August 23, 2014

Re-entry

Traveling is one of mine and Keith's favorite thing to do. Now living in Paris, with almost a year and a half down and possibly just a year left, our intentions are to go to as many places as possible. Living in Europe, things are so much more accessible, by trains or just a short flight. Most of these places we would never see in a lifetime. The kids have been traveling since they were babies so I think they are starting to enjoy it as much as we do. One of their favorite things to do is put a pin in the Europe map. We have marked all the places we have gone. Don't get me wrong, our travel budget is blown...BIG time.

Which leads me to our latest adventure...Greece. I am in love with it. We started out in Athens to see all the historic sites: the acropolis, temple of Zeus, the coliseum where they finish the marathon, etc. It was great. I won't lie though, Athens is a bit run down with the economy and one day in town was plenty (It was also unfortunate that we missed LeBron James by a week). While we were there it was amazing how many people approached us with Keith’s Cleveland Indian hat and Lance’s Ohio State hat. Keith actually met a guy that used to live right down the street from where he grew up. Small world. Back to Athens…what was really fun was the nice feeling of sitting down for dinner in a square. Everyone was so friendly, food was good and most of all, everything was super cheap.

Then we were all in anticipation for our next stop, the Greek island of Crete. We rented a villa in the Chania area, just down the street from the beach and with its own pool. It was awesome, exceeded all my expectations, and the island was absolutely beautiful. We had a pool, a little playground and room to run all around..the kids were in their glory. It made me miss my house even more. The room, the fresh air, the freedom of the kids to play outside whenever they wanted. Oh I miss this. Oh yeah, Keith loved the barbecue area, which we utilized a few of the nights. The kids were little fishes in the pool. Lance can already swim mostly on his own but Peyton was also determined to do that. She just had a blast. Some of the nights we went down into the little village of Plaka or Almyrida to have dinner. As I mentioned earlier the dinners were cheap and every dinner ended with complimentary dessert and shots...yes I said shots. Of course we couldn't offend them so we had to do at least one (they would leave a small bottle). I do have to talk a little about the customer service. At first we thought it was similar to France (with the addition of a smile). What I mean is that when you order dinner you are not sure when you will get it or in which order. Keith and I realized that it wasn't bad customer service it was just the fact that there was only one waitor/waitress serving all the tables. This was almost everywhere. They were all family-run businesses. The good thing was that they were very hospitable and kid friendly...very different from Paris.

Shots!!  Every night! — Shots!! Every night!

Have I also mentioned how beautiful the Old Town Chania was. It was gorgeous, Beautiful old streets and restaurants on the water. We spent an afternoon there just walking around and of course trying out some ice cream. We probably should have spent more time there.

Everyday was perfect and now we are back to our Paris apartment. Re-entry from our holidays are always hard but this one is different. Even my little boy Lance broke down in tears the night before indicating he didn't want to leave. I know..I know he is only 6 and he will change his emotions every few minutes but it just broke my heart knowing we were going back to our apartment and not our house. Yes, I know it is Paris we are going back to but it is just everyday life within the beautiful city around us. We still have to worry about the kids making to much noise for our downstairs neighbors and also what the weather is like so we can go to the park or not. I grew up in an apartment and lived to tell about it but I also know how claustrophobic it can get.

All in all the vacation was one for the books and we are not sure what will top this.

To back track a little there was so much that went on prior to our vacation. I will do a brief summary (as brief as can be) to catch up.

In May and June lots of our best friends and family came to visit: The Davis came then the Fahrneys and then the McNallys came. It was awesome having them all here. I mentioned this in the past but it brings bits of home to us in Paris when everyone comes, plus we just have a blast with each of them and our kids just love playing with all of their kids.

We headed to Amsterdam the beginning of July for a long weekend. We stayed right down the street from the old Heineken factory. Oh, and we did the Heineken experience. It was a great tour and ended with some Heineken tastings...woohoo. The rest of the time we just really enjoyed the city and all the canals. Everyone was so nice there, spoke English, were super tall and all really good looking. Of course we also took a daytime stroll thru the famous red light district. It was interesting...I can't imagine it at night.

kids enjoying some entertainments as we hit a shop

right here defines Amsterdam...a bike and beautiful flowers.

Then came Bastille Day in Paris. We just returned from Amsterdam and headed to our good friends flat to watch the fireworks. They were amazing this year! The fireworks usually don't go off at the Eiffel Tower but usually just across the street at the Trocedora. This year they had fireworks actually shooting out of the tower. It was amazing! Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fireworks and will never miss a Bastille Day fireworks (since I am missing the 4th of July one's)

this picture doesn't do it any justice, they were spectacular.

