France

Emily was very excited for our trip to France. She did great with the plane ride and with the jet lag. Food, however, was another matter. I think that she actually lost weight on the trip, barely surviving on not much more than bread & butter and chocolate croissants. Even that became a challenge because there were times when the butter "didn't taste right." And, towards the end of the trip, she was even getting sick of chocolate croissants. Imagine.

Bonjour!

Food issues aside, she seems to have loved the experience. Of course, her preferred activities all involved the water. Fortunately, there were a number of these. After a few days in Paris, we traveled to L'Isle sur la Sorgue - a small town where we rented a lovely house with a beautiful backyard that included a pool and backed up to a small river with the clearest water that I have ever seen. There were constantly ducks floating by, ready to eat bread any time we were ready to provide it. We also took two short trips to Vacluse, which had the same beautiful, clear water. Besides just enjoying the views, we also took a kayak trip down the river, which I think that Emily really liked.

Relaxing in Vacluse

From there, we moved on to Aix-en-Provence - no water, so not Emily's favorite part of the trip, but it did have good markets where she was amenable to the fresh strawberries and cherries. After Aix, we went to Cassis and Emily was back in her element. We spent two days swimming in the Mediterranean and Emily was in heaven. Besides just being on the shore and enjoying the waves, we took a boat ride that provided some great views of the coast and culminated in some time to swim off the boat in incredibly clear, deep water. We were able to see little fish swimming beneath us and the salt in the water improved our buoyancy so it wasn't overly tiring.

Sisters!

From Cassis, we traveled to Annecy in the Alps. Again, more clean, clear water for swimming - yay! Emily was perfectly content to swim in the lake there and had a great time playing with a French girl her age. The girl chattered at her in French and Emily just faked it by randomly saying, "Oui" and "No." The girl caught on, though, and had a conversation with Chad in which she told him, "I can tell that she doesn't understand French, but I can tell that she and I have the same heart." Love this!

Exploring Roman Ruins

Beyond all the water activities, Emily did a ton of walking as we toured pretty much anything we could. She was a good sport about all of it, taking in the Catacombs, Luxembourg Gardens, and a climb up the Eiffel Tower in Paris, hikes in Vacluse and Roussillon, the ampitheater in Arles, and various attractions in Beaune.

Showing Anne around Town

Of course, Emily also thought that it was important for Anne to get out and experience France, so she made the journey with us and Emily took good care of her, making sure to show her the town. Emily also feels that she expanded her French, although I think that she is still just limited to oui, no (which she already knew), bonjour, and merci. LOL.

Being the homebody that she is, I think that Emily was fine with the trip coming to an end. She was so happy to be back in her own bed and in her room with her toys, etc. Upon our return, she just spent the next few days puttering around the house, building with her blocks and legos and having imaginary adventures with her Barbies and her Littlest Pet Shop animals.

Now that we have headed to Minnesota, Emily is looking forward to seeing her cousins and the friends that she made at summer camp last year. While she is comfortable in Minnesota, my guess is that she will again be happy to get back to her own bed, etc. when the time comes!