Picture-Palooza

I'm totally behind on posting and pictures, so I better get caught up before we leave for Houston tomorrow! 


Paris is even more fun with visitors!


A few weeks ago Jonathan and Lane came for a visit.  We had so much fun with them!  They only had about 4-5 days, so we had to put our Paris Party Pants on and squeeze in as much fun as possible.  Somehow I forgot to take pictures of said fun, and mostly just posed for couple pictures in front of monuments.  Ugh.  Oh well, memories!


The first full day you get here is always a bit iffy because you're not totally over your jet lag.  Jonathan had been in Scotland for work prior to their time in Paris, so he was good with France-time.  Lane needed a few more zzzzz's, so the guys and I went on an adventure to our cave.  


The cave (pronounced kov) is the storage area beneath our building.  It's over a hundred years and majorly creepy. 

Once Lane was up and at 'em, we were off to see the sights in The City of Lights!

Twin walkers

Alright already with the couple photo opps, right?  Tough, there's more :)

We visited Notre Dame and went inside for the first time.  It's so beautiful!  It is unbelievable that they were able to build something like that hundreds of years ago.

Umm what the heck is going on here.  It would appear that I am very giggly because I'm groping Jonathan's leg in the subway.  I can assure you I am not.

This week we hung out with Carrie's stepmom, Shirley, and her friend, Brenda, while they were in town vacationing.  We had two super fab meals with them, as well as good convo and lots of laughs.  We were so glad the timing worked out and they were in town before we left for our visit home!

Okay, who's visiting us next??


Morning bakery tour?  Don't mind if I do.


For my birthday Julie booked a boulangerie and patisserie tour for the two of us to see how they make the famous French baguettes and delicious pastries.  


Baguette+friendly French baker+fun with Julie+pain au chocolat = a great way to start the day off right!

The birth of the baguette.

Julie getting her bake on.

Into the oven, where the magic happens.

Oh yeah, love the final product!

The place was so filled with goodness that things started coming up through secret doors in the floor.

So, we had to check it out, naturally.

Carrie - your favorite, the almond croissant, in the making.

I've always wondered what they put on the pastries to make them look all shiny and gooey...

I'm guessing it's this healthy stuff.

I think I should do tours like this more often.  Seeing how things are made deters me from wanting to eat them everyday.  Only sort of though.


You'll be pleased to know that all I purchased was a pain au chocolat for Kyle.  I think this whole taking-pictures-of-food-instead-of-eating-it thing is working for me!  


Gotta run.  Gotta pack and get to bed early so we can get up at 5:00 am for our flight to Texas!


Bisous!
Maygan

The Incredible Shrinking Grandma and Tex Mex in Scotland

Berwick-Upon-Tweed

Last week Kyle and I visited my family in Northern England.  They live in a small town on the border of England and Scotland called Berwick-Upon-Tweed.  We had such a great time!


Usually when I visit them it has been building up for months, it takes nearly 12 hours to fly there, it is really expensive, etc.  This time we were able to just pop up for a long weekend since we are so close and because Easy Jet is awesomely cheap.


Now, I don't mean to make my Grandma sound like a sideshow act, but she really is the tiniest, cutest Grandma in the world!  Check her out next to Kyle...

She's pocket sized

Remember the Seinfeld episode with the chick that looked normal in some light, but looked like a  troll when she stepped into "ugly light"?  I think this is my ugly light haha - Grandma looks good though!

Berwick is surrounded by Elizabethan walls built in the 1500's to protect it from invading Scots (the town has changed hands between England and Scotland at least 13 times).  What that means to us is that it is really pretty and a lovely place to visit :)

We had a couple really nice days, so we took a walk around the walls and along the river.

And we stopped into my Aunt Caroline's bakery with my Great Aunt Kathleen.  Caroline has the BEST homemade soups and pastries.

Edinburgh

Later that same day we went up to Edinburgh, Scotland with Caroline to get the finest Tex Mex Scotland has to offer (and to see Edinburgh again).  Caroline, my uncle and cousins lived in Houston for several years and miss the Mexican food, of course.  They have done their research and assured us it was the best around.  

We took a walk through the gardens and up some trails to the base of Edinburgh Castle.

It was no Chuy's, but it was pretty dang good!  At least we got our fix to hold us over until we get to Houston.

York

The next day we visited York with my cousin, Ricardo.  York is a really nice town south of Berwick where York Minster is.  It's a bit more lively than sleepy Berwick.

Annnnd Back to Berwick

Our last day in the UK we were back in Berwick.  We had lunch with Grandma, Kathleen and Ricardo and then walked the walls.  This time we walked in more typical Northern England weather.

Cheeky Brits!

I thought this door was really picturesque...

...so I took a picture with it.

Check out all the action on the High Street on Saturday evening...  Crazy, right?!

Heading to the airport to go back to Paris.

Special shout-out to Julie for watching Buckster while we were away!  He told me he had a blast with you!


Completely Unrelated


It looks like there may be an arsonist in our neighborhood.  I wonder if the police need my assistance to catch them like I did with the gypsy thieves? (sorry for the small iPhone pics)

Bisous!

Maygan