Then came my birthday and Keith surprised me with a day to the Champagne region. Champagne is my favorite drink and I have been wanting to go there for some time. The good thing is that it is only about an hour and a half away. We actually went with a tour. The tour included visiting the abby where Dom Perignon lived. It was so pretty and just so old. For some reason there weren’t many tours that day so our small group got a personal history lesson from a man at the abby and then he busted out in song for us. It was amazing. Then came the tours of the champagne houses. It was really interesting learning about how champagne is made and walking thru all the caves. Of course the big highlight was doing the tasting at the end....YUM!!!! And we didn't have to drive...score!!! I do have to add that another highlight was visiting the town of Reims. Such a cute town with an amazing historic cathedral. This town was demolished during the First World War. In pictures it reminded me of a scene from Saving Private Ryan, just rubble. It is amazing how they rebuilt this cathedral and town. Oh yeah in the mean time we bought about a dozen local bottles of champagne you can't get anywhere. What a super fun birthday. My husband is the best!!!

Dom  Perignon's abby — Dom Perignon's abby

We then had our friends the Mclaughlins come visit us for a long weekend. It was fun having them in town and they enjoyed all the tourists spots with their kids. Lance and Peyton also loved having their kids in town to play with.

On that Sunday was one of our favorite days...the Tour de France. Keith and I look forward to this every year, and as usual it didn't disappoint. Seeing how fast they go up and down the Champs Elysées is just amazing.

The following weekend we headed over to London to visit our friends The McLaughlins, yup you are reading this correctly we just saw them but now it was our turn to visit them in London! It was so fun. Since we have been to London many times we decided to do something different and take a tour out of town. We went up to Leeds Castle. Wow, what a pretty castle. I find it so interesting that all castles and chateaux really vary based on the country they are in. We then stopped at Cantebury, which was really cool. We then took a day to hang out, shop around, and go on the London Eye. What an awesome view. London is great, especially because they speak English... I just wish it wasn't so damn expensive.

Then was my little boy's birthday. 6-years-old, I can’t believe it ! We had no plans on doing any kind of party until he asked for one. Now you have to remember that in August everyone is on holiday (vacation) but lucky for us a few of his good friends were around to help celebrate. The good thing was that the weather was warm (which is a rare occurrence these days in Paris) so we celebrated the best way with lots of water balloons and squirt guns!!! All the kids had a great time!!! Prior to the party one of Lance's presents was going to the top of the Eiffel tower. We have been here a year and a half and have not yet been to the top. For my birthday last year we only made it to the second level, because it was so busy. So we got up early and got in line before it even opened. We only waiting about 45 minutes and we made it to the top. It was really cool!

Made it to the top.  Lance is taking it all in. — Made it to the top. Lance is taking it all in.

Lance blowing out candles for the 2nd time.  I made him a big cookie. — Lance blowing out candles for the 2nd time. I made him a big cookie.

Then came a sad day for us. We had to say goodbye to some good friends that we made in Paris. Lots of people say goodbye especially in the expat community but these are friends that we have had a blast with in the past year. We have spent holidays together, watched college football together and even vacationed together. We will miss the Mattei family. The best thing is that we know that we have friends for life.

Which brings me back to the present time, our re-entry back to Paris. Our dog came back from Doggie Camp after almost 3 weeks, the kids start vacation bible school next week, and a week later school starts. Oh yeah, I am able to run again. All of you know that I don't do well when I can't run. Well a pulled hammy put my running on a halt for a bit. It doesn't shock me, I had some pretty intense races the past few months. The good news is that I got my swimming game back during this break...because that was really all I could do. It felt good to get in the pool a few times a week. I gave it until we returned from holiday and after a month of laying off, I have run the past few days and it feels good, not great, but good. I am glad I didn't sign up for some of the early fall races since I won't be in great shape for them. However, by October I should be back, if all goes well and the hammy cooperates. As long as I am running...I am happy!!!

There is so much more that has happened these past few months but I don't want to bore you anymore, so I will just add some random pictures at the end.

With fall coming we already have people booking their stays at our place for the next year so get your reservations in for the Nate Suite (we named our guest room after our great friend and very first guest).

Things are going well in Paris as much as I say I miss home and all my friends and my family.

Sorry this was such a long one.

Thanks for reading!!!

Love and miss you all!

