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.