Back in the USA

By the title of this post, I'm sure you can tell, we've made it back safely from Paris. I did not blog the last few days, because I was trying to spend every waking and dreaming moment, memorizing my surroundings. I know Scott and I say this every year, but I feel after four trips, we have totally "done" Paris, and maybe in a few years when things settle down with my husband's job, we will go to Italy. That's what he's decided anyway.

By no means am I leaving Paris behind. She goes with me where-ever I go, as the wallpaper of my mind. I have so much more to say about it, and funny incidents that have happened over the years. The story is no longer in chronological order...I will just give you short, little vignettes, of experiences we've had that stay with us, that we reminisce about over and over again.

I will say from experience, the best things in Paris, and maybe in life, happen quite by accident. We would be going in one direction, change for no real reason, and around the next corner, would be "something" just for us. It happened over and over, especially on this trip.

We've also learned, as we always suspected, the best things in Paris are FREE, or can be had for under 10 euro. We spent less money on this trip on our day to day activities, than any other year. We never stepped foot in a museum this year, not even once! Sweet Mona was on her own.

The VIDEOS... I have to say, this trip will be remembered for my new Flip video camera. It was a blast to have, and took only seconds to pull out of my purse and start taping. Occasionally, I will include a short video, if the story warrants. Scott was totally in charge of our digital camera, and from a quick scan last night, he did a fabulous job, and we got some priceless pictures.

I'm off to do a little more catch-up with my life in Florida. Two weeks was a long time to be gone, and we probably won't stay gone that long again, until all our children have left the nest.

Oh... I promised to give you my post Paris weight. Hopefully you remember the post where I gave you my weight the day before we left for our trip (117). I told you I would eat and live like a Parisian, and see if I gained or lost...

First let me say, I did NOT eat like a Parisian. I ate like a PIG. Two things Scott and I discovered on this trip were the eggs, and the butter. The yolks of the eggs were almost orange, and the taste was out of this world. The butter...can't even describe it, other than to say, smooth, creamy, and FULL of flavor. I know Parisian women don't eat breakfast, but I was knocking back eggs, ham, french bread toast with butter, and triangles of brie, like there was no tomorrow. Scott cooked this meal for breakfast, and sometimes dinner in our tiny apartment kitchen. I also ate croissants and/or pain du chocolate daily, and sampled their local "grape" juice whenever I wanted....I also ate baguettes with abandon, and their pasta... need I go on?

In other words, I ate and ate and ate, way more than I usually do. French women do not eat like this...I watched them...heck, I don't even eat like this, normally.

This morning....drumroll...I weighed a whopping 116!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That just goes to show, walking everywhere, all day, everyday, DOES make a difference. I was sure I had gained, but as you can see, I stayed basically the same. Now I will go back to my previous eating habits. There is no way to walk anywhere in the heat here in FL until November. Why you ask???? I do not like to sweat, and find it very unladylike!

More to come once I download our pics.

It does feel good to be home... but I would go back and stay if I could move my life there...

Teri

P.S. The pic at the top was taken when mailing the postcards from my Blog Giveaway.