Life is good in Paris!

last day of school...next week is the first day of school again.

just exploring around on a Sunday afternoon

June 25, 2014

City Living

by Alicia Demmerle

The Demmerle’s are definitely getting used to city living. I have a great little city garden, which consists of 4 window boxes. I am getting used to the little space we have (learning to live with less is always good). Our kids are pro’s on the metro and even the dog is enjoying the city view. Oh yeah I am also becoming one of those people running thru the streets with their dog off-leash (I am happy there are no leash laws here). Don’t get me wrong I am not a city girl nor will I ever be. On the contrary, this just confirms I am definitely a country girl. I miss my green space!!!

Wow, alot has been going on the last few months, I think I am going to make this post a 2 parter.

Lets see I think we go all the way back to Easter. Prior to Easter I was determined to find an Easter egg hunt in Paris. So what do I do, what I always do in these cases, I google it. Voila, I didn’t just find an Easter egg hunt, I found a list of the best Easter egg hunts in the world and there was one about an hour outside of Paris. So the Saturday prior to Easter, the Demmerles rented a car and headed to Chateau Vaux le Vicomte. It was awesome!! There were Easter egg hunts separated by age groups and they even had it for adults (of course I participated). The amount of eggs they were expected to give out for three days was over 85k eggs….crazy!!!! Let's just say our kids got plenty. Besides the egg hunt, there was face painting, crafts and even a chocolate demonstration for the kids. Oh yeah and we even ran into some of our best friends there, which made the day even better. We all had such a blast, we will definitely be back next year. The kids were so exhausted I don’t think they were in the car 5 minutes and they were out for the count. (Love those days)

Kids are sooo happy...of course they are, their easter baskets are full of chocolate eggs.

Then Easter morning arrived and although the French believe in Easter Bells bringing candy, but we just chose to keep with the American Easter Bunny traditions. Why confuse the kids? So the Easter bunny came all the way to Paris and the kids made out! (not sure they were that good ..LOL)

After the Easter eggs were found and Easter baskets were tapped into, we were off to London. LONDON BABY (I am a huge Friends fan) I haven’t been to London in 20 years and it was just as fun as I remember. Of course we did all the tourist things. The Tower Bridge is just so beautiful and who could get tired of looking at Big Ben. For some reason I always take so many pictures of Big Ben. The kids had a blast, although I think their favorite thing was riding on the red double decker bus, they were lucky enough to get a front row seat in the top…oh yeah and M&M’s world (which I have to admit was mine also). Question to everyone, did you know the story behind the Hard Rock Cafe? I feel ridiculous in saying I did not until we went to the original one in London. Amazing what a few American expats can do.....there is hope for me yet.

The Crown Jewels.  We couldn't take pictures but they were amazing! — The Crown Jewels. We couldn't take pictures but they were amazing!

Tower Bridge, I have the exact picture 20 years ago with my good friend Loretta! (need to find that picture)

Not sure we were supposed to be on this lawn.  Buckingham Palace. — Not sure we were supposed to be on this lawn. Buckingham Palace.

Then it was my Pey Poppers (Peyton’s) 4th Birthday . We decided to go to Disney for the day. We promised her a princess dress for her birthday plus we wanted to get one more visit in before our yearly passes expire. Even though it was a rainy day we had a great time. Peyton also picked out her princess dress. It wasn’t Elsa (which at the time they had plenty of and if I knew they were in such high demand I would have bought them and sold them on ebay). She picked out Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I need to mention that Peyton has never actually seen the movie. It made her happy and it was her birthday present so what could we say. Keith is convinced that the dress should have come with a warning since we had glitter in our house for weeks because of this dress. Lance had a good time in Disney since they now have a lego store in the village. He walked in, plopped down and did not move. We had to pry him out. The birthday weekend ended with a castle cake and lots of presents. Peyton was a lucky girl…..and so are we to have her!!!

Woo hoo,  she is 4! — Woo hoo, she is 4!

Then came May day. France is pretty much shut down for May day and we had a long weekend, which gave me a chance to head home for a long weekend. I haven’t seen my mom in over a year and I really needed to go see her. I think preparing myself to see her helped me a great deal, of course it was still really hard. What made me happy was that the second day I saw her she actually knew who I was. I also brought a photo album of all of us for her to look at and keep in her room. The sad thing is that I know when I left she wouldn’t even remember I was there. On a lighter side I got to visit with so many of my friends and family when I was home. I dragged my aunt around shopping one day. I met with all of my best friends thru the weekend and I was able to meet up with my sister and catchup. I can’t believe my niece (and godchild) is graduating highschool this year...tomorrow!

One the highlights of my trip home was visiting my house. It is not a huge house but it is the house that Keith and I both fell in love with the day we stepped into it. Wow, do I miss it. We are just so lucky that we have such great renters that are taking such great care of it.

