Au Revior!

Today we leave France and head to Chicago for the week!  It is very bittersweet, as I really have enjoyed our time here.

Things I love and will miss  about France:
*The beauty of the buildings and landscape
*The kids' school
*Walking a mile to school with the kids and chatting with the other kids and moms
*The delicious food! Baguettes and butter!
*The markets
*Walking
*Fewer committments. Curtis had dinner every day with us and on weekends played catch with the boys. These things don't happen in Inola, sad but true.
*Public transportation
*The healthy lifestyle
*The parks and running trails
*My kids learning French
*Adventure
*Diversity. We met nice people from every walk of life, every color, nation and belief. I love for the kids to learn that even if we don't agree on everything, look alike or even have the same native tongue, we can still be friends.
*Wide definitions of beauty and body acceptance (plastic surgery isn't even a thing here)
*Watching Memaw and Aunt Laura enjoy France
*Mild weather

A few things I look forward to:
*Sleeping in my own bed
*My gym(s). Don't judge me. I ate a lot of bread here.
*My people
*More space
*Dryers
*Toilets and toilet seats. If youre lucky enough to find a western toilet, odds are there won't be a toilet seat
*English
*Having a car
*Chicago
*Relieving my housesitters and all those helping with my home and dogs. I owe you guys.
*The lake
*Fewer people walking around crowded streets with lit cigarettes inches from my kids' faces. Everyone smokes in France.
*The return of my guitar, Summer. Curtis wanted to bring all the luggage down and told me to go wait on the taxi with the kids, so I did and said "Please don't forget my guitar." My guitar remains in Toulouse. I'm being moderately cool about it. Until her hopeful return I will play my electric, Jimmy.
*Traveling again :)

What I have learned:
*We really enjoyed time with just the 5 of us. We have so little of it at home.
*My Spanish is better than I thought, as the French often  knew Spanish and not English (we are 2 hours from Spain in Toulouse) and often times we were able to get through simple conversations together in Español.
*We adapt quickly to change
*I pinpointed some things I want to be different at home
*It is hard ans sometimes scary to not speak the language. I like my kids to know how hard it is for the new guy in town and pray this experience taught them what it is like to walk a mile in someone else's ill-fittingshoes.
P.s. it is normal to bring butter on an airplane in your purse, right?