Hello again, England!!!!

I have missed England since the day I left behind Yorkshire and the beautiful moors...so when I was regaling Misha with how utterly amazing the Broadway musical Wicked is, she said "Let's go see it!" So we did! We plotted out a mom's weekend to London, centered on seeing the show and the historical sights of London. Kristin made mention that it was a pity we were planning it for Mother's Day weekend, as she wouldn't be back from her trip to the States until a couple days after, so we planned it for the weekend after, instead, so we could all three go. It was a Girl's Weekend Out!

We planned to fly out early Friday morning, but then changed our plans to Thursday night instead, as Misha brought up the point of benefiting from getting in the night before and resting up from our travel before hitting the sights.

 GOOD-BYE, GERMANY!

 THE NORTHERN COAST OF GERMANY, NETHERLANDS, OR BELGIUM...I'M NOT SURE WHICH...

 WINDMILLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NORTH SEA/ENGLISH CHANNEL

HELLO, ENGLAND!!!

It was great to be back in the UK (I've been to Edinburgh once and had a weekend in Yorkshire...this was the first time to London for all three of us!), and odd to not have to ask the shop owners if they spoke English all of the time! LOL (Although, while we were there, we heard more French, Italian and German than English! LOL) 

The first night, we wandered around a little bit after checking in to our hotel, and found dinner at a cute little place shortly before it closed, and we all enjoyed some pies. :) I got a chicken and mushroom one, myself, with a hefty side helping of chips (fries)! 

MY DINNER FROM THE FIRST NIGHT IN LONDON!

It was a very good thing Misha suggested an extra night in London, because I can't imagine spending Friday the way we did right after flying in!

TO BE CONTINUED..... 

Metz!

I know that I am way overdue in posting about Metz! I meant to do it right away (and I should have, too), but planning for London occupied my thoughts!

Upon leaving Domrémy-la-Pucelle, I realized that our detour had cost us in gas, and we needed to fill up. (Oh, the constraints of money and fuel! If not for those, I would constantly be traipsing all over Europe!) I stopped at the first gas station we could find, which was still out in a small town. Which meant that there were few that spoke English. It's to be expected, really, and while I'm not COMPLETELY ignorant of the language (I did take 2 years in high school and a semester in college, after all...), I still dislike that I don't know it as well as I could, or even should! My card wouldn't work at the station, and so I had to communicate with the lady at the pay booth. She spoke no English, and I am certain that my French came across to her as very poor and broken, but I was ecstatic over the fact that I was able to communicate enough to her (with minimal gesturing) the problem and understood her when she explained to me the solution. (The first three pumps were cash only, the last three pumps were card only.) I'm talking giddy giggling and dancing in the driver's seat ecstatic. lol Oh, the things that amuse me...

Metz was a beautiful city (though Misha and I both agreed that it was more pleasant to be in the countryside and smaller towns), though I had forgotten about the fact that it's common across Europe for everything to shut down in the middle of the day. We were soooooooooo hungry, and missed the restaurants closing by less than half an hour (they closed at 2pm) and had to wait until they re-opened for dinner (which varied between restaurants, at about 6 or 7pm). The deliciousness of the quiche and eclair were so long before that...lol But we survived. And we took many pictures! I think that my favorite building was Temple Neuf. Sadly, though, it was closed and we could only see the outside. I wish we could have gone in! I bet it was as beautiful inside as it was out!

TEMPLE NEUF

LOOKING UP AT THE BACK SIDE OF TEMPLE NEUF

 

We did find a couple of other cathedrals, however, and even got to hear a part of the mass going on in one of them (the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Metz)!

THE STAIRS LEADING UP FROM THE STREET TO CATHÉDRALE SAINT-ÉTIENNE DE METZ

CLOSE-UP VIEW OF CATHÉDRALE SAINT-ÉTIENNE DE METZ

ONE OF THE MANY GORGEOUS STAINED GLASS WINDOWS INSIDE CATHÉDRALE SAINT-ÉTIENNE DE METZ

A SMALL CLIP OF MASS (IN FRENCH!)

And the only public bathroom we found reminded me of a phone booth...but for a toilet! LOL

MISHA INSIDE THE "PHONE BOOTH" PUBLIC TOILET

You would deposit your money, the sliding door would unlock and let you in, and then when you were done and the door shut behind you, it would spray a disinfectant inside, from top to bottom. (At first we didn't know that, and thought the wet floor meant urine everywhere! LOL) There is even a notice that there is a 15 minute time limit. It is now a personal goal of Misha's to try that time limit out, and see if the door opens on it's own after the allotted time or not! LOL (And you can read her recounting of the Metz portion of our trip here as well as see more of her amazing photography skills.)

