France: Day 1 & 2: flight & arrival

Allllllrrrrrriiiight!!! Finally! I've learned a valuable lesson...taking a thousand pictures is certainly much easier (and more fun!) than editing them all!!! And I have a memory with each one, so I am finding it very hard to erase any to make the job easier. Since I've been back home, I've spent hours and hours at the computer editing and editing so I could make a slideshow. I still might manage it, but for now I decided to just start putting pictures on that are ready to go. Otherwise, you may find yourselves waiting another 2 weeks before I can get it accomplished! I kept a diary while I was there. John gave me one before I left and said he expected me to finish the book at least halfway, and then I could finish it someday when the two of us went together. One problem....I finished the whole thing!

A short update: John is working half-days right now over winter break which is really nice, and we are also volunteering at the church winter camp a couple days a week - going over and playing games with the kids which has been fun. I had a bad case of jetlag coming back to Korea that took me over a week to fully get over. And I came home to a very sick Joy who'd lost her voice. Consequently, the little bug made it's rounds through the family and now we are just getting over that. And so now here I am...with the pictures from France! I became the designated photographer for the trip. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed taking them!


From Korea to France!

Sunday, Dec. 28th, 2008

Leaving from SeoSan bus terminal. John and the kids came on the bus with me to SeoSan and told me good-bye there. We played UNO until it was time for me to go.

Audrey and her boyfriend, Mathieu, met me at the Charles de Gualle airport in Paris. It was soooo good to see her again and to meet Mathieu!!! I got in Sunday night. We spent the night at a nearby hotel and then went back to pick Kendra up Monday morning.

Yeahhhhh! Kendra made it! I was so relieved to see her! She'd been delayed from bad weather out of the U.S. and I wasn't positive she'd made her flight.

Monday, Dec. 29th.

On the way back to Audrey's home, we dropped Mathieu off at his home and then Audrey showed us where she works in the vineyards during summer breaks. Isn't the scenery just beautiful?!? Kendra and I couldn't get over it, and Audrey would shake her head and tell us if we thought this was beautiful to just wait til we got to Paris. Which I didn't doubt, but I still thought her hometown was wonderful, too!

5:30pm Monday: We arrived at Audrey's hometown of Bar sur Aube in Champagne, France.

Carmen met us at the door and helped us carry in our luggage and get settled. Then we were given a tour. It's such a nice, warm, and inviting home! That's Audrey's vehicle on the drive...Mathieu amazingly packed all our luggage plus the 4 of us into it for the trip back!

Kendra and I were initiated into the French culture of supper no earlier than 8pm. Interestingly, most shops, stores, and such close by 7-8pm to encourage the employers/ees to go home to their families and go to bed early. The restaurants however, generally serve supper until 11pm or so. And so, rather than eat and then give them our Christmas gifts, we did gifts first, then ate supper. This is Viv (Vivien), Audrey's older brother.
Patrick, Audrey's father.

Kendra gave Audrey Oreos since Audrey loved them in the States and they didn't sell them in France then. But now they do, we found out!

Audrey's mother, Carmen.

Yea! The guy's tops fit well!

Then, I had also taken along a lot of little things from Korea. We taught them how to play White Elephant for them. Viv's getting the idea here....once he did, he became a big thief! It was a lot of fun! It was so wonderful to finally meet and be with Audrey's family after hearing about them for so long!

9:30pm - supper. Began with a glass of champagne. Which was really neat to be sitting in Champagne drinking champagne which was made right there in Champagne! Kendra liked the fancy champagne glasses to drink it in.

I had the privilege of sitting across from Viv. I quickly learned that watching him eat his meals was very facsinating! The preparation, the preciseness, and the perfection that went into it...wow!
The food looked really good, smelled awesome, and tasted even better! Baked potatoes, smoked ham, and cheese from the Alps. We melted our slice of cheese in that warmer under the potatoes, then poured it over the meat and potato. Mmmmmmm! My mouth is watering just writing about that food again!!! It was soooo good!

Here is Viv's plate: perfectly manicured and looking like it came out of a restaurant! :) It was too funny...he'd wait for the first piece of cheese to melt and pour it over his potatoes. Then, he'd wait for the next piece of cheese to melt and then pour it over his awaiting meat. Only then would he lift his knife and fork for the first bite. When he finished, he started the whole process over again for the next plateful, and the next! It was very entertaining!

After the main meal...which Kendra and I thought was the meal!....we were served bread and a spread of cheeses. Our first time to experience what Audrey had told us all about when she lived with us...the cheeses! And so we did. I even liked one that they said would stink to high heaven when it warms up. (thankfully they were served fresh out of the refrigerator!)

And then - Carmen came out with apple pie!!! We'd call it a baked apple dessert in the U.S, and it was delicious! Our only regret was that we did not realize there would be so many courses to the meal and we were getting stuffed! Carmen is an excellent cook!
After supper, which ended two hours later at 11:30pm, we said our good-nights and headed to bed. The end of our first full (and wonderful) day in France!