France

switzerland to france...

did i ever explain why paul and i headed off to europe?

well, paul was invited to hike the three tallest peaks in the u.k.

with friends, all of whom live in europe.

i just tagged along, because i could :)

the three peaks are:

mt. snowdon in wales, scafell in england, and ben nevis in scotland

but first, we drove from geneva through france to calais.

paul and paul o.

along the way, we visited castles (my favorite), many world war cemeteries (paul's favorite)

and little french villages (we both love those).

we stopped at this sweet little french village 

and walked around the morning market.

this beautiful cemetery was surrounded by the most magnificent field of red poppies

and other bright, bright wildflowers.  i wanted to run through it with my arms wide

and drown in the color and scent.

a german cemetery.  sobering.

we happened upon this gorgeous restaurant along our backroad french countryside wanderings

and stopped on impulse to eat.  we ended up sitting on the porch enjoying

the lunch of all french lunches for two hours.  to end with a cheese tray like this was 

the stuff of dreams.

 two days of meandering and we arrived in calais. 

it felt wonderful to be by the sea again!!

france is my birth country and so i have quite a fascination with

all things french.  i have yet to revisit the village i was born in, i guess i will 

just have to come back another time :)

au revoir.