life lately

We have a view of the Invalides dome from our kitchen window. We took a stroll up there the other day and it was especially pretty! It's being added to my "VIST THIS" list. On this same stroll, we realized that the Eifel Tower is in full view at the end of our street. We can actually see the light show reflection on our across-the-street neighbors' windows at night.

I started my French lessons back up and my teacher is not speaking ONE. WORD. of English. That's a complete 180 from my lessons in Lorient, but I am not complaining. I'm not even sure she knows English. It's hard but I'm hopeful for learning it better! However, I went to the flower shop across the street in search for some kitchen herb plants last night. My green thumb is getting itchy! I couldn't see any so I asked Do you have herbs? (Vous avez des herbes?) in French and she told me what time it was. Better keep practicing. I left with tulips instead.

I'm especially proud of some new art on the wall... taken by the talented photographer Valérie (said in a French accent). And if you were wondering how we Mark got our Christmas tree out of the apartment, he had to saw off some limbs. I'm pretty thankful I missed that adventure. It was really fun to be here during the Christmas season. It's actually kind of strange without markets and holiday bustling.

In order to fit in around here and make some friends, we've signed ourselves up to an online make some friends website, meetup. An acquaintance of ours told us about it and said it was great. We've joined a Franco-American group and are heading to an event tonight with hundreds of other newbies in the city. I also joined a 20s & 30s girls group and am sipping tea while nibbling scones with the new members next week. We will see how it all goes, but it's fun to have the opportunities to try!

christmas & new year all in one

Merry Christmas & Happy 2014... only a few weeks late! We safely returned to the USA and back again since my last check-in. I think this was my favorite Christmas so far. Why? I'm not so sure... But maybe because looking back on 2013 and the whirlwind it was made me a appreciate sitting by the Christmas tree in my pajamas with a hot cup of coffee with everyone I hold tightest in my heart just a little more than years past. I felt pretty blessed. Cliché, but true. I can't believe we will top 2013 but we are going to try our hardest!

I was emptying the camera for the new year and came across this...

it reminds me that living simple isn't too bad.

I'm not big on resolutions but a few things I'm going work on this year:

- don't be wasteful.

- be healthy. Not healthy by eating, exercising, etc. - even though those should probably be on my list. I'm currently eating dry Frosted Flakes out of a coffee mug... - but by just enjoying every day!

- cook one new meal every week.

- keep up with the U.S. better... family, friends and news.

- make this place homey. We officially got our names on the mailbox so all the boxes need to be unpacked, things need to have homes and curtains need to be hung! I'm over this "moving" phase and sheets covering the bedroom windows. 

AND, just for you, blog a little more frequently. I've kind of fallen off the horse lately!

french blanket fort

I'd love to say I met the neighbors, their wonderful French children and we are just having a happy time making blanket sheet forts in our (still fairly empty) dining room...

but instead, France got another point against us! It's just a little French winter laundering. We had intentions to buy a washer/dryer in one (that's the norm here) and thought we did the correct phrase Googling before heading to the appliance store BUT guess not. We have a brand spanking new, sparkly white washer installed in the kitchen though. No dryer included. Better add 'drying racks' to the top of the GET THIS STUFF list!

city of lights' lights

Huge department stores pride themselves in decorating for the holidays. We'd heard about the impressive window displays outside of Au Printemps and Galleries Lafayette so we decided to take a look for ourselves on Sunday night... along with almost all of Paris it seemed!

Because of the advertising, we are almost positive that Prada was the sponsor for Printemps and Swatch for Galleries Lafayette displays. We weren't sure the exact themes but they were still fun to look at!

They built small wooden walkways in front of the windows for the children to be able to get up close...

Mrs. Claus didn't want to make his suit this year, so père Noël is sporting Prada for the season...

After fighting the crowds outside, we entered Galleries Lafayette to see the largest Christmas tree in Paris under their dome.

