France

France - Fall in Lyon

Subtle fall tones in Croix-Rousse, Vieux Lyon.

Subtle fall tones in Croix-Rousse, Vieux Lyon.

Last November we spent time with Alex’s family and friends in Lyon. It was a wonderful month full of three-course (or more) lunches and dinners and trail runs in 8° C weather, changing diapers and making cailloux (rocks) with pâte à modeler (Play-Doh), yard work and competitive games of Sudoku by the fire. We visited old friends at their flats downtown and small chateaus in the countryside, accompanied our cousins’ to runs at the park and voting polls at the community center, stopped by museums and bouchons around the old town. There were fresh chicken eggs every day, fresh baguettes around the corner, leaves changing color, une petite baladesapéros, fromage blanc... and moments when we’d look at each other and say, “I could live here.”

Merci à tous (spécialement Marjo & Rémi), pour tout!

48 Hours in Montpellier, France

Original photos from June 2013.

I had a quick trip to the south of France [in 2013], spending just 48 hours exploring Montpellier alone before Mui & Boris’s amazing château wedding in Brissac. (Alex flew in to officiate the wedding, and was only in France for a record 72 hours! Crazy.) Montpellier is a quaint city filled with young university students and summer tourists, so there was a lot of energy in the streets, especially leading up to Fête de la Musique. Though the eighth largest city in France, it is so small that I ran into the groom at the airport, and when I met with Bogee for lunch before heading to Brissac, we were randomly stopped by Yu-Jung, who was people-watching from a cafe in front of the opera house. Here are a few highlights from my short stay in the city center:

It was my first visit to Montpellier, so I had an amazing time. The only disappointment was that Les Bains de Montpellier was booked for lunch, so I recommend making a reservation if you want to dine there. Anyway, here are my favorite photos from the short trip.