Regardless of the purpose of the trip or the duration of the flight, roughly one hour before landing, I begin to feel a bubble of happiness and excitement at the prospect of coming home that is greater than the excitement at the start of a trip, before the plane takes off. No matter whether I had a wonderful trip, like when I went to Beirut, or this time in France. I like my city, my country, my things, my peeps and my gym.
[Off topic, because I have ADD and writing the word “gym” made me think of this.
You guys. 10 days of French cuisine, and no exercise. I am plump. So satisfied and content, but without any doubt, I am definitely plump. I’m not too worried: losing weight will be easy when transitioning back to Mtl food – nothing will tempt me, so portion control will be easy. In North America, we don’t do bread. Not like the French do. I refuse to eat our bread ever again. Also? I won’t be drinking 3-6 glasses of wine per day, every day. I think my plumpness will settle itself pretty quickly. In the meantime, I feel like a camel, having stored up on the sensation of enjoying food long enough to last till my next trip. (You might suggest that I take up cooking, but let’s be realistic. That will NEVER happen.)]
I walked through places of beauty. Saw sites of incredible historical relevance. Museums with exhibits I can only dream of, coming from Montreal, displaying a breadth and depth of works of art that our museums cannot achieve. Watched what Parisiens consider to be a run-of-the-mill operatic performance, with singers that our Montreal Opera Symphonique de Montréal couldn’t afford to invite here to perform. It was incredible.
But I still was homesick.
What did I do on my first afternoon home? Hang out at one of the free neighbourhood pools, soaking up the sun, watching my friend’s pre-schooler flop about with her wee friends in the kiddie pool. And I was just as happy, if not happier, as when I was walking about France with the ghosts of kings past.
#notsobougieafterall
#itsthesimplethings
Still, let me share some pics from this trip (all of them taken with a simple iphone 6, using the filters available and editing options within).
View of Paris’s north shore, from the roof-top terrasse of the Musée d’Orsay. That green space = Jardins de Tuileries, and behind it on the hilltop is the Basilique de Sacré-Coeur
La Cathédrale de Notre-Dame is located on a wee island in the Seine called Ile de la Cité. When the weather is beautiful, Parisiens go down to the water and picnic on the ledge. What a view. City living at its best.
Reims. Located in Champagne country-side. Went for a tour of the Taittinger champagne house, and their caves where they store their champagne. Built on 4th century Roman caves and the foundations of a famous 13th century Abbey, that was destroyed during the French Revolution.
Strasbourg. Fairy tale scenery.
More Strasbourg fairy tale scenery. All of these pics are taken in their downtown core. Because #urbanplanningwin
No filter, because none needed. This area of Strasbourg is a Unesco World Heritage site, called la Petite France. Funny story, it was initially built in the 15th century to house soldiers returning from wars with syphilis. Most beautiful quarantine possible.
Not a vintage pic. I took it while on a boat tour. Strasbourg = a living anachronism.
This is where my work convention was hosted: a medieval French village in the countryside – the Domaine de Rebetz. NBD.
Discovering ratchet 
Bon retour malgré la pluie !
PS: You look stunning in that pic
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Merci x2 🙂
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Ah, France. I spent two summers in Strasbourg. Heavenly.
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Right?? Gobsmacked. I mean, I knew it was beautiful, from researching it, but nothing prepared me for the reality of it.
I actually chose Reims and Strasbourg because of their historical significance. Along with my big goal of seeing a ballet & opera in all the big cities of the world, my other big ticket on my bucket list is to visit all of the parts in France that I learned about in school (French school run, by nuns… we learned all of French history) AND all the cities that played a role in WWII.
But anyhow, yeah. Strasbourg is possibly a little slice of heaven on earth. TWO summers? lucky gal!!
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I was much much younger lol…
Reims too?? I spent a birthday on Champagne with my ex husband.
Gorgeous day. Did you go to Provence as well?
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No, no time. I couldn’t take that much time off work: we are in our busy season. They allowed me to miss 2 work days (and I added my weekends), but more than that would have placed too much of a burden on my staff.
I spent my birthday last week in Champagne (at Reims). And drank 5% of the town’s cellar too. Not exaggerating, much.
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I guess they restocked after I was there 😉
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love.
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