So, first we went to the island of Port Cros for a day of hiking. The waters are crystal clear and very chilly, so no swimming this day. There are some old forts on the island and just a few beachy cafes, where you can relax and dine outside. The views are very incredible from the hiking trails which wrap all the way around the island and snake into the interior.
Then, it was onto the High Alps, which I already posted about but I thought I could just post again a few pics from the trip. We did this insane hike that was way too vertical for all of us, but Yann, to be doing. It was rated Easy in the French hiking guide book. But they really must have a different vision of what Easy is they we Americans do. I think we all wanted to hunt down the author of that book. But once we made it to the top, the views were very impressive and there was still snow there, for making snowballs!
Then, in no special order, we climbed around on castle ruins in Grimaud, stayed in a gite in Le Luc, where we stuck my dad in the car to sleep at night because he was snoring so loud, avoided Saint Tropez like the plague, because there were 80 billion tourists going there, visited Cezanne's art studio and Renoir's family house and studio, visited many many beautiful ancient villages like Eze and Gorges, saw an amazing Picasso and Cezanne exhibit in Aix, went canoeing and swimming down the Ardesh river, shopped the veggie markets in Aix, dipped out toes in the freezing spring waters at Fontaine de Vaucluse, walked up and down many cobble stone steps, cooked lots of good food, and ate at many good restaurants, and had an overall great French adventure.
Now, today is the 29th of May, which means that I have only 6 more days of living in France. Then, I go back to the States and wait for my husband to join me; hopefully it won't be a long wait, we are hoping for less than two months! It's the end of my French adventure; one year and four months long. And I am really looking forward to getting back home and to indulge in all the homey things I have missed about the States. Oddly enough, Chilies ceasar salad being one of them (pregnancy craving, I'm hoping). I've had some great times living abroad and I'll have all great memories to last a long time. When I get annoyed with how "cookie- cutter" America can be, I can remember that in France I lived in a very ancient village with a bell tower that rang on the hour. And that in France things aren't always efficient and that has taught me patience. We battled through the French immigration system and after waiting in many hot, sweaty lines of people, came out with my permanent residence card! Also, living here has made me become more ecological and use less of everything overall. When laundry takes 5 hours to complete a wash and dry cycle, you just learn to do less of it and wear the same clothes a few times. And I've learned to park a car in much smaller spaces, perfecting the art of the parallel park. I also have learned that you can actually get sick of eating croissants and other French pastries, if you eat them every day. What I would do for a Grand Slam breakfast, complete with eggs, sausage, waffles drenched in syrup! Well, the point is, in a few short days I will be back home and can reacquaint myself with all the lovely things I've been missing, including my family and friends. I think living abroad has also given me a much stronger sense of what America represents to me and though it sounds a bit cheesy, I really do feel more thankful now to be American than I did before. Also, this little baby growing in my belly is half French so I am connected to France now more than ever. I have my husband's family here in France, and I am just lucky that my in-laws have a house in Sarasota too! So, this baby will grow up knowing the language of it's father and also I know we will be taking frequent trips to France for visits to the Homeland.
But, before I go one more thing. We are hopefully finding out the sex of our baby on June 3rd...4 more days! I have been counting down to this appointment and I hope the baby positions itself in the right way to get a look!! I cannot wait to know and I can't imagine there are people out there with the patience to wait until the actual birth to find out! I can hardly wait 15 weeks to know; forget about 40 weeks!
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