Our First Night in Paris

Blog disclaimer - This is my first time attempting to do one of my blogs on an IPad instead of a computer - I have a lot less flexibility to lay our and size photos on the iPad - thus I'm resigning myself to doing a simpler layout :-)
We arrived at our apartment - like many apartment reviews we read, this one is on the 5th floor with a tiny one- person elevator. I personally like the walk up and down the stairs as a way to "walk off" the croissants and pain du chocolate I've been sampling!
We got settled and then walked to a grocery store to get some food. We decided on something we could make quickly so we could go out walking.


We left our apartment at about 8:30 and went exploring for about 3 hours - I found that the last time we came here, the time change really improved my tendency to fall asleep early :-)
The weather isn't great - it was about 48 degrees, windy, and rainy - but at least it wasn't snowing! This whole spring has been an exercise in patience.



We had a map and ended up at the Place du Bastille - even in the cold rain, it was a lovely sight. Looks like our weather during the time we're in Paris will be "marginal," so we make the best of it!

On Our Way to Paris

We woke up to rain on Tuesday morning - a good day to travel to Paris! The trains are really comfortable - wish there were more in the USA!







When we arrived in Paris, we had to find the correct metro line to travel to our apartment. Once again, Steve's French was invaluable, too, in the two phone calls we made to the apartment owner for directions!

Dinner at Steve's Apartment

Tonight we decided to cook dinner at Steve's. He had bought some peppers, eggplants, and endive that he wanted to use up, so we decided to make ratatouille and endive salad. After going to the grocery store to round out a few ingredients and get some wine, we cooked.

Dinner was accompanied by discussions on politics, upcoming Supreme Court decisions and more!

Our Day in Angouleme

We started the day with breakfast at a cafe in downtown Angouleme - we had crepes and pain du chocolate along with coffee - delicious!






After breakfast, we dropped Dan off at the train station and got the rest of our train tickets. We were sure glad to have Steve to do all the translating!





After that, we spent a couple hours walking around Angouleme seeing the sights - parts of Angouleme are up on a hill that looks out on the surrounding valley and river.





After getting lunch at a sandwich shop, we spent time hiking down by the river. It was a beautiful day and all the flowering trees were in bloom.














Down by the river, there is a fine arts school - it turns out there was an "entrance" audition today, so there were several hundred student artists down by the river and part all drawing and painting. David had already conceived of his own "draw a sketch everyday in France" project, so he fit right in.

Our Night in Angouleme

We left Steve's apartment to walk around Angouleme - the picture includes Dan, Andrew's roommate who we all know.









It was a beautiful evening and we got to see some of the sights as we tried to find a place to eat. Because it was a Sunday evening, there were very few places open.

We finally found a restaurant that was both open and had vegetarian offerings ( there are several vegetarians) in our group and had a good dinner.

We're all together now!

The day has gone smoothly - we got to Paris at about 10:30. We got our bags and then got to the train station where we had to wait about 2 hours before getting on the train to Angouleme.



The train ride was great - the trains are fast, modern, and a wonderful way to travel. We got to Angouleme where Steve, Andrew, and Diana were waiting for us along with Dan, Andrew's roommate from Minneapolis who has been studying abroad in London.

We walked back to Steve's apartment and had our first baguettes and cheese - now we're ready to go out exploring a little and find some place to eat.

First "Little" Travel Hiccup

We were all boarded on our plane (300 people plus) when they announced that a plane door had been damaged during the baggage loading and that we would not be taking this plane to France. We all had to get off the plane and wait to hear if they could figure out another plane to take us to Paris. Eventually they announced they had located a plane that was arriving within an hour and that it would take another hour plus to refuel, transfer our luggage,etc.


We decided to go eat out first meal out on our vacation at Subway at the MSP airport! We consider ourselves lucky that we had a 6 hour layover before our train to Angouleme - unlike many others on the plane who will probably miss their connections!

We're at the airport, checked through security, waiting to get on the plane - let the adventure begin! We arrive in Paris at 8:30 tomorrow morning and then take the train to Angouleme where we will meet up with Steve, Andrew, and Diana.

Location:On Our Way!

Celebrating the "Sweet Spot"

The idea for doing a big trip formed several years ago when we realized we have many special family milestones in the year 2013!

Milestones like Greg and Betsy together for 40 years; married for 35 years; youngest of 4 sons graduating from college; ILT (Greg's business) started 15 years ago; Betsy and Greg on the cusp of a "big decade birthday," etc. We just can't believe how the years have flown by!

When Steve decided to teach English in France for the year, it seemed like a natural to plan the big trip to France.

The "sweet spot" is that all of us could make this special family trip work at this point in our lives . . . . we realize how amazing that is . . . . and we are really excited to have this experience all together.

Andrew Leaves For Paris

Andrew left for Paris this afternoon - just in the nick of time! ANOTHER 6-7 inches of snow is predicted overnight in this winter that just won't end! So ready for spring in France!

Andrew is staying in Paris for 2 nights while waiting for Diana to arrive from Bogata, Columbia - then the two of them will take the train to Angouleme and wait with Steve for the rest of us to arrive.

Update — we got an email that Andrew arrived safely in Paris and is at the hostel.

Getting Ready to Leave For France

We had dinner tonight and talked about our upcoming trip — Andrew leaves for Paris tomorrow and the rest of us leave on Saturday. One week from tonight, we'll all be together with Steve in Angouleme, France. It's hard to believe!



After talking about packing and what to bring, we spent some time looking at some maps and talking about places we want to see.



It seems like there are a ton of tasks still to do before we go, but we're all getting really excited for the big adventure!