Ciao!

I'm off to Rome this afternoon. Lori is already on her way. She left from Dubai early this morning. She enjoyed the warm temperatures but she didn't get to do much sightseeing in Dubai. She was working Calgary type hours, from early in the morning until late at night. I'm looking forward to seeing her this afternoon. I just hope I can find her at the airport.

There are thousands of things to see in Rome; The Colosseum, The Vatican, Trevi Fountain. I hope to see as many as I can in our limited time there, but what I'm really looking forward to is the food. Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, cheese and bread. Throw in some fresh seafood and a nice rosé and how could you go wrong. We just need some really good friends to share it with. It's a good thing we are meeting Anna and Eric there.

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C'est magnifique!

Once again Lori found a great place for us to visit. If the Law career ever gives out, she could become a top-notch travel agent. We were looking for somewhere close to Paris so we wouldn't have to rent a car or get on a plane. Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay was just over an hour away on the SNCF, which is part of the suburban rail system in Paris. The closest town is Le Perray-en-Yvelines. It was so peaceful and quiet, it felt as if the monks still lived there.

The food was incredible. We had the 6 course tasting menu on Friday night. It included tuna, wild boar, monkfish and foie gras. When you add the amuse-bouche, cheese course and pre-dessert, it turns into a 9 course meal. I loved the way the cheese was served. They wheel a cart to your table and you select as many as you like. I loaded up on the chèvre. Needless to say, we were eating for three hours.

Construction of the Abbey began in 1118 and thrived until the 18th century when it was abandoned and fell into disrepair. It's recent incarnation began in 1988 when it was purchased and turned into a wonderful hotel and restaurant. On Saturday night there was a wedding reception in one of the halls. It's an incredible place to host a wedding. This is one time that I truly wanted a) a better camera and b) more skill as a photographer. It's a photographers paradise. My 10 year old, 4.0 Megapixel, point and shoot camera just doesn't do it justice.

Next weekend we are off to Rome. Lori has to go to Dubai first but I'll meet her at the airport in Rome. I'm sure we'll have no trouble finding each other in one of the craziest airports in the world.

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French Class

My month of French classes is coming to an end tomorrow. I think I've improved quite a bit but it was still frustrating at times. I wish I could just wake up one morning and be fluent in French but alas, it does not work that way. It's a process and I have to keeping working at it. On the other hand, I've really enjoyed getting to know my instructor and classmates. I love meeting people from around the world and learning new things about their countries and cultures. There were people from Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Cape Verde and Syria. I hope to stay in contact with everyone. Yesterday we went for a picnic after class in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Lori and I tried to go the whole month without a trip but we couldn't do it, so we're going away this weekend. We aren't going far but it looks pretty impressive. It's called Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay. It's an Abbey that has been converted into a hotel. Here's a link so you can see it:

http://www.abbayedecernay.com/

I'll have photos on Monday. Talk to you then.

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Weekend

We had a great weekend. We went to a market and picked up some great stuff. I've seen these peaches before but I hadn't tried them. They go by several different names in English; donut peaches, UFO peaches or Saturn Peaches. In French they are simply called pêches plates or flat peaches. They have a great flavour but I don't find them as juicy as a regular peach. Half the fun of a good peach is wiping the juice up when you bite into one.

We also had our friends Ryan and Natalie over for supper on Sunday night. We had a lot of fun and made plans for a Canadian Thanksgiving at their place in October. Really looking forward to that.

We are slightly sad though because we missed the wedding of our good friends Anna & Eric this weekend in Calgary. Definitely one of the downsides of our adventure. We will see them soon though. They are spending three weeks in Italy for their honeymoon and we are meeting them in Rome for a few days. Really looking forward to that as well.

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Bois de Boulogne

Yesterday was yet another holiday in France. For a secular country, they sure have a lot of Catholic holidays. We went for a walk in a nearby park called Bois de Boulogne. It's a very large park with a couple of lakes and lots of walking trails. It was the closest thing to a real hike we have found since we've been here. The park is actually two and a half times the size of central park in New York.

You can rent rowboats and tour the lake.

As with any park, there were lots of ducks as well.

Lori is taking what the French call a "pont' or "bridge" and she's taking Friday off as well, so she gets an extended long weekend. I hope everyone else has a great weekend as well.

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19 Years

Lori and I were married on this day 19 years ago.

 

In some respects it feels like yesterday but in others, it feels like we've been together our whole lives. It will be a quiet day for us, but we are going out for dinner to an Italian restaurant nearby. As I've said before, the big celebration will be next year in St. John's. I hope everyone can make it.

Happy Anniversary Lori! Love you.

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Routine

Good morning everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but I haven't had much to write about. It's funny how normal our life in Paris feels now. At first, everything from buying groceries to doing laundry was a new experience. Now, it's just life. We go to work or school, we run errands, go out for dinner and we clean the apartment. Of course, our life may feel normal but every once in awhile I'll be running these errands and I'll look up and see the Eiffel Tower and realize that I'm buying groceries in Paris. It's a pretty cool feeling when that happens.

We are both busy these days, Lori more so than me but that's par for the course. I'm taking my French class for four hours a day in the mornings and Lori is taking hers for three hours a day in the evenings. The classes are going well. Mine is a little more advanced than Lori's because she hasn't had as much time to study as I have. I'm still struggling with my Oral Comprehension but it's getting better. If I could just get the entire world to speak slower, I'll be fine.

We had a quiet weekend because we were both tired and needed to recharge. We read, studied our French lessons and watched some TV. Netflix and iTunes have been our saving grace. We binge watched "Orange is the New Black" yesterday. I didn't know binge watching was a thing until a character in the show said they would binge watch "Mad Men" when she got out of prison. Tonight we can watch the new "Breaking Bad". We have to wait an extra day for it to show up on iTunes. I like paying for only what I watch. It's a lot cheaper this way. Anyway, we hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to post more often.

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