N.O.L.A.

Jack and I spent 10 days at the beginning of March (a little late on the post) in New Orleans visiting family, experiencing Mardis Gras & witnessing Kemily get hitched. If I had to describe the trip in one word it would be exhausting, but I wouldn't have changed a thing about it. Jack's oldest brother, Ross, and his awesome family put up with us for the first 6 nights and they were incredibly hospitable and wonderful guides to New Orleans. We had a great time going to some of the more popular parades, as well as some of the unique ones during Mardis Gras.

Meet the New Orleans Louis Gang....

Jenny

Sweet Isabelle (one of the twins)

Arden (one of the twins)

Ross

Gabriel (oldest brother and grandchild in the Louis Gang)

Aunt Leigh and the kids

 Isabelle is writing on one of Candy Chang's many art installations throughout the city.

 Can you guess which Louis wrote each one??? If I could go back and change mine, I would for sure. I folded under the pressure to write something life changing, sentimental, funny, etc. 

 Fat Tuesday! Jack and I re-used our Christmas card costume and dressed as Frenchies. Not sure about Jack's face here. Lovin' the staches.

 Ross & Jenny's family dressed as a Les Miles Charter School for kids who don't speak good. 

Ross & Jenny's family always dresses in theme attire and have a competition each year with the family on the left. I think we all agreed that the family on the left took home the trophy this year. You may not be able to see it, but the parents are dressed as corn, the two oldest children as potatoes and the youngest is a crawfish.....so, a crawfish boil! You should have seen how many people stopped to take pictures of them.

 Elizabeth, Mary Catherine & Emily (bride)

One of the main reasons that brought us to New Orleans was to be a part of Kent and Emily's wedding. It was an AWESOME wedding and I wish I had more pictures. This one is from the bridesmaid luncheon at Commander's Palace....yummy.

 Pammy and the Bear came in town for the wedding. So, we stayed over an extra day on Sunday to spend more one on one time with them. We were also able to see Mr. and Mrs. Louis on Wednesday and Thursday. I unfortunately do not have any pictures from our time with them, which is unfortunate because we did some really fun things - softball, bike ride, beignet's from Cafe du Monde and a couple of nice, big family meals. Next time I will be sure to take my camera with me everywhere to document every last second of our trips.

 Also, on Sunday we were able to spend a couple of hours with Jack's sister, Kate, and her family. We went to a park and got ice cream before they headed to the beach for Spring Break.

Ella, Brent, Alice & Uncle Jack

We had an amazing time in New Orleans and were able to see tons of family and friends. Thank you to everyone that hosted us while we were there and came in town to see us! We loved every second of it.

Finally, congratulations to Kent and Emily. One of the best weddings ever. 

Czech it out!

Leigh and I went on our first trip in Europe outside of France just before Valentine's Day. The criteria for the trip was that it had to be a city that we didn't mind seeing when it was so cold. That narrowed the search down to Eastern Europe for the most part, and we decided on Prague in the Czech Republic. Leigh had been there while she traveled through Europe in college, but I had never been.

On the banks of the Vlatava River next to the Charles Bridge

We rented a little apartment for three nights just off the Old Town Square. It was a really relaxing trip. We didn't have any set agenda and instead just enjoyed going on long walks and getting lost in Prague's winding and almost thousand year old streets. I was shocked at how beautiful of a city it was. Everyone told me how old Prague was before I visited, but seeing it firsthand was really cool. The city saw almost no destruction from either of the World Wars and therefore appears to not have changed since the 1200's. I keep telling people that it looks like a Disney movie set. Paris is an old city, but you can see buildings that have been built in the last hundred years here. I don't think I saw but a handful in Prague. The fact that the Czech Koruna (CZK) is 24CZK to 1 Euro helped us enjoy a little more than if we had gone to another city.

First dinner was a street vendor that Anthony Bourdain visited on his travel show.

Incredible sausages and really cheep beer.

Our first full day we went on a bike tour. It was a good ride and orientation to all the major sites, but it was cold. Paris had warmed up to 50 degrees when we left, and Prague was a frigid 25.

While on the tour, we rode by the Lennon Wall. A wall in the city that became an impromptu graffiti memorial to John Lennon after his death. The art, and quotes weren't well received the communist government and it created quite a bit of controversy. Today it changes regularly and is full of several different Beatles inspired art.

We saw several David Cerny statues across the city as well. He is a really interesting sculptor. The peeing man fountain below is an interactive statue. The hips swivel, and if you send a text message to a hotline, the statues will begin to write your message in the water. The hanging man is supposed to be Sigmund Freud displaying "the human condition to to consciously make the decision to live life or to let go." Go figure. Click each picture to see a larger version.

The food in Prague was really fun at first (at least for me). Lots of sausage, pork, and beer. By the end of it we were ready to have some more veggies though. We did have a great Czech meal one night in a famous beer hall.

Smoked Old Prague Ham

One afternoon we walked through one of their markets. Leigh bought a Christmas ornament. She has decided to start a collection from all of our travels.