And on our way back to the metro, we found a street more our taste. Empty!

tu me manque larmor

I miss you, Larmor
I try to be pretty careful pinpointing where we live because well, let's be honest, there can be some strange people surfing the internet... and I've watched one too many suspenseful movies. But now that we've moved, WELCOME to our new old home! After moving and going through photos, I probably didn't take enough of the apartment and city of Larmor-Plage (yeah, that's where we lived!), but I think I have enough to spark our memories when we are 90 years old sitting around the kitchen table, drinking coffee and trying to clean out photo boxes from the attic! I talked a little about it but one of the greatest things was watching the tide go in and out a few times a day. During low tide one day, we walked to the edge and I snapped this shot of our little street.

There were four apartments in our building - ours was the middle one, with the blue striped awning. I remember it was really cold the day I took this - that's why only one of the window shades are open!

It seems like the most popular question was "Is it really small?" We thought it was just right! I was actually really impressed with the size. Here's a sneak peak of the living area... and the view. I'd take that again today! I didn't want to bore you with pictures of the rest; it's your standard bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

Before we hopped in the car for Paris, we asked for a picture in front of the building. Can't really see the building, but you can't complain when someone else is doing the snapping.

And then our neighbors saw us leaving so their kids were waving in their pajamas (Wednesday is a no school day) from their balcony and the parents were running down to say goodbye. We ended up staying for a  coffee with them. And they wanted to take our picture a few times. I'm glad they got this one...

Our view, everyday... we were really spoiled rotten. We are really liking Paris, but it will be impossible not to miss sitting on the big patio, sipping coffee, smelling salty sea air and listening to waves crash. Larmor-Plage, you were pretty great!

12 days 'til Christmas

Who needs anything more than an air mattress, a good book, Christmas music and...

...the Griswold Mark & Val family Christmas tree!

Last Saturday we set out to chop down the best looking Christmas tree in Paris! Kidding; instead, we set out to find the closest marché selling them. Since we only had the tree up in Houston last year for seven days, twelve sounded like a lifetime and Christmas only comes once a year so we opted for a big one! It was all wrapped up, but we pinned it the winner. We scouted some lights and decorations and started for home, uphill both ways, in blistery cold winds...

Actually, it was pretty nice outside but that didn't make the walk any shorter... for Mark! Ahh, city livin'!

And we also learned that France likes their trees to be as wide as they are tall. I'm not very tall, but this is definitely the biggest tree we've ever had! I'm not complaining, especially when I open the door and smell it! Now if some flakes would fall outside my window, we'd really be in the spirit! Last weekend, we also spent some time walking through a Christmas market and taking in the sights and sounds of the season. Tomorrow, the agenda includes looking at Christmas lights after Michigan basketball, of course. We've heard there are some pretty great lights on some of the more popular streets in Paris. We don't know what to expect but we are trying to take advantage of being here during all the festivities! Who knows if we will be here to see it next year!

Our furniture arrived on Tuesday and I have one... final... box... to unpack. Of course since we aren't expecting guests anytime soon, the "I don't know where to put this" stuff is piled in there, but it's coming together. We will just shut the door and worry about that after the new year!  Au revoir for now!







au revoir la mer

hello pretty Parisian apartment buildings and bustling streets...

We are MOVING! We've known for a while but exactly where changed so many times in the last few months that we were waiting until it was a little more set in stone before saying anything. Well, it's definitely official... we arrived back in Larmor-Plage last night from a thankful Thanksgiving with family in the USA - starting off with a Hawkeye win against Michigan!!! - the movers come tomorrow and we pick up our Paris apartment keys on Wednesday!

I guess sunrise and seaside pictures won't be a regular anymore, instead saved for vacations. It's a bit daunting but exciting to know we will be re-learning how to accomplish everyday tasks that finally have become second nature here. I won't lie, waking up this morning, I feel a little melancholy knowing that we are leaving. It's been an experience I never thought I wanted or thought I'd have but I feel so lucky for it now!

Posts may be few and far between (like lately) until mid-January because of the move and lack of internet. But I promise to start back up after the new year!