When I returned from the US Keith’s mom and brother were already in Paris visiting. The kids were very happy to have some grandma time. During their stay we decided to take a road trip. We headed do to Mont Saint Michel, which is in the south west area of Normandy. It was awesome. It is a little town surrounding an Abby , which is then surrounded by the ocean. It was just so beautiful.

We then headed to the Normandy beaches but stayed at a chateau first which was just such a highlight of our trip. We stayed at the Moat house, which was awesome! The grounds were equally as beautiful. The kids loved the horses around the back, the cat on the grounds and let's not forget the frog, which also serenaded us at night.

Next day we headed to Point du Hoc and then to Omaha beach. Each of these areas are just so spectacular and sentimental at the same time. There was something about being there with the 70th anniversary of D-Day going on. We had been there before and if it was up to my husband we would go up many many more times.

Where we stayed out in Normandy...loved the place.  Our kids especially! — Where we stayed out in Normandy...loved the place. Our kids especially!

Other side of the Chateau we stayed at in Normandy.

The next few weeks were full of Steeple chase races, triathlons, running races, wine tasting, girls night out and friends birthday parties.

Oh yeah, the Davis Family came to visit also. What a great time! See what they bought our little guy.

I guess we know who Lance is going to root for

So much more to talk about, so many great visitors, so look for another update in the next week or so.

Thanks so much for Reading.

Love and miss all of you!

Life is good in Paris!!

xxxooo

Alicia

April 14, 2014

We made it a Year!!!!

by Alicia Demmerle

We made it….One Year Today!!!

That is right , the Demmerle Family has made it to the year mark. It is not that I didn’t think we would but it is an interesting feeling.

Paris is very natural to us at this point, which does not mean we necessary always love it. I have a love/hate relationship with Paris. At times I just am so frustrated with everything about it; the fact that when walking down the street I have smoke blown in my face every minute or the fact that have to ask at least twice for something before I get the right answer. But then there are those great days when I go running on the river Seine in the morning, and the sun is just coming up behind the Eiffel tower and the colors and sites are so amazing, with no one around except the building and monuments. Or perhaps it is when I stop at one of our favorite Boulangerie’s (bakeries) after work, to pick up some warm baguettes, and holding them, walking down the cobblestones. It is kind of surreal. (our kids now ask to see the baquettes when we bring them home because most of the time they want to take a bite out of them).

Of course it hasn’t all been easy, here are some of my good and bad reflections on a few things.

A year ago:

· we left our house of 3.5 acres to live in a city apartment (big difference) oh yeah…with a very active dog.

· I was excited to be a stay home mom (however, maybe not so much….hence I am now back to work)

· I said goodbye to friends and family which I still feel as close as ever too. Thanks to Skype, Email, Facebook and Whats App, etc. I couldn’t have made it without all of you!

· I thought it would be easy to learn French (NOT!)

· I thought that French were rude…definitely a misconception.

I can go on and on, but my point is that there are so many lessons I have learned in the last year and although I sometimes have mixed feeling about Paris, I am so grateful my husband took us on this journey. I am sure he is laughing reading this but we have made lifelong friends, traveled to places I would have only dreamed and we still have a few years to go. Most of all I learned (which I kind of already knew) that our kids are wonderful children. They adjusted so well and so fast, it was amazing. Our biggest concern moving over here was them and now I am not sure why. Adults sometimes need to take lessons from these kids because they are amazing.

I want to thank everyone for Reading my blog for the last year. I write this blog to reflect on things that unfortunately my children will probably not remember. My hope is that they will read this when they are older and just remember one thing they experienced here. I will continue my blog and I look forward to all of our upcoming adventures in the next few years.

P.S. I have included picture of one our latest adventures. We went down to the Loire Valley last weekend. The Loire Valley is known for its Chateaus and for its wine. It was one of the best weekends. We visited two Chateaus, Chateau de Chenonceau and Chateau de Chambord. They were just amazing. We were craving some green space and we got it there. I think the highlight of the kids trip was chasing the baby ducks and just throwing rocks in the moat. Who cares….it was just plain fun!!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Thanks for Reading!

Life is good…in Paris

Chateau de Chenonceau.  Sooo beautiful! — Chateau de Chenonceau. Sooo beautiful!

Loved this cottage on the grounds.  Kids wanted to go knock on the door.  I just love the vines and lilacs. — Loved this cottage on the grounds. Kids wanted to go knock on the door. I just love the vines and lilacs.

Chateau de Chambord.  HUGE!!!! — Chateau de Chambord. HUGE!!!!

Kids had a blast on all the grounds.  GREEN SPACE! — Kids had a blast on all the grounds. GREEN SPACE!