Southern France in fall has proven to be very beautiful. The leaves are changing, the weather is mostly mild and the fruits and vegetables are a gorgeous mélange of autumn hues. While the slow shift of seasons is similar to what we were used to in the U.S., the decided lack of fall marketing is…
Tag: Expat Life
A Medieval Tale: Carcassone
Part of the fun craziness of Matt’s new job is not knowing where we’re headed next. A few weeks ago we got a calendar outlining our assignments after Toulouse, but just yesterday Matt found out things might change again. Unfortunately the change means we might be headed out of Toulouse for about six weeks to stay…
Toulouse à Pied (or Running in Toulouse)
I could almost title this entry “running around” as busy as we typically are, but instead I’ll focus on what it’s like being a runner in France (Toulouse to be specific). I’m inspired by the fact that we signed up for our first 5K in Toulouse. This coming Sunday, we’ll be joining hundreds of other…
Expat Life: The First Trip Home
We’re back! After a whirlwind trip to the U.S. (including a 26-hour travel day to Tampa from Toulouse), we’re once again on French soil. I have a running list of topics I still need to write about, but as I started typing today I thought the best place to start was our first trip home…
A Sunday Funday in Dublin
Tomorrow we will be heading back to the U.S. for the first time in four months. We are traveling to Florida for one of my cousins’ weddings and are looking forward to spending time with our family and friends. It’ll be strange to be back in our home country; speaking in English, paying in dollars…
Moher Adventures in Ireland
If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the chilly breeze whipping my hair and smell the salty ocean breeze mixing with wind-blown grass. Memories taking me back to the day we stood on sheer cliffs and stared out at the wide-open expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Our fourth day in Ireland was slated…
Sagrada Família: A Basilica Like No Other
Barcelona is filled with beautiful architecture, but none of it is quite as unique nor remarkable as the buildings designed by Antoni Gaudi. Their beautiful colors and sweeping structures feel simultaneously at home and out of place against the starker buildings in the city. Love or hate them, they bring a character and vibrancy to Barcelona that few other…
A Taste of Barcelona
It’s been a whirlwind week and a half and, because of that, I’ve fallen a bit behind on my blogging. Let me start at the beginning—two weekends ago. Matt was supposed to work that weekend, so we didn’t really make any plans. Friday night, however, he came home with great news—he was off for the…
A Day in Provence
“We had been here often before as tourists, desperate for our annual ration of two or three weeks of true heat and sharp light. Always when we left, with peeling noses and regret, we promised ourselves that one day we would live here.” ― Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence Admittedly, I have not yet…
Memories of Marseille
This weekend we celebrated an anniversary of sorts—two years since our first trip to Europe together. We took a European cruise in 2013 and that cemented, not only our love of world travel, but our love of seeing the world together. We departed out of Barcelona that trip, but our first port was Marseille, France….
Eat, Drink, Move (Repeat) 