Home Sweet Home

We are home for the holidays!  After nearly 3 years of celebrating Christmas in France, we've taken this show on the road to the East coast of the USA.  We're starting in Maryland, then off to Tennessee, and ending in Georgia.  2 weeks of family, friends, and nice customer service.

Here are some photos of my family's farmstead in Western Maryland.  The family just renovated the home for future projects, and it looks amazing!  This is where I spent the first years of my life, and to see it looking so new and so homely is really touching.

The farmhouse with a fresh coat of paint

Grandma's Christmas Decorations

Birthplace

Stay tuned for updates as we migrate.  I don't only have to write about Paris and France, do I?

Bonnes fêtes y'all!

Fairytale Weekend

Lord, have I ever been busy lately.  I'm putting the finishing touches on my Thanksgiving meal plans for next week.  I'm cooking for my very big Frenchy family :)  It should be a blast next weekend.  I also have been gearing up for a return to the USA for Christmas and the end of the year.  After 3 years of not celebrating Christmas with my side of the family, it's time to trade foie gras and champagne for eggnog and my momma's cookies.

Then there's that whole working thing.  And did I mention that I am learning Chinese?  Yea...我学汉语

Thankfully, November has two national holidays in it, giving me a couple of long weekends.  November can be tricky for planning trips because you are never sure how the weather will be here in France.  It has a reputation for being downright cold and rainy.  We decided to risk it and head to the Loire Valley, known for its concentration of breathtaking castles and equally amazing countryside.  They also have some delicious wines.  My friends at work remarked that Fab and I seem to be on a constant honeymoon, especially with this romantic setting.

Aw shucks y'all...

Château Azay-le-Rideau

Catch-Up

Ouf!

I'm back in Paris!  We had an *amazing* trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar.  Sun.  Animals.  More sun.  Gorgeous terrain.  Even more gorgeous beaches.  It was the perfect setting to celebrate the start of our life together.

My impressions (and pictures) are on the way.  Watch this space.

Until then, I'm hiding under my covers from the cold Parisian October we've got going on here.

Ah, Zanzibar...I miss you already.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Four days in Berlin.  It wasn't nearly enough.  I've been to many of the world's great cities, but none to this day have made me reflect more than Berlin.  We went expecting to see family and explore this modern, bustling metropolis.  Plus, if you regularly follow my musings, you correctly assumed that I was pretty darn excited about the beer.  We casually picked this past weekend due to its juxtaposition with a French national holiday (15 August).  What we didn't realize was that this weekend was also the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Berlin Wall.

Save Me from this Deadly Love