Our Latest French Adventure

Like I mentioned in the last post, we spent ten days in France, just returning on Monday.   It was such an unexpected treat to be able to do this.   Especially since we know that  once our newest family member arrives, impromptu trips will become quite a bit more complicated.   We spent 2 days in Paris on the front and back end of our week in Normandy.   We were in the city of Caen, which is the biggest metropolitan area in the Normandy region.   Peter organized and managed the veteran's support center that the French government had set up in the Caen town hall building.   Because so many heads of state were going to attend the memorial, ticket distribution and logistics were pretty complicated so Peter had his hands full.   He loved it though.   Meeting the veterans and their families and supporting them was such an honor and he loved working with the French again.   Of course, we were both so happy to be back in a country where we could communicate effectively.   Here are some photos:

Breakfast on the bullet train to Paris....Dora and a croissant at 200mph!  

Lunch outside the Louvre.   She has no idea just how cool her little life is sometimes.   

Jumping on the trampolines at the Jardin des Tuileries

She loved the playground at the Tuileries too.    This thing was tall and steep, but she didn't hesitate for a second.

This slide was a little more to Mommy's liking. 

She made some friends, but seemed confused by yet another language.   All week after I talked to someone in French, she would say, "Mommy, what did you just say?"      

This dessert plate came with her kids meal at dinner our first night.   Peter was so impressed with it, he ordered one too.

The next day, Peter had more meetings at the embassy, so Susannah and I headed back to Tuileries for some more park time.   This picture isn't clear, but the Eiffel Tower is in the background.

This one is better.......she is holding up the Eiffel Tower candy that our hotel gave her at breakfast.

Nothing like sugar on a stick at 9 am.   

 Later that day, we rented a car and drove the 2.5 hours north to Caen.   It was Peter's birthday, so after checking in to our hotel we headed off to find a good spot for a birthday dinner.   On the way, we ran into one of Peter's best friends from his Master's Program in Strasbourg, Alexi.    We were all so shocked to see each other as Alexi and Stephanie live in Brussels.   The last time we saw them was when they visited San Diego over a year ago.   So we ended up having dinner with them, which was such a fun surprise.

When we said goodbye, we joked that next time we saw each other, it should be in Africa or Asia. 

We headed back to the hotel so Daddy could open his presents and eat his "birthday cake."

Susannah and I had picked out some beautiful pastries in Paris, but despite my best efforts, they were squished by the time we arrived in Caen.   And nobody in the hotel could find any matches, so we sang "Happy Birthday" with a few unlit candles stuck into a completely smashed chocolate mousse.   It's the thought that counts, though, right?   

The next day Peter had to head over to the Caen City Hall to set up the office, so Susannah and I decided to explore the Chateau that is in the center of Caen.   Susannah loved it.

She kept saying it was like Princess Anna's house.

This church dates back to the 7th century.   

My pretty girl.

Running and singing "Open the Gates" from Frozen.

We climbed all around the outer castle walls.  All week I felt such gratitude for this opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted fun time with Susannah before her sister arrives.   

Daddy broke free before lunch so we happily went off to meet him.

We decided to spend the afternoon exploring the beaches.   This is Omaha Beach.

Susannah insisted on taking her boots off even though it was super chilly.

It was surreal to stand on the beach and picture just what all those young men (boys really) were up against.   

It was especially poignant to watch Susannah run and play so happily, knowing that her freedom to do so was a result of the courage and bloodshed of so many who perished right on the spot where we were standing.

Definitely a memorable moment.

The different beaches all have different memorial buildings and statues, but one thing they all have is the American flag waving overhead 

I can't remember the name of this little fishing village, but we stopped here for some icecream and a little hike.

Peter and I had done this little climb when we were here several years ago, and it was as scenic as we remembered.

Susannah loved hiking.

The view from the grassy cliffs.

Normandy really is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.   

After two days of hectic city travel, this little walk was a much needed respite. 

This hiker was a little bit slower than last time we were here.

The view of the little harbor.

The next morning was Sunday and since I couldn't find an international church in the city, Susannah and I decided to explore their huge market while Peter headed to the office.    The market was the biggest one I've ever seen.   It seemed to stretch on for miles.   

We shopped in between loads of laundry.   Luckily the laundromat was right in front of the market.  

We assembled a delicious lunch of strawberries, apricots, and sausage sandwiches.   I offered her a crepe, but this little German girl wanted her pork!    

