Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Are Your Bags Packed?

Today's Wonder of the World is... A Halloween Blog Party!

Given by my friend Angela at Just Go!
Our party theme is What A Strange Trip It's Been, which is perfect for me!
I LOVE STRANGE TRIPS!

My favorite Strange Trip of all time would have to be...you guessed it!
My trips all over France!
I know I'm cheating a little to lump them all together, but humor me. After four years of living la belle vie, I couldn't pick just one! Why, it'd tie my brain up in a tangled mess! I'd not be fit to go anywhere, and this is a traveling party!

And as for the trip being strange, I've got three kids, remember? Every trip is a strange one!

Are you ready to go back in time? Passport in hand?
As Angela would say, Let's Just Go!


Uh oh. I forgot about the guard.

Here, I'll call my jester to let you pass.

That jester loves company. And so do I!
Welcome to my home!

Before we get traveling, let me show you around.
We live in a little village, but we spend lots of time in nearby Clermont Ferrand.


It's about a three and a half hour train ride south of Paris. We're in the heartland of France!

Feel free to pick a sunflower, but watch out for bees!
I know you may be jet lagged but are you ready to do some sightseeing?

Perhaps we should take provisions.
I know! Cherries from our tree!

Put them in a bowl. Or heck--just use your ears!
(Ignore the ironing board, please. I had no idea visitors would be dropping in!)

Now, how will we travel?
Why don't we start with a walk?


Or we could hop on a train.


Or take the car.

Oh sorry! I forgot to tell you...we don't have air conditioning. That's okay. Just roll down the windows.

With all the places we're visiting, we'll also need a ferry. Hold on tight! It's windy!

What should we see first?

An organ grinder in Paris?


The lavender fields of Provence?


Mont St. Michel, with Joan of Arc?


Monet's garden at Giverny? Look, the little ones have multiplied!


Corsica, in all its wildness?


Or maybe Cassis, one of my favorite towns.

Whew! I'm tired.
Before we go home, we must eat! It's France, after all!

Don't worry. He'll sleep through the meal. I'll order for us--my favorites!

Salade de chevre chaud. (Sorry, French accent police. Blogger won't let me add my accents.)

We must have dessert!

Creme brulee. (Yes, I know. Again I'm missing accents. I feel so naked!)

Ah, that was nice.
Are you ready to go home?
Do you know the way?


It's right past the flower market...


Thank goodness it's downhill all the way!


Look!

We're back! Safe and sound!
Thank you so much for coming!
Have a safe journey home. And mind the goats on the road!

They must have followed us back from Corsica.

I hope you'll feel free to drop in any time.
We can relive French memories...


Or make new ones here in sunny South Carolina!

My bloggy door is always open!

Have a Wonder-full Wednesday, y'all!
Love, Becky

29 comments:

Unknown said...

What a fun trip down memory lane. You're so fortunate to have such amazing memories! That was fun. I want to go again, LOL! ;)

Karen Kirkpatrick said...

What a fun trip! I loved the lavender photo. Where are you taking us next?

Felicity said...

Ah, what a great trip! Thanks!

Suzie said...

I got confused. I thought you didnt live in France

Linda Summerfield said...

I love a trip that includes creme brulee.

Kat said...

Wow! What fabulous memories you've made. :)

Rosemary said...

Thanks for the great trip Becky!
Great photos!!!
Rosemary

Susan said...

Thanks for a peek into a past life.
Hugs. Susan

Unknown said...

I loved the lavender fields of Provence.

Liz Harrell said...

That's it. I'm moving. :)

Unknown said...

Ah, I love these photos! There's so much history over there - I'd love to go someday! Thanks for sharing :)

Rosa said...

Thanks for the mini holiday! I really enjoyed it! (Doesn't look as if it was much of a nightmare...)

Angela K. Nickerson said...

Merci! What a fun trip with great photos. Thanks for participating in Blogapalooza!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm...that's a great trip~

Adrienne said...

What delightful photos. I love those fields of sunflowers.
Now I really want a creme brulee!

sruble said...

Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing!

David Ebright said...

I wouldn't want to mess with that armed guard - YIKES!

When ya gonna post a pic of your neighbor??? You know the one that wagged her finger atcha & referred to certain kids as savages 'cause they like to run barefoot. Hmmmm???

Great pics - Did the sunflowers have salted seeds in 'em?

the Amateur Book Blogger said...

Wow - a yummy goat's cheese salad, creme brulee, it's tea time here, can you tell? Did you ever go to that place that does chocolate covered prunes? what was it called now...was it Villeneuve? A culinary treat!

My favourite was your corsican donkey though, wonder if he had an accent?

Anonymous said...

Fun trip!

Kelly Polark said...

Gorgeous pictures! That was a great journey through France!
And mmmmmmmmmmmm....I LOVE creme brulee!

May Vanderbilt said...

Do you think someday, maybe after the kids are all in college and beyond, that you'll return to your beloved France for a second adventure?

You seem so connected to it!

Thanks for taking me down memory lane with you.

Julianne Douglas said...

Hey Rebecca, I know I've visited you here before, probably through Nathan B's blog. I remember asking if the water tower was in SC--we just saw it this summer when we visited my sister in Greenville. I see now on your bio that you do live in Greer, so the water tower in your photo must be the same one we saw.

I love the way you do your blog posts! I really need to get a copy of your book.

Sara Cox Landolt said...

I'm hungry now for creme brulee. Yum Yum Yum. I went to France as a child and would love to go back.
Thanks for the tour!

Alexandra MacVean said...

You are absolutely alot of fun! What a fun and exciting trip!

Unknown said...

Love all the pix! I'm a complete Francophile and am jealous that you had four years there. I took the kids to Paris for two weeks this summer and it was heaven. (You can see my Giverny photos over at my blog).

I like the first photo best.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

It's so nice of you all to stop by!

To answer your questions...
Jaxpop, I will post pictures of my neighbor...NEVER. Sorry, but I think I did enough to expose her to the world in all her glory without sharing her real name or her real face! She became part of my family, bless her good hearted grumpy self, and I want to preserve a little privacy for her.
Plus she would kill me.

Actually she probably wouldn't! She might even like it!
But...no.

Amateur book blogger, no, I can't say I've ever had chocolate covered prunes. I think I'd remember that! But the French would make them delicious, bien sur!
(ACK! This lack of accents is making me terribly self conscious!)

May, I definitely want to go back to France! And it's very likely we will at some point.
I'd also like to go to Asia. And Australia! Michelin is almost everywhere, so who knows!

David Ebright said...

Actually - you did such a great job of describing your neighbor that I can picture her just fine.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Thanks, Jaxpop!

LW said...

Love that donkey...

Louise