Thursday Already?

Angela and Guillaume feel like they just arrived, but they have been in France for 5 days already. They have done a lot and seen a lot of people!

On Monday morning, they awoke with excitement. After a breakfast of croissants and coffee (Nespresso, of course!) they left Ste Genevieve des Bois.

First stop, Papy Pierre and Mamy Dedette! Guillaume and his father drove in one car, and Angela and Claudia drove in the other, to Chartres. It took about 1 1/2 hours to drive, and time passed very quickly.

Upon arrival, everyone piled out of their cars to find Papy Pierre and Mamy Dedette at the window. Angela called out, "Papy Pierre! Mamy Dedette!" because she was very happy to finally see them.

Everyone went into their home, and Angela felt very welcomed.

There were creatively wrapped gifts for Angela and Guillaume, and even for Petit Robert!

There was wonderful food: salmon, radishes, foie gras, ham, potatoes... it was so delicious, Angela had a hard time stopping to eat dinner.

Thank goodness for dessert or she may not have! Here, Guy is cutting the tarte tatin.

And everyone who enjoyed the day:

After all the food, they felt like taking a walk, so they drove to the huge, old (really old... much older than America - built in 1260!!) cathedral in Chartres. This is the Chartres cathedral from a distance.

Guillame made a friend just outside. He always meets interesting people!

When they were inside, Angela lit a candle for her dad.

After a final walk, and a drive back they left for Mamyline and Papy Roger's house, very close by. More lovely gifts were presented to Angela and Guillaume.

They had a very nice dinner that night, and ate a lot more food. Angela, Guillaume and Mamyline were very happy.

Chanel wanted to be sure Guillaume is in the picture. They stayed there on Monday night, and had a very good lunch the next day, with pain poisson, duck, vegetables, then desserts and more desserts! Angela thought she would never eat again!

In the afternoon, Manuel and Flora came to say hello, and to get the Paul Pierce Celtics shirt and shorts for Paul. Angela and Guillaume also went to see their new home, and it is beautiful!!!

Finally, the Chartres voyage had come to an end, and the Four Rousseaus returned to Ste Genevieve des Bois, and Home Sweet Home!

On Wednesday, Angela, Guillaume and Claudia met Guy at his golf club for lunch. Guillaume ran into someone who used to work at the Crillon Hotel! Lunch was very good, of course.

Angela is proud of her beaux pere - this plaque is above the bar at the club:

After lunch, the Four Rousseaus went to the wine shop and bought some wine to take back to America. The man who sold them the wine talked a lot. Angela thought it was funny that this is the only California wine in the store:

Next, the Three Ch's Tour... Stay tuned!

Looks Like We Made It!

It is 6:30 pm on Easter Sunday. Angela and Guillaume arrived exactly 12 hours ago, and have had a perfect day.

First, all suitcases in Boston were packed with clothes, shoes and gifts. The suitcases were very very full, and just a little heavy.

Guillaume prepared Angela for her first GP "experience." She had heard so many stories from the family, both good and ... exciting ... so she was ready for anything!

They arrived at Logan Airport early, and there was no line at the ticket counter at all. They checked in at the counter and were immediately given their boarding passes. Guillaume was very very shocked, and asked, "So we are on the plane?" and the ticket agent said Yes! (The agent next to her said,"Don't ticket them yet," but the agent helping didn't pay attention to her!)

So, they went through security, went to Duty Free, where Guillame wanted to try on sunglasses... but the cabinet was locked and the clerk said that they didn't have a key. So, no sunglasses for Guillaume. Angela bought her perfume, some books and magazines and then they went to the boarding gate.

Once they were on the plane in the VERY last row, in front of the toilets of course, they were getting settled. One of the flight attendants asked if they wanted to move away from the toilets, and they did. They sat about 10 rows ahead. Then, the chief hostess asked if they wanted to move upstairs into the bubble of the 747. And they did. But the plane was about to take off, so they had to run. But Guillaume's Green Card was in his coat, still in the overhead bin next to the toilet. Oh no!

The chief hostess got the jackets, and the three of them ran up the aisle, Angela's carry-on bag over her shoulder and hitting almost every person as she went by. Sorry! They ran up the stairs, threw themselves into their seats, and the plane started moving. These seats were so much better than the toilet seats. More room, less smell.

The flight was uneventful, but no one slept. They arrived on time, and there was no line at Customs. This GP traveling was easy and fun! But then they waited for the luggage. And waited. Finally it started to arrive, and soon they were outside, and Claudia drove up just then. Perfect timing!

The drive home was nice and sunny, and without incident, except for one driver who wanted to stop in the middle of the highway right in front of them because of the speed traps!

They arrived shortly and emptied all the bags from the car.

Even though it was early or late, Guillame and Angela were too excited and happy to be there, so they stayed awake and talked and opened presents for a little while, while Guy prepared Easter dinner. Lamb, of course.

And he prepared a tarte tatin, too!

Finally they thought they should sleep a little so they didn't fall asleep in the tarte tatin. They slept until 1:00!! They showered and felt very refreshed, although Angela thinks Guillaume is still a little tired. They will sleep very well tonight.

First, an aperetif with an amazing wine, Chateau d'Yqyem.

Then, the delicious dinner.

And cheese, and then the tarte tatin.

