Remembering

During Jon's time in the Army, Memorial Day took on new meaning for us.  Being in another country has made me more sensitive to truly American holidays.  We don't get Monday as a holiday here, so Sunday night we headed out to the Suresnes American Cemetery.  I had driven by earlier in the week and it was beautifully decorated for this special day.  

It was a nice night and the kids were up for a walk.

It is always good to see the American Flag.

That is the Eiffel Tower in the background.

There are over 1,000 soldiers buried here from WW I and 24 unidentified soldiers from WW II.

It is not the kind of place that makes it to the top of a sight seeing list when you come to Paris, but this is a beautiful place to visit and appreciate the sacrifices that have been made to protect our freedom.

Saturday Morning Fun

We are all happy to have Jon home from Nigeria!  He is only gone for a week at a time, and my mom was here for this week, but we all still miss him so much when he is gone.  

He always brings home a wooden animal for each of the kids, but this time I got something too!  My new hand carved mask from Nigeria, and I found a place to hang it.

This happy boy is sitting up all by himself now.  He was having fun exploring the grass, he may have tasted a little bit too.

This rose bush is in our backyard and it is one of my favorite things in the world right now.

They sky was so blue this mooring, it is so beautiful.

I get so many flowers brought in for me these days, I just love it.

I have been collecting some great textiles lately.  It is so fun to get out everything I have and see what I have found and how it works together.  These blues all make me so happy.

I love all of my doilies.  Some of these I have had since Houston (the top half of the picture).  The bottom half of the picture are all recent finds here in France.  I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but pinterest has so many wonderful ideas, I am going to put them to good use soon.

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!

Souvenirs in a Graveyard

We had hoped to go by the American cemetery that was just outside of Saint James, but by the time we got there it was closed.  We decided to drive around a little bit and we found another cemetery. 

This was the view from the top of the hill, such a peaceful place.

We noticed several churches that had the rooster on the top.  

This sign basically says that the grave has been abandoned and they are trying to find the family that it belongs to.

The metal crosses here was just gorgeous.  They were ornate and rusty and beautiful.

Many of the graves were adorned with these ceramic flowers.  I love their beauty and practicality.

This stone was so pretty.  I loved how the graves were covered with little signs and statues. 

Unfortunately this is where our trip ended.  We went back to the house that night and went to sleep and I woke up sick the next morning.  The rest of the gang was going to leave me at the house with Malachi and continue on with our planned itinerary (a day at Normandy Beach), but I wasn't confident in my ability to care for Malachi on my own so we packed up the car and headed home.  The day ended up being rather cold and rainy so no one felt too cheated from our original plan.  One day I will get to go to Normandy Beach.  I ended up going to the ER at the American Hospital and they got me all fixed up.

Just Swimming in Cold Cold Water

So the house we stayed in had a pool.  The only problem was that the water was cold.  The kids still really wanted to try it out.  

For some reason Ben was mad and yelling at all of us.  

Malachi is happiest when he is right in the middle of all the action.

Jon is the best Dad, ever.  He got in the very cold water for the kids.

Can you tell Garrett was chilly?  He was having so much fun.

Addie was not excited about the cold water.

She did whatever she had to in order to stay out of the water.

She is a smart girl.

Ben was so funny getting in the water, 

and getting right back out.

Then he jumped back in, the crazy boy.

The gardens of the house were so beautiful.  I loved this little corner.  

I was especially in love with this gate.  I loved all of the old paint chipping off and showing through.  I don't think they even realize what a neat piece they have here.

We all had a great time playing in the yard, I'm sure the neighbors just loved us.  Ha!

And then it was time for dinner.  Nannie and I had ventured into the nearby town of Saint James to get some things for dinner.  I have found that cheese ravioli is a great meal for us to fix while on vacation, it is filling, but not too heavy, not expensive and we usually don't have leftovers.  

Bon Appetit! 

Mont St Michel Early in the Morning

Friday morning we got up early and drove the 20 minutes in to Mont Saint Michel.  

The shuttle bus starts running around 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning.  We were some of the first people there.  The one thing about getting there this early is the visitor's center was not open.  That was okay with us, we hopped on the bus and headed over.  

These buses are special because they can be driven from either end, isn't that neat?

By getting there so early we were some of the only people out there.  

Of course, the boys brought their swords.

It was almost eerie to be some of the only people out here.

One of the only places open early was the Creperie du Chapeau Rouge.  They had a good breakfast menu and you could also order off of the crepe menu.  Perfect!

After breakfast we headed up the stairs.  One point to make about the Information center being closed is that is where they have the lockers to leave things like strollers.  We had brought ours over with us and then we needed a place to leave it.  I was so thankful when the server at the restaurant offered to keep it there.  

It was a lot of steps, but the kids did great.

I got to do all of the stairs with an extra 20 pounds of Malachi.

We made it to the top only to find out that the abbey was closed because of a strike, how French of them. 

We did get some gorgeous views from where we were.

We had a great day at Mont Saint Michel.  We caught the shuttle back out to the car and then we made the kids' day by taking them to McDonalds.  Every one had a good day.

 This post is linked to Walking on Travels Friday Postcards!