And We’re Back!

The hiatus is over!  The Hub and I had an amazing time back in California and I'm excited to tell you all about our adventures.  I'm lost in a sea of jetlag, unpacking, cleaning the house and stocking back up on groceries, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting too long.  Here are some sneak peeks of our week: The best things about being back in the U.S. was breathing some fresh California air, spending time with our friends and family, and the Mexican food.  I didn't realize how much I missed mountains and nature until we drove (and drove and drove) through the state.  We're already planning some trips outside of Montpellier to find our quiet respites here in France. The hardest part about coming back is definitely the language barrier.  I had a moment when someone was speaking to me on the train from Paris to Montpellier when I thought, "Wow, ok - this again.  I have no idea what you're saying to me."  It can be really difficult and frustrating, but it's part of living over here and has just emphasized the fact that we need to focus on our language studies.  We had two private lessons before this trip and I'm looking forward to our next one later this week. We're back in France just in time for La Fête de la Musique, an all day and night free music festival, held in over 100 countries throughout the world, marking the beginning of summer (did you know that today is the summer solstice?).  We saw some stages being set up last night and many bars/restaurants will have live music as well. We're going out to dinner with some friends and then plan to check it out.  Apparently this year is the first year that Montpellier is participating in a country-wide flash mob (what, what!) so we'll try to figure out where/when that is taking place. My suitcase is calling me (you all know how much I loathe unpacking!) but I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about our adventures in Yosemite National Park, which was truly amazing. À Bientôt!