One of the highlights was walking from our apartment in Old Town across the river into New Town and the Prague Castle. We walked across the famous Charles Bridge that was built in the 1300's and is decorated with several statues of Saints and other popular religious figures.

Street musician on Charles Bridge

Beautiful stained glass inside St. Vitus Cathedral inside the Castle walls. The original cathedral was built in the 900's.

Click to see the glass zoomed in, it's very impressive.

Leigh with the Prague Castle in the background

View from the Castle back towards Old Town

My niece Ella had sent us Flat Stanley to take along on our trip. Unfortunately it didn't arrive in time and the only thing we could color a print-off with was highlighters. Here is Leigh and I with Flat Stanley in Prague's Old Town Square.

HOME SWEET HOME

We haven't posted in several weeks for one important reason, I have been stateside for the last 3 weeks. I was told that I would need to head back to Atlanta to go to the French Consulate there to apply/pickup my work visa. It is NOT easy to get the visa that I have and I am so thankful to have one. I am now legally able to work/live in Paris.

Anyways, I did make the most of my trip home and spent lots of time with family and friends. Thought I would just list off some of the shenanigans that went on while visiting in ATL/The Ham.

• Pammy and I went over to spend some one on one time with baby Caroline Brown Middleton and she is adorable! Oh yeah....and it was nice to see Will and Blaire, her proud parents. 
• Had a girls night with Whitney, Melissa and a few of their Birmingham friends.
• Shopped with Pammy in ATL during one of our many trips to the city over my 3 week stay.
• Went to one of my favorite Birmingham restaurants, La Paz, with Melissa. We had a great time!
• Visited my Aunts and Godmother in Muscle Shoals. Loved seeing them since we weren't able to come home for Christmas. Can't beat Muscle Shoals BBQ. 
• Dinner and bowling with my cousin Joey and his family and my bros. I got 3rd place both rounds - not terrible. 
• Hiked in Oak Mountain State Park with Pammy and the Bear.
• Caught up on reality TV, HGTV and several other shows that I have not been able to see while in Paris.
• One of my last nights, was spent with the entire family at the absolute best restaurant in Birmingham - Highland's Bar and Grill. 
• Had an awesome GNO with friends from High School and college in ATL. Who knew a Monday night could be that much fun?!
• Met Alice's new boyfriend, Chris. Two thumbs up!
• Hung out with another newlywed couple one night in their cute new casa - Allison and Ben.
• Visited Mary Byrne in Carrollton and took the 15 minute tour - it was great!

Anyways, as you can see, I had a great time while I was home. The only downside of this trip was that I didn't have Jack by my side to share all of these great times with. I had no idea how hard it would be to spend 3 weeks away from my husband. I am now back in Paris with Jack and couldn't be happier to be spending time with my hubby in one of the greatest cities in the world.

COURCHEVEL, FRANCE

Last week the owners of Fat Tire Bike Tours, David & Kelly, treated all of the European managers and spouses to a wonderful excursion in the French Alps. We stayed in Courchevel and were able to ski three full days. It was an AMAZING trip and Jack is already trying to find out how we can go back again soon. We had perfect weather and were with a wonderful group of people. 

I'm almost as white as the snow

Courchevel has three valleys. We stayed in the portion of town called Courchevel 1650 (named after it's altitude). The area was used to accommodate several of the Olympic competitors from the 1992 winter games in Albertville, France. On our way up the mountain to our apartment, we drove right past the ski jumping stadium that was used.

Making my way down...slow and steady wins the race

I have been skiing probably half a dozen times in Colorado, and Jack only twice, but it's been six years since either of us had been on the slopes. To help us ease back into it, we both went to ski school for a few hours on the first day. Neither of us impressed our instructor. He quickly told Jack that he was the worst in the group, and that I simply couldn't ski the right way. Luckily, we are both pretty athletic and improved from our initial evaluations quickly, especially Jack. By the end of the week Jack had moved on from the easy green slopes to the steep reds with the rest of the veterans in our group. I didn't go with him on any of the advanced runs, but everyone said he did great.

Jack on the gondola on the way up. Our lodging was at the base of the slopes just feet from the lift. So great!

With the Robinsons

Graham, David (London Manager), Jack, & David (Jack's boss) - (L to R)

 Liam (left) & David (right) - London managers

Grabbing a drink at a local pub with Amanda and a few others. 

Graham (right) & Weston (left)

Leigh with David & Kelly's daughter, Caroline

Every night we would take turns making dinner. Everyone's favorite was when we got to use the Raclette. You take a wheel of cheese and melt it with this lamp. You spread the melted cheese over a plate of mixed cured meats, boiled potatoes, and grilled veggies. It's the most hearty meal you can imagine and is perfect after a long day in the snow.

We've been dying to travel since we moved here in October, and couldn't have asked for a better first trip. We already have Valentine's Day circled for our next adventure. I can't wait!