Postcards from Europe, #8

You may notice that I’m posting the “Postcards from Europe” series frequently….That’s because, so far, I’ve received 14 cartes postales, and I don’t know how many more are on the way. I want to make sure I get them all published before I leave for France myself, soon…

Mademoiselle had planned 3 more trips to Paris (in November) when she wrote this postcard (two days before my birthday in October, haha).

This past weekend, November 20-22, she took her third trip to Paris to celebrate Thanksgiving with two American friends.* She posted a photo of their table on instagram and commented, “Frenchgiving (noun): when three Americans meet in Paris in late November.”

“Bonjour!

This is from my first trip to Paris, haha. We went to the Sacre Coeur, saw the sights, explored small neighborhoods, and had Moroccan food! I hope you have a fantastic birthday week!

Love you lots!

Mademoiselle

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*Mademoiselle in front of La Tour Eiffel:

November 23, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Corn
Ground Beef
Sliced Tomatoes

Movie:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

This isn’t the movie we planned to see on Friday night, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The pizza toppings were my choices this time, and I don’t know why the photo is so dark/shady. I tried to lighten it, but I liked it best in the original. Maybe it turned out this way because it gets dark earlier now.

Speaking of early, all the movies we were interested in seeing were showing at 7:00, so my husband arrived home from work a tad bit early so that we could make it. With it being the Friday before Thanksgiving, traffic was lighter than normal, so we actually had plenty of time. (When did people start traveling for the holiday on the Friday before, though?)

We had planned to see Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks (a friend recommended it, and we knew The Hunger Games would be out longer). But, in anticipation of seeing this movie, we watched Part 1 at home the other night. When we were in line for the tickets, with the ending of that film in my head, I asked my husband if he wanted to pass on Spies and see this instead.

He did.

It was good, and well done. Unless you don’t like that kind of thing, you’ll probably enjoy it, and I’m not a science fiction reader or fan myself. But by the time it was over, I found myself feeling thankful that the trilogy is over. I’ve read the first book only, and do plan to read the other two. I don’t know when, though, because I have a ton of books (and a wide variety of them) on my TBR (to be read) pile on my nightstand (and on goodreads.com)!

And I still want to see Bridge of Spies! Happy Thanksgiving!

November 21, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #7

Over a month ago, Mademoiselle traveled solo by train through Paris and up to Rouen to visit her friend, Darrin. I had asked her never to travel alone in Europe, but she is an adulte, and she made her own decision. All went well, as you can read about below.

Just so you know, “Relay” refers to Relay for Life, the organization that helps raise funds for cancer research, that Mademoiselle and Darrin are/were involved in at UNC. I met him last spring, when my husband and I traveled to Chapel Hill for the event. He’s now a UNC grad, I’m told, and is teaching English in France before doing something else. I’ve never visited Rouen (or, tried to pronounce it), but I know it’s in the north of the country, in or near Normandy. A long way from Montpellier…

But it sounds delightful.

“Bonjour from Rouen!

I went to visit my friend from Relay, Darrin, this weekend and Rouen is so fun! Besides being the hardest city to pronounce ever, we spent the whole day exploring, window shopping, going to the Musée des Beaux Arts, and finding the best places to get crêpes.

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 20, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #6

Mademoiselle loves to read, and she’s a much faster reader than I am. We’ve both read “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and I thought it was cool that she visited the Chateau. I’ve never been to Marseille, but I think I’ve had bouillabaisse. I know I didn’t hike The Calanques, like she did. She put the rare photo of herself there on Instagram, and she looked very contente.

“Bonjour tout le monde!

Voici le Château d’If!

This fortress is only a 10 minute ferry ride off of the coast of Marseille, and it was absolutely spectacular. This was the setting of “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexander Dumas, where the main character is wrongfully imprisioned and escapes from. We spent the rest of the day exploring Marseille, got bouillabaisse for dinner, and explored The Calanques all the next day. I hope you’re having a fantastic fall and I love you so much!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 17, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #5

NOTE: Mademoiselle was in Paris on Friday night, November 13, 2015, but was unharmed and is safe. She had planned to visit Versailles the next day with her friends, but instead the group traveled back to the south of France, and they are safe.

Up until Friday, I had received 12 postcards from her, and I will continue posting the series as planned. Vive la France!

This painting is L’attente (Margot) by Picasso, and is at the Musée Picasso in Barcelona.

Shortly after I received this one, I asked Mademoiselle about her trip to