Leila's reaction when she found out she only has four more weeks to prance around like a Parisian princess before she becomes an American...

Houston, here we come! We've been getting prepped with 100+ temperatures in Paris this week. Both Mark and I agreed we aren't ready for the heat, but an air conditioner will make it a bit more bearable. We are making lists and checking them twice! We've got moving surveys and apartment walk-throughs on the calendar and kitchen appliances and a car for sale. It's getting real! We have 28 days to make the most of Paris!