Helloooo Monday! We’re back in the country from our time in France, and as much as I miss waking up to the sounds of people jabbering in elegant French, it’s pretty darn nice to be smothered by your pups with morning snuggles. But I do miss the coffee… and the bread… and the ambiance. Seriously, I think we need to just move to Paris already and be done with it.

(It only took me til my SEVENTH trip to Paris to take a cheesy tourist photo of us with the Eiffel Tower in the background)

I think the French might like Matt more than me, which is totally beyond my comprehension. Not because Matt isn’t likable- I’d actually argue he’s MORE easy to love than I am- but because Matt doesn’t speak a single lick of French, which I’ve been told since day 1 is the easiest way to torque off someone in France. You know, the whole irritation with those proverbial Americans who go to a foreign country and expect everyone to kowtow to them? Nope- the French loved Matt. He thinks it’s because he did, at least, use Google Translate when he needed to ask for something and I wasn’t around.

I think it was his beard. There was an unusual lack of beards in France… perhaps they admired him for his facial hair? Whatever it was, I was grateful.

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past TWO weeks, as we missed last Monday Mash-Up!

• When you’ve been wandering around a foreign country for several days, it’s jarring to hear someone speaking English. Especially when that takes the form of three French girls walking down the streets of Aix-en-Provence singing every word to Smashmouth’s “All Star.”
• We were on our way from Aix to Dijon last week when out of no where, three fighter jets appeared over the highway performing an air show, complete with red, white & blue smoke. I still have no idea what that was about, but it was such a delight! Maybe some sort of French national holiday?
• If you ever want to test your marriage, try parking a mid-sized car in a European-standard spot [read: TINY] in a parking garage while other cars are waiting to pass by.
• We took a detour on our way from Dijon to Tours and stopped in a tiny little town, Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. It reminded me SO forcefully of Beauty & The Beast! And there was this old guy with long, white hair that looked EXACTLY like Monsieur D’Arque from the cartoon movie- it was weird.
• In the US, resigning yourself to rest stop food is sometimes an unfortunate necessity of a road trip. But this is where I love the French- they take pride in their rest stop food. Hot dishes, hearty meats and delicate vegetables, glassware, plates, and actual silverware. So if you DO have to stop along the way, at least you know you are resigned to a chicken salad wrap that was made two days ago!
• Having poison ivy is literally THE WORST, especially when you’re highly allergic, out of the country, and can’t see a doctor until you get back. Thank you Jesus for French pharmacies that sell steroid-laced anti-poison ivy ointment over the counter.
• …and for urgent care centers that are open til 10pm so you can see a doctor as SOON as you step off the plane!
• I’m usually extremely hesitant to do anything “touristy” in Paris because I love discovering the city like a local, but Matt and I made the walk out to the Eiffel Tower during our first night in Paris to see it lit up at night. And it was SO worth it. At that moment, I didn’t care that we looked like every other visitor in Paris- seeing the tower come to life with sparkling lights once an hour was absolute magic. Easily one of my top five favorite moments with Matt.

I can’t wait to share more from our trip as soon as my film scans come in from The FIND Lab!

And this past weekend we had our first OFFICIAL Fall wedding of 2016- it was a stunner for sure! AJ & Cate are hitting the blog on Thursday, so stay tuned :).