Peter met us right after lunch and we headed back to the coast.     These are the cliffs about Arromanches, the town that our guide book called, "ground zero for the D-Day invasion."    This is where they built the floating roads and piers to unload all the weapons and supplies after the invasion.

Playing hide and seek with Daddy.

"Oh, there you are!"

The view down to Arromanches.

You can't make it out in this picture, but several huge remnants of the invasion are still visible above the water.

This day was a little warmer and more sunny, so we let Susannah play for a while.

These jeeps were everywhere all week.   

It was pretty surreal to watch them speeding down the beach just like they did 70 years ago.

Peter checking his email.   He really worked around the clock all week.   Even when he wasn't at the office, he was handling some issue or another.   Definitely wasn't a vacation for him like it was for his girls.   

Being the awesome Daddy that he is though, he found time to play too of course.

Caen boasts one of the largest horse racing tracks in France, so they have these horses all over town.   This one was in our hotel and Susannah loved him.   She brought him sugar packets from breakfast and named him Carlo.   By the time we checked out, all of the front desk workers were calling him Carlo too.  

Susannah and I would meet Peter for lunch everyday.   This is outside his office, the town hall, or Hotel de la Ville.

The gardens were beautiful.

Susannah and I spent a lot of time at Caen's various playgrounds and carousels.   

The hotel where we spent our first two nights was booked later in the week.   We discovered that EVERYTHING in Caen was booked, much to our dismay.   But somehow, by the grace of God, we found an apartment to rent for the rest of the week.   It was on a calm side of town, right across from the horse track.   This picture is of Susannah and Peter racing on it.   When they aren't hosting races, people use it for jogging.   

Our apartment from the track.   It was a great little apartment, allowed us to have more space and eat in sometimes.   But is was a 6th floor walk-up.    Not the most fun when you are almost 7 months pregnant.   

The front of the Town Hall.   Not too shabby of a workplace, right?

Caen had a little tourist train that Susannah and I took one afternoon.    She didn't care about the commentary, of course, but any kind of train ride is a huge treat for a three year old.

The chateau from across the street.

Cute little train, wasn't it?    A couple that sat in front of us had their dog with them, which Susannah loved.

Whenever we saw another horse statue in the city, Susannah would scream, "It's Carlo's sister!!"   

One afternoon while we had our daily ice cream fix, we listened to this street musician.   Susannah danced and danced and the musicians loved it and sang to her.   

Another day, another carousel ride.

Friday was the big memorial at the beaches, so Susannah and I had mommy-daughter lunch outside in the sunshine.

"Another one of Carlo's sisters!!"

In keeping in form with French tradition, Susannah and I spent some time at outdoor cafes. 

Saturday morning we headed back to Paris, but made a really fun pit-stop along the way.   According to Peter's uncle's research, this is where the Mallory came from hundreds of years ago.   Before immigrating to England, they adopted Mallory (from Mailleraye) as their name.   

It was a beautiful, peaceful little town, right on the Seine River.

We had a delicious lunch right there on the water before heading back to the busyness of Paris.  Peter tried to convince the waitress that this was his homestead and probably his land, but she kept pointing to the water and said the river change the land a few years ago....they settled it by Peter giving her a French/American flag lapel pin.

We hit traffic coming into the city, so we were pretty exhausted by the time we checked into the hotel.  It was a beautiful night and we weren't super hungry so we decided a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower would be perfect.      

Even after visiting Paris several different times, I never tire of the excitement that I feel when I see this place in person.

This picnic was really special for us because we had picnicked in the exact same spot 3 years earlier when Susannah was a little baby.   We laughed at how we would never have guessed that we would be back so soon. 

Who can resist an after-dinner carriage ride?

Definitely not our little princess.

All the other kids wanted to ride the actual ponies, but she opted for the princess carriage instead.   

Pretty cool view, right?

After a heavenly night's sleep in our air-conditioned hotel room, we were all geared up for a day at the Jardin d'Acclimation, a children't amusement park that is right in the middle of Paris's huge park, Le Bois de Boulogne.

Susannah and Peter rode all the rides.  

Checking ourselves out in the funny mirrors.

Peter looks so comfortable, doesn't he?

Susannah loved the fishing game.

And the teacups.

She wasn't as big of a fan of the kiddie roller coaster though.   

We fed rabbits at the petting zoo.

And took a little family boat ride.

And played on yet another playground.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.   But as the temperature rose, Mommy lost her motivation for pictures, so this is the last of them.   We headed home the next day, and despite the stifling heat here in Stuttgart, we are very happy to be home.  

We miss you and love you all.   Hope all is well.