Wednesday, June 8, 2016

2016 and I'm back in France!


6/8/2016

Bonjour mes amis!

It's been some time since I've written on my blog, but I've been encouraged again because of a month long visit in France!  Yes, I am a privileged girl!  It's been two years, and I was anxious to return.  This is a very special trip for me.  I am anxious to see old friends, to speak and hear the French language again, and to spend time with my husband and daughters.

Ms. Sapphire joined us first.  This is our first selfie, and we're ready for the long plane ride.  We were super excited to be on a brand new plane. It was roomy, had an excellent entertainment system, and the flight attendants were super nice.  All in all, a great flight!


Upon arrival to our apartment here in Orléans, our dear friends, Eva and Johannes stopped by to hug and laugh.  We enjoy them, but we didn't take photos (I guess we were just so happy to see eachother). I will share more of our time with them later.

Our first evening in France, we were treated by Dr. J's Colleague, Remi, and his family to a wonderful French meal.  Their daughter, though she spoke only a few words of English, was simply enchanting and fun, and we enjoyed ourselves.


Though we didn't take a picture altogether, know that Veronique is a wonderful cook, and we were absolutely stuffed, and ready to get a good night's sleep by the time we left their house at midnight!  Notice the beautiful dessert, and that I finished all of my delicious wine!


Unfortunately for us, we arrived in France during a Flood!  We were able to make it to Orléans safely from Paris, but with all the rain, many roads have been closed, and we have had to take many alternate routes.

After a good night's sleep...

It was off to see another dear friend!


I've told you about Solange before...


Sorry for the glare, but I love this photo of us!

Solange is truly a French girlfriend of mine, but she loves learning English, and between us, we speak Franglish and our husbands are baffled at how we communicate and understand one another.  I adore her!


After a quick look around Solange and Theirry's beautiful garden...





It was time for a long, leisurely lunch.  (Thanks to Ms. Sapphire for taking pictures of everything on this very nice day!)

Ooh La La!


Course, after delicious course...


And wonderful wines to accompany each...



Solange is a superb hostess and we really enjoyed a wonderful visit!


I received a family request to provide pictures of our apartment here.  It isn't anything too special, but it's working great for us.  It's small and has nice windows for a cross breeze.

First, though, let me show you what Dr. J got for me for breakfast today!  It's an almond filled croissant!  It's one of my favorites here!  The Spice Bread candle is from my friend, Eva, for romantic nights, and a friend at the Church gave me this small jar of cookies in celebration of the French Mother's Day, called Fête des mères!  I'm a lucky Mother, I got to celebrate Mother's Day twice, in the U.S. and in France.


On with the Tour...
The Bedroom


The Kitchen

The Living Room

(We move this small table around a lot!)


The View from the Living Room

The View from the Bedroom

I'm not going to bother showing you the bathroom.  It's nice sized with all the essentials!

We are very happy that the sun is out and making for some very nice days here now, since it rained every day last week and Ms. Sapphire was rather disappointed!  The Loire River is finally going down from the flooding and hopefully the passages on the roads will all be re-opened soon!

À bientôt!

Wishing you a "jewel" of a day!
Jan

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