RANDOM FRENCHWOMAN ACCORDION STREET PERFORMER

SUNSET IN METZ

It was an experience like no other, and I am SO GLAD that we went! I hope to go back to France soon...and as it's not so far away, it is extremely unlikely that I won't get to!

A new month!

Yes, I know that I'm overdue to produce the final installment of my trip to France...I'll get to it, I promise!

It's a new month! May has come upon us, and I am super excited for what I have planned to do! :D (And I'm super excited to blog about those plans, too, after the fact...which means I'd better hurry on that France finale!) I've been getting back to my knitting (which I've been somewhat neglecting as of late), and last night while watching Castle, worked on the "Where's Anja's Cow?" baby romper. :) I'm also still plugging away at a soaker/skirty combo that I'm making for someone (and I bought the license with the pattern, so I'm thinking soakers will soon be appearing in my etsy shop!), and I still have the last hat to make before the next big trip!

A has turned six. I don't know when this happened...(well, obviously on his birthday, lol) I turned around and ::POOF::! He's past the preschooler/kindergartener age! Ack! Next fall he starts first grade, and C will start kindergarten himself (after C turns 5 in August)! I will have the house to MYSELF! ALL DAY! While they're both at school! I am looking forward to it greatly! Nobody to cater to all day long, no child going right behind me and making a mess of what I just cleaned, no interruptions of "I'm hungry!" or "Fill my water bottle, please!" or any various pleas and/or tantrums.

It's going to be AMAZING!

The Instigator has not slacked at all in the role for which he assumed that title. lol But I really can't complain. For all the picking on me that he does, he's also very supportive of my "traveling habit" and is okay with me traipsing off with my girl friends and leaving him at home (though I'm sure he's more than ready for me to take at least one of the boys with me! LOL). He was supposed to have taken a trip to Spain, himself, for a martial arts tournament, but as we left the boys at Misha's house so I could take him to the airport, it turned out we went to the wrong airport, and he missed his flight! LOL But we got the drive time to and from the airport (two hours, round trip) to just enjoy each others company without the kids in the back seat, and just chat and relax. :)

And today we're getting a new couch delivered! The Instigator ordered it a couple months back (along with a recliner for him, which he's SUPER happy about), and it's finally showing up today! :D Hooray! Id' better get to cleaning up the living room area a bit!

My First French Adventure!

I woke up at 4 a.m. (Yes, you read that right!) this past Friday for my trip to France. The Instigator swore I wouldn't be able to get out of bed. (I am not a morning person in the least, and sleep in whenever I can!) But he failed to account for my motivation in getting up before the sun! I went to bed early the night before to compensate, but my mind was racing and I slept little and what little sleep I got was fitful. I drove down to the house of one of my closest friends (who lives about an hour away), and in about another half hour, we were over the border into France!!!!!! And Misha got video of me as we entered the country I longed to enter for so long....

**VIDEO TAKEN BY MISHA**

MY REACTION TO CROSSING THE BORDER INTO FRANCE 

The GPS took us an interesting route, owing to the fact that it wouldn't let me enter Domrémy-la-Pucelle, so I went simply with Domrémy. We were whisked away to the beautiful French countryside and got to see the sun rise in France. We went up a tree-covered hill and got a spectacular view, and I took the opportunity to kiss the ground I dreamed of for 18 years.

**PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA**

ME KISSING FRENCH SOIL

When we got to the place our destination supposedly was, there was nothing but a driveway up to a house that was obviously occupied. We were lost! But it was the best kind of lost in the world. I was "lost" in France with one of my best friends. It doesn't get much better than that! (And the reason I put lost in quotes is because we DID have a GPS. We could have easily put in a major city or our homes and found our way easily enough.) So we went into the town immediately following where Domrémy was supposed to be. Being as it was a small town in the middle of French countryside, no nearby large tourist-y cities and no American military bases to speak of, the lady at the bakery we stopped in at didn't speak English. It may have been 8 years since my last French class, but I was able to (in my broken and poor French! LOL) ask if she knew which way Domrémy-la-Pucelle was. Unfortunately, she didn't, but that was okay. :)

Even simply driving in the French countryside made me fall even deeper in love with the country. (Well, minus the fields of yellow flowers that aggravate my allergies to the point of my misery!) It was beautiful, and such a nice change of pace from everyday life! No laundry to fold and put away. No dishes to wash. No meals to cook. No fights to break up. No whining from the kids to endure....just me, one of my best friends, and the French countryside. It was amazing.

I then was able to order an eclair for me (Misha got a Lorraine quiche), and we headed back to the car. And let me tell you....that food....it was DIVINE!!!!! After we scarfed down our breakfast, Misha took over the GPS and found Domrémy-la-Pucelle without incident (go figure, lol), and we were on our way to the birthplace of Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc).

