We made it….One Year Today!!!
Cheers to our year in Paris!
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!
Beautiful entrance.
Daddy and his girl.
Loved this cottage on the grounds. Kids wanted to go knock on the door. I just love the vines and lilacs.
Beautiful town of Amboise.
Chateau de Chambord. HUGE!!!!
Kids had a blast on all the grounds. GREEN SPACE!
