Winter

What a difference a year makes. I am amazed at how pleasant our winter is in Paris, while being stunned at how bad it is in Canada. I've been following on the internet and getting updates from friends and family and I can't believe it. Here is a picture taken not far from where our cottage was.

Further south, here's my nephew "helping" my brother shovel the driveway.

 It's been a long time since I've seen snow like that in Southern Ontario. There are highways that have been closed for almost a week now. Add in power outages that last days and it has not been a fun winter.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ocean, we are still walking around wearing spring jackets and sleeping with the window open. We have not had a temperature below freezing or seen a flake of snow yet. When I look back at my posts from this time last year, I can't believe how much I complained about the weather. Our first day in Paris it was -10 with a couple inches of snow on the ground. My biggest complaint was about how grey and bleak everything was. This year is so different. We see blue skies, green grass and even flashes of colour from flowers that are still blooming.

Hang in there Canada, there are only 50 days until spring ;)

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Burns Supper

On Saturday night, Lori and I went to a party to celebrate the life and work of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Lori's boss is Scottish and she hosted a wonderful party that was a mix of Scottish, English, French, American and Canadian. The meal was fantastic and we had a great time. There was a lot of Franglish being spoken.

There is a set format for a Burns Supper that involves poems, odes, toasts and songs. The main dish of course is Haggis, which is piped into the room. Here is Mary's son bringing the Haggis in while wearing an inflatable Scottish outfit.

This Haggis was mostly ceremonial. Our meal was more of a casserole dish of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. In case you were wondering Neeps and Tatties are turnips and potatoes. Here is a good shot of the cannonball shaped Haggis.

Thank you to Mary and Laurent for a great night.



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New House

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in awhile. There hasn't been much to write about. We've been taking it easy since Christmas. Much of our time and energy has been focused on Canada actually. We bought a house in St. John's with Lori's parents. The idea was to find a place that Wayne and Lorraine could live in now and it would eventually become our place when Lori retires.

Lori is taking a two month sabbatical this summer and we had planned on buying the house then. However, when we were in St. John's in December, we found a place that everyone liked and put an offer on it. After a few hiccups and bumps along the road, we ended up buying it. We take possession on February 21, so once again I'll be on a plane flying across the Atlantic Ocean. I'll be there for the closing and to help Lori's parents sell their place and move into the new house.

Initially we wanted to be right on the ocean, but Lori's parents were not keen on that idea so we settled with an ocean view. It's not a spectacular view, but the house is very nice and it works well for all four of us. Lori and I will live in the fully finished basement when we are in town. We even have our own driveway and separate entrance.

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One Year

One year ago today, I started this blog by telling everyone that Lori and I were going to Paris for six months. Well, it's been twelve months and we're still here and we're still having fun. The blog was supposed to be a temporary way to stay in touch with friends and family by posting pictures and updates of our travels. In fact, I threw it together so fast, I didn't put much thought into the name or design. I wasn't expecting to be writing it a year later and I certainly wasn't expecting thousands of page views from around the world. I can track the statistics and the single most popular post was when Lori and I battled the washing machine on our first day in Paris.

Dennis & Lori vs. The Washing Machine

It's also been a great way to document our adventure. I recently browsed through all of the posts and there were several things I had forgotten. I find it funny that we had so much trouble getting to the airport for our trip to Strasbourg. We are so much better at navigating the city now.

The Bloom is Off The Rose

Actually, everything seems easier now. That's because we've learned from so many mistakes and because our French has improved greatly. We are still a long, long way from being fluent tough. I had hoped to be further along than I am, but I have no one to blame but myself. I need to work on it and I need to force myself to overcome my shyness and speak to others. I can get by in a store or restaurant, but when I had to go to the police station to fill out a report for the break-in, I struggled.

Welcome Home

One thing is for sure, our travels have slowed down. We thought we only had six months to visit as many places as we could, so we were on the go constantly. Now that we've been extended, we don't feel the same sense of urgency. We enjoy traveling but we also enjoy our quiet weekends at home. Unfortunately a quiet weekend at home doesn't make for good reading, so the posts have slowed down as well. We need more visitors to come to us.

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Weather

I had planned to write about how great the weather is in Paris these days. How it's still around 10 degrees, the grass is still green and most days we have bright blue skies. It's been quite different from last January when we first got here. I was going to write about that, but when I got up this morning and read about blizzard warnings in Newfoundland, wind chill warnings in Ontario and the Governor of New York State declaring a state of emergency because of the storm, I figured I had better keep my mouth shut. I will simply say that I hope all of my friends and family in North America stay warm and safe this weekend. Take care.

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