A Family Visit and Big Fall Energy

Would you take a one-year old to Paris?

I’m writing now (Wednesday) just a few hours out from my brother, sister-in-law, and 11 month old niece heading home after 10 days here in France with us. I’m not relishing our regained silence and calm as much as I thought I would after having visitors share our 64 sqm apartment for a week, and quite frankly I’m sad. Having them here just ground in the reality of them not being here all the time. I have a lot of moments when I question what the fuck we were thinking moving away from our family and friends, and this is one of those moments. I guess consider this a reminder that moving to another country, especially one as romanticized as France, always comes with a few significant trade offs. This is by far the biggest one for me.

First family photo in Paris!

Our/their trip was so, so good. I think I can safely say we all had a wonderful time. It went better than I thought it would having a baby and 4 adults together in close quarters for an extended time, in a new place for some, and the general stress that inevitably comes with travel. On top of that, we also managed a long list of food allergies in a place that doesn’t do a ton of dish modifications. We were kindly accommodated everywhere we went, and my brother can’t get over how great the French are.

We started our trip with a few days in Paris.

Clockwise from top left: Family photo at the Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens. A snapshot of the Paris Catacombs. Me and Justin with Ev at her first, but not last, Paris brasserie. The Louvre at sunset and after a rain shower, Josh and Ev in the right foreground.

I’m going to have a longer article for this on my other substack soon (I’ll explain later), but the baby was an absolute champ. We went to churches, the Catacombs, which are underground in case you didn’t know, on a 3 hour walking tour of the Latin Quarter, multiple lunches and dinners in Parisian restaurants/bistrots, walked all over central Paris, and took the Metro. She was very tolerant of all our shenanigans.

Then we went to Versailles…

Clockwise from top left: a crowded Hall of Mirrors. A little queen and her castle grounds. Part of the gardens. A brief sunny moment with most of the château in the background.

We took a day trip to Annecy, a town in the Alps.

Annecy is a small-ish mountain town with a massive lake and tons of canals. Here you see the Pont des Amours (Lover's Bridge) and a few shots of the medieval Old Town with its canals.

And of course we spent several days playing in Lyon.

We had some killer food while they were in town, saw a bunch of Roman ruins, and visited some really old churches here. We spent some time on playgrounds and having drinks on sunny days in big squares and dinners at home.

We’re going to have to figure out how to do this more often.

Automne has come in with a bang.

Fall has made its presence known here for a few weeks, which is no problem for me because it’s my favorite time of year. But it was sudden and caught me off guard. While there have certainly been some warm-tinged fall days with a nice breeze, those are becoming less frequent. The days went from 9PM sunsets in mid-August to 7PM sunsets by the end of September. The heat and sun of August made an abrupt transition to rainier weather and chilly temps about halfway into September. As you can see from the photos above, it’s cool enough for sweaters and jackets. Therefore, it’s soup season, y’all, and I’m making my first french onion soup tonight. I’m so ready for all the wine events that come with October, tons of apple-based desserts, and I’m ready to tuck into a fondue and more tartiflette (we had this in Annecy, omg). There’s also La Vogue des Marrons that has set up in our neighborhood for the next month with the sole purpose of celebrating the season’s first chestnuts...which I did not know happened in October, but we’re going to the fair to ride some of the rides and eat crêpes.

Now, we just need to get out for some hikes and bikes around the region before all the leaves turn and fall, and before fall gives way to ski season.