Day Trip: St. Guilhem-le-Désert

For our final excursion with Devon, we took her to one of my favorite nearby villages, St. Guilhem-le-Désert. This beautiful, medieval village is situated along the Hérault River and is surrounded by gorges,  mountains, and the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage trail.  There are so many fun, outdoorsy activities to do in this area like hiking, kayaking, climbing, biking, etc.  Last summer I went on a...

Knocked Up Abroad: The Specialists

I've told you all before how pleased we are with the level of health care we receive here in France.  They really seem to be focused on preventative treatment and finding the root of your symptoms before it becomes a serious problem that needs to be treated with drugs and interventions.  The prenatal care is no different.  I've felt very taken care of during this entire pregnancy and like all of my concerns are...

A Day in Provence: Arles & Camargue

Now that I've (mostly) finished complaining about the heat, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?  I was telling you all about Devon's visit and our day in Provence.  We spent the morning in Les Baux, touring the medieval ruins and fighting against the mistral.  After a quick lunch, we headed about 20 minutes south to Arles. Arles, an old Roman town, is well known for being the place in...

Knocked Up Abroad: Turn Baby, Turn!

Hi All! First of all, sorry for my absence over these last 2 weeks.  I've been feeling so good this entire pregnancy, and then weeks 30-33 hit me like a ton of bricks.  And you guys, I really hate to just constantly complain about the weather, but I attribute most of my misery to the 90°+ temperatures and the crazy humidity that we've had for all of August.  For the last month, the heat has been unrelenting,...

A Day in Provence: Les Baux

Let me tell you a little something about my best friend Devon.  She's a nerd.  And I love her for it because I'm a nerd too, just in a different way.  We both love learning, but Devon is a special kind of nerd - she's a history nerd.  For example, during a 12th grade trip we took to D.C. to perform at the Kennedy Center with the competition choir (see? we're nerds.  And this was 10+ years before Glee, people)...

Swiss Adventure: Ouchy, Morges, & Geneva

One of my big regrets during our December trip to Annecy was that we didn't get a chance to check out the nearby Lake Geneva towns in Switzerland.  We weren't about to make the same mistake twice, especially since Marq and Dawn were concluding their European Vacation in Zurich and needed to pick up their rental car at the Geneva airport.  We took advantage of the much lower prices of French lodging and stayed in...

Knocked Up Abroad: The Newborn List

First of all, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented or messaged me regarding my KUA post about essentials for a newborn.  You ladies sure are impressive with your lists and spreadsheets and reading through everything has been a huge help.  This weekend we went over to one of our friend's houses to go through some of their baby things that they were happy to lend us for the first few months.  Aren't our...

Annecy: The Summer Edition

Do you remember reading about our trip to Annecy in December?  Do you remember how obsessed I was?  And how could I not be, that town is magical.  Even with the cold temperature and bouts of rain, I was a happy girl.  The Marché de Noël was in full effect and there was vin chaud around every corner.  I was heaven!  I wrote in that blog post that I was anxious to return for another weekend getaway, so when...

Knocked Up Abroad: The Great Doctor Search

A few months ago, I mentioned that we were still in the thick of The Great Doctor Search.  I thought I'd give you all an update on how that's going, now that it's (mostly) resolved.  The resolution could not come quickly enough seeing as I am, clearly, at the point where I should have all this figured out. First of all, I'll explain how the hospital vs. private clinic and doctor vs. midwife thing works...

Exploring The Dalí Theatre-Museum

After our strange night in Roses, Marq, Dawn, Michael and I headed to the Dalí Theatre-Musuem in Figueres.  Salvador Dalí has long been one of my favorite artists.  In fact, 10 years ago, I went to The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida while on Spring Break (nerd!  Who goes to an art museum on college Spring Break?  Me, that's who) and I've been hooked ever since.  Since the Dalí Theatre-Musuem is...