Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Nice, enjoyable Weekend

We had a nice weekend. We went to the Zoo, played in the puddles after enjoying the afternoon thunderstorms, and had a lovely dinner with our neighbors.

went to the zoo with our friends, la famille Faudin. the kids had a great time.
by the end the day, the kids were pooped. seni was out within minutes.
good puddles near our place.
dinner with our neighbors before they moved to canada.
C'est tout! Bonsoir!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Parc National des Ecrins

May is the month of holidays for France. You have Labor Day, Remembrance Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost and a couple of others because of the other holidays falling on a Monday or Friday. So, this has been a fun month for taking quick trips. This past weekend we decided to head North about 2 hours towards the alps to an amazing national park: Parc National des Ecrins.

On our first day we drove past Pelvoux where the road ended and we experienced snow covered areas. What was really crazy, was the partially snow covered river; which we walked on top of to get to different parts of this area. It was fun watching people hike up different areas and ski down, rock climbing, snow climbing...etc.
Afterward we headed back to Vallouise for lunch. Cute little village. Then made a beautiful detour towards Puy-Saint-Vincent. Absolutely breath-taking views.
That evening we headed towards Chorges where we stayed for two nights. Friday we took a drive towards Orciers/Ancelle (the East side of this park); which was also amazingly beautiful!

Saturday we drove home via Dignes les Bain and Valensole to explore others areas we haven't seen and were again impressed with the beauty.

We continue to feel blessed and grateful for this opportunity to be here.

Paps' 60th

A few weeks back my dad came into town to celebrate his 60th in his mother land. It was a really nice visit. We don't get very many opportunities to just spend time together and talk....and gratefully this was that opportunity.
We took Paps and Grace to Moustiers and Gorges du Verdon
At the beach in Le Lavandou with my Sister and her family
Lots of snuggling along with the big and little kids playing petanque
The big bash! Mamie et Papie did a great job hosting. Dad's childhood friend, Michel came to surprise my dad. We gave him "the gift"...basically a memory book of the last 60 years including letters from family and friends....he loved it!
More celebrating!
 Bon anniversaire paps! Here's to 60 more years of LIVING! Bisous!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Weekend getaway!

Last weekend we headed to Montpellier, Nimes and Aigues-Mortes.

Our first stop was Montpellier.

The first thing we did was head to the aquarium. This was the shark tank. So awesome!

Here we watched the penguins get fed.  Seni took the great shot of Matt and me.

After heading to the aquarium, we decided to take the train and explore the centre ville of Montpellier.

After staying the night here we headed back toward home. Our first stop on our way was Nimes. Nimes has a rich history dating back to the Roman empire. It has one of the most well preserved Arenas in the world (according to the French).

Then we headed to Aigues-Mortes. This is a cute little medieval town on the outskirts of La Camargue.


 That's it! It was a nice quick getaway.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

les calanques (near cassis)

Last Saturday we went on a hike to one of Les Calanques near Cassis with our friends. It was a fun day!