Update

Enjoying: Gaining an hour of sunshine

Looking forward to: A Spring explosion... seriously, it's so close!

Zach:  Reading Harry Potter... in German

Interesting: German Politics in full throttle, I am still confused by most of it

Random Tidbit: Germany is the only country in the world that doesn't get "House of Cards" on Netflix, it will be released this fall as a regular show, one episode at a time. Typical.

Weekend Market

Every Saturday, there is a market in our little town square. This goes on year round, but we have not been attending the last couple of months because of the weather. But this weekend the sun was shining, so we grabbed our bags and headed downtown.

We made sure to buy some cheese, bread, sausage for our lunch. Going to make a point for this to become a regular thing this summer.

Paris is always a good Idea

Thanks to films such as "Sabrina" and "French Kiss", Paris has always been a bit of an obsession of mine. I always had the idea that it was a place with transformative powers, you know, once you go, you will never be the same. I think this is what happened this weekend...to both me, and Zach.

After we moved to Europe, taking a trip to Paris has always been high on the list, but it always seemed to get pushed back for some reason or another.... but honestly, I was a bit apprehensive. How could a place that you have built up in your mind for so long live up to the expectation? I was afraid I would be let down, and the fantasy would be over

I needn't have worried.

It. Was. Amazing.

  I hope that I have started a love affair with a place that will last for the rest of my life. We were careful not to plan too many "tourist" activities for the weekend. Instead of visiting Notre Dame, we went to a bread store that I heard has the best sour dough in France. We replaced seeing the Mona Lisa with a morning at a Parisian flea market, and we spent the majority of our days wandering the streets, eating, and watching, instead of hurrying around from sight to sight. We were able to do this because of course we want to come back and go see Mona, and Versailles, etc.. but we needed our first visit to be about something more than beautiful artifacts, and it was. Sabrina was right, Paris is always a good idea.


Here are some of my Paris favorites... so far:

Um... the Eiffel Tower... of course... hence the ridiculous number of pictures of it in this post, fyi

Oh my gosh- the FLOWERS

The dog culture.... seriously, it was almost too much

The French Baguette, it is not a myth, everyone is carrying one around. They are sticking out of purses, bike baskets and strollers

Cafés, each one more charming than the next

Speaking French- I was happily surprised that there was some skills left over from high school and college, even though I found myself from time to time inadvertently and simultaneously speaking in bits of French, German, and English.

Picture Update