The story of Joan of Arc has always impacted me heavily. I don't know why, but in the same vein of Anne Frank, whenever I hear her story, no matter how dry the prose, no matter the source, I cry. I'm not even sure why it is so close to my heart and affects me so much, but to go to France, in a region that I have ancestral ties to, and see the birthplace of one of my historical heroes.........words fail me. I simply cannot describe what it meant to me. 

LE MAISON NATALE DE JEANNE D'ARC

(THE BIRTHPLACE OF JOAN OF ARC) 

We got there about an hour or so before everything even opened, so we spent some time just ambling around and taking photos, drinking in the feel of the small town (population of 155!) and the landscape all around us. I was absolutely hooked. I have to go back. I already feel the pull of that region again. All it takes is for me to look at the photos, and I wish I could teleport there straight away. 

Between the birthplace and the nearby cathedral (La Basilique du Bois Chenu), we spent all morning just relishing in the silence and history, and enjoying ourselves. 

LA BASILIQUE DU BOIS CHENU

FACING AWAY FROM THE CATHEDRAL TOWARDS THE GORGEOUS COUNTRYSIDE

 Also, if you would like to hear Misha's telling or see the other photos she has posted (and I really encourage you to...she is a natural at photography and has amazing skill! Plus, she posted pictures from inside the basilica!), you can read/see her recounting of Domrémy-la-Pucelle here.

TO BE CONTINUED....AGAIN!...

VIVE LA FRANCE!!!!!!!!!

The first time I really became aware of the world outside my own immediate existence was when I was 9 years old. It was when I was in 4th grade. We were given an assignment to write a report on the European country doled out to us. I got France.

Being the type of student that I was, I dove in, scrounging up everything of interest to me that I could (that was still relevant to the subject of the report), and I fell in love. I just didn't realize to what extent it at that time. Regardless, I already felt the stirrings inside to visit the country I'd written about that was half a world away...

In fifth grade, my teacher (Mrs. Simpson) taught us a few words in French. I pretty sure that it was only counting to 10 and then a Christmas carol in French. Hearing the language, and then being able to not only hear it being sung, but getting to sing it myself cemented it for me.

I was absent the day we were assigned countries to write about in 5th grade, and I got "stuck" with Luxembourg, while the boy I had a crush on got France. I remember the deep disappointment, and even having tears in my eyes. Some of them may have even escaped. But regardless to the extent I expressed my emotions, he noticed, and he offered to trade with me. (I think that may have even prompted me to like him more! LOL)

It was then that I discovered Joan of Arc. And it was also in 5th grade, in a family tree/heritage project that I discovered that my mom's side of the family has ancestral ties to the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. From that point on, there was no denying it. I wanted to experience France. The food, the language, the history, the culture, the landmarks (and specifically Paris!)...all of it. I wanted it more than I had wanted anything else in my life.

And that desire stuck with me.

And every attempt to make it to the country where my heart was evaded me. Two of my best friends in high school got to go on a school trip to France without me.


When I found out, then, that we were moving to Italy after The Instigator completed his tour in Korea, I was on cloud nine. Italy is so close to France! I googled how far away it was. I researched the fastest ways to get from Aviano to Paris. I switched the google maps to the satellite view of the city, and stared at a computer screen showing me an aerial view of the Eiffel Tower, and cried happy tears.

Flying over France to get to Italy, it was dark out. I could see nothing of France.

I went twice to the UK; once to Edinburgh and once to Yorkshire. Both times, flying out from Italy, the cloud cover over France was so ridiculous, I saw nothing of it, either direction of flight. I literally had tears of disappointment and longing coursing down my face.

While we were stationed in Italy, I never made it to France. I got to go to Venice (two or three times), made it over to Tuscany, went down to Verona, participated in an organized trip to Austria (for the Christmas Market!), and as aforementioned, flew twice to the UK. I was certain that we were going to sent back to the States, and that I'd have missed my chance. Every day that we were without follow-on orders, I lost hope that we'd get to stay overseas. I was seriously on the verge of an emotional breakdown about it. It took a lot of prayer and a lot of effort before I was finally able to just let go and let God take control. The very next day we got orders. To Germany. To whatever extent I celebrated and exulted over Italy, multiply that by about 10, and that was my reaction. I was moving closer to France! I would only be a four hour drive away from Paris!!!!


Yesterday, a dream came true. Something that I had been wanting since I was a little 9-year-old girl. It finally came to pass.

I. Got. To. Go. To. France.

It's not Paris. Not yet. But I went to France.

TO BE CONTINUED......