And NESPRESSO coffee! Angela and Guillaume are going to buy one of these machines - it makes delicious coffee! Even George Clooney says so.

They decided to take a walk through the Russian Orthodox cemetary in Ste Genevieve des Bois after lunch so that they didn't all fall asleep.

Many nobilities are buried here, and Putin came last year to visit as well. Rudolf Noureev is buried here in a very ornate grave!

After the walk through the cemetary, they took a tour of the town as well. Angela saw something that made her smile.

Now, Guy and Guillaume are downstairs wating tv, Claudia is on her computer, and Angela is going to go downstairs with her Vanity Fair Magazine.

Tomorrow, more visits with family, and they can't wait!

Petit Robert's Vacation Home

Here is Petit Robert at his vacation home. He had a nice trip, and Guillaume and Angela think he will be very happy. He has nice music, and a little plant, too!

Okay, the NEXT blog will probably be from France!

Across the Ocean

Today is the day!

Angela was so excited yesterday that she waited up for Guillaume to get home. As soon as he walked in the door she jumped on him and they both shouted, "Hooray!" They hope they didn't disturb the downstairs neighbors.

They have a busy day today before they leave. But Angela is started with the blog and coffee on the couch while Guillaume gets a few minutes more sleep. Angela doesn't know how he can sleep!
They are going to drop off sweet Petit Robert this morning at Aunt Vas and Uncle Sal's house, and will have a small breakfast and some nice conversation. The table is set for the little leprechauns' visit!





Then they have to rush off to get things at the dry cleaners, and come home to finish packing, and maybe clean so they arrive to a nice clean home.

Angela is looking forward to the "excitement" of the airport and hopefully getting on the plane. Then she will know what everyone has been talking about all these years, and will definitely feel like one of the "Traveling Rousseaus"!

It's 8:00 now, and Angela is going to wake Guillaume and they will hit the road.

The next blog post just might be from France!

Maman & Papa Rousseau, a demain! (Et, Claudia, je suis desole que le vol arrive tres tres debut dans le matin! Mais, plus de temps ensemble! Je suis tres, tres heureux.)

A+

The final countdown...

Let the packing begin!

It is Monday afternoon, and Angela & Guillaume have 4 1/2 short days remaining until they take to the skies and wing their way to France!

They are so excited to spend time with family and friends, it's all they have been talking about.

Angela has hung most of the clothes that she is planning on taking with her. Now all she has to do is try everything on to make sure she likes them all, and put them in one of the suitcases. They want to make sure they bring all the right coats, shoes, belts and bags, so they are taking 2 suitcases. One might not be completely full, for all the food they are planning on bringing back to Boston (but Angela doesn't want to think about the return to Boston) (but she does like to think about the food).

Guillaume is very busy at work this week, working most lunches and all dinner. Angela is sad she won't see him until Saturday morning, when they will bring their sweet Petit Robert to Aunt Vas & Uncle Sal's for his own little vacation. They think he will enjoy the visit, and Aunt Vas has babysat a betta fish before, too!

Angela est tres heureux de voir (et de rencontrer!) toute la famille en France (mais, elle est triest parce que Cyrielle est encore loin...). Guillaume attend avec impatience, aussi!!

A tout a l'heure!
Gros bisous toute le monde!

Un autre restaurant, sans photos...

Angela and Guillaume had a night off of work together again, on Wednesday! They had planned to go to a restaurant called Brasserie Jo. Angela had been there for a work dinner or two, and didn't remember too much about it. So she wasn't sure if they should go there or not.

Eventually (at the very last minute), they decided to go to a new French restaurant on Newbury Street, called La Voile. When Angela called on Wednesday afternoon for a reservation, the first table she was able to get was at 9:00 p.m. She thought it was a good sign that they were so busy on a Wednesday night!

La Voile opened in Boston in November, and has been very successful so far. The restaurant moved from Cannes, France (where it was called La Voile au Vent) to Boston (where they lost au Vent!), and they brought with them much of the staff (waiters, cooks, etc.).

When Angela arrived at home from work on Wednesday evening, she was happy to see that her new shoes had arrived. Since she likes to take her camera when they go to dinner, the camera was on the kitchen island, ready to go, so she took a picture of her new shoe.






Guillaume always carries the camera when they go out, so Angela thought that he put it in his pocket when they left. He didn't. There are no pictures of the food at La Voile.

For a starter, they each had a type of foie gras. Angela had 3 kinds: a terrine, a brulee, and seared!

This picture Angela borrowed from another website of the dinner that she had - blanquette de veau. It was served in this pot, and on the side, another tiny cast-iron pot with rice.

Guillaume had a leg of lamb that was delicious as well.

They decided to forgo dessert this time, and have cheese instead. It was delicious, of course. They each had an espresso (with Illy coffee!), and left La Voile very happy.

They were busy on Thursday, Guillaume had to go to work for lunch, and Angela had her treatment. But at 5:30 p.m., when Angela had been home for an hour, Guillaume called and said he was coming home. Angela was so happy to have him home!

Petit Robert is very happy in his home (they think, although he doesn't speak much). Today Guillaume will give him a treat of worms. (Angela doesn't touch the worms.)

16 days to France! Hooray!

Happy Birthday Cyrielle!