Une lune de miel avec nous!

This October Gen, Andrew and their good friend Gord came to visit us. They started their holiday in Paris before coming to Arras. With grand adventures in mind Andre rented a car, brought everyone to see the Vimy Memorial before heading out to Normandy. 

We started our road trip with a night in Honfleur. We had a wonderful time, Honfleur is such a beautiful harbour village, and this trip only upstaged our last visit on a count of the food! We had a wonderful morning walking around the harbour, eating French pastries for breakfast before stopping in at a few Calvados boutiques for some early morning samples. 

The Calvados sampling continued into the afternoon as we went to the Château du Breuil distillery. After walking around the grounds we stopped in at the local butcher to get some delicious homemade terrine and other picnic necessities. 

Our final destination was Mont-Saint-Michel. We stayed in a beautiful château, Gord’s amazing find, and upon arriving we were promptly told by the propriétaire, the Count, that that night was THE night to go to Mont-Saint-Michel. So we headed out to see the galloping horse tide that was to come in at the same time as the sun set. 

Not before stopping for foie gras and some stone milled flour from the moulin of course.

The next morning after breakfast in the dinning hall we walked around the château grounds to meet Jacques and Etienne. 

 

Back on the road to Arras we made a final stop in Étretat to see the famous cliff formations...

Sur le pont d'Avignon l'on y danse, l'on y danse...

After a rainy Northern French summer we decided to go to the Provence region in search of the sun. Arriving late at night in Avignon and staying near the train station we had a full day the next morning and set out in our rental car. We went to Châteauneuf du Pape to sample the renowned wine of the Cotes de Rhone region and see the crumbling chateau.

In the afternoon we had a picnic at the Pont du Gard; an amazing architectural feat from Roman times that brought fresh water to the city of Nimes at a constant decline of 2.5cm.  The rest of our afternoon was spent lounging by the pool at the hotel before going to the small artisanal town of Saint Rémy. 

The next day we woke up early to go to Les Baux de Provence.  The old walled city and the castle ruins are located high on the rocky outcroppings of the Alpilles Mountains. The castle ruins are now somewhat like an open-air museum, but with an amazing view. 

Giving the Crossbow a go at the chateau of Les Baux de Provence

That afternoon we went olive oil tasting at Castalas, an olive tree farm and mill. 

We ended our day at the beach along the Mediterranean. This beach was like no other Mediterranean beach; we had to drive half an hour through flat Camargue marshlands before arriving at this sprawling sandy coastline filled with tent and cabin trailers.

The next morning we went to the Saint Rémy market before going to see the famous Pont d’Avignon concluding our summer vacay in Provence.

Oh Canada!

Don't forget Marley!!

Well it has been a very very long time since I wrote a blog post. We did in fact go back to Canada this summer. We took two weeks off to spend with family and friends, and of course to celebrate Andre’s sister’s wedding! We had a wonderful time, it was so good to be back, and our friends and family certainly showed us what were missing!!

We went to Arden for the 100th anniversary....

Team Andre and Christi, we lost as I'm sure you can tell from my awkward throw pictured below....

And then came their big day!!

Getting the Salon ready for the Wedding Party

 And the big moment...

After the wedding rush we snuck off to Kenebeck....

BISOUS!!