Visitors!

Looking at the date of my last post, it's apparent that I fell off the blogging wagon for a while! School vacations, visitors and language school have kept things busy enough that typing at my computer sort of fell by the wayside. Now that things have settled a bit, I am ready to get back at it.

The month of April (and earlier) we were blessed with family and friends coming to Paris to share the experience with us.

Emilie, Rick, Graham and Ruby paid us a visit from Finland before moving back to Seattle. Emilie and Rick's move to Finland was the catalyst to our whole crazy move to Paris. Matt and I had long had the goal of living abroad, preferably in France. When Google opened an office in Paris 6 years ago we knew that our move could be a reality, but it was still something that we just talked about. After learning that Emilie and co. were actually making the move to Finland (with Microsoft) we decided to really consider Paris as an option. One year later and here we are!

Watching our kids chase each other around beneath the Eiffel Tower last February was surreal. It was so cool that I didn't want to miss it by stopping to take a picture. I did get some pics at lunch the next day though when everyone stopped moving for a moment or two.

Note that Emilie's child is the one without a napkin on his head.

Emilie discovers the joy of a
Café Gourmand - you get a
sample of three different desserts
along with your coffee!

My parents, known in our house as Grandma and Grandpa Shaw, stopped by Paris for a few days after their trip to Hungary.

At least no one is wearing a napkin on their head this time.

One of the things my kids had been missing was jell-o! So Grandma Shaw brought several boxes for us in her suitcase, along with baking soda (surprisingly hard to find here), crushed red pepper (equally difficult) and measuring cups & spoons (I'm tired of converting to metric!).

Mascha and Felix had been neighbors of ours in Seattle up until we had the brilliant idea to move into a new house right before moving out of the country (as an aside, it's not the greatest idea!). We were fortunate that they took a couple days out of their trip to Germany to come see us!

Commuting by metro makes everyone a little nuts.

...and ice cream calms them all down ;)

Mascha and Felix inspired me to truly embrace the spirit of France.

Matt's parents, a.k.a. Nana and Bubba, came to Paris for a while and traveled with us 2 hours south of the city for a few days to visit Chateau Guédelon. We call Guédelon the "castle in the making" as it's a new castle being built out in the countryside using medieval techniques. A thank you to Matt's Aunt Laurie for recommending it to us!

The human hamster wheel used to pull heavy loads to the top of the wall.

Chipping away at a log with a hatchet
in order to make a plank takes a long time!

Sam now wants to be a blacksmith when he
 grows up. I think he just likes the open flame.

Theo wants to be a wood worker.

We spent some time in the little town of Briare, which is known for it's canal.

Family photo along the Canal de Briare.

I love being in and on the water, so a boat ride on the canal was a must. When I mentioned to my mother-in-law that the kids didn't enjoy the boat ride around Strasbourg, she asked "...then why exactly are we doing this?" Because this canal was different! We were out in the country so we'd see more nature this time. We'd get to go through a big lock and watch our boat rise and fall with the water draining out and rushing in. Plus, this canal stretches OVER another river below and how cool is that?! The kids would love it, I assured her.

Well - this is what Theo and Sam thought of the trip on the Canal de Briare:

 

I have a plan to do a multi-day canal trip somewhere in France before our time is up. I'm sure that if we're the one's driving the boat and we get to go where we want and do what we want, the kids will really love it. Really, it'll be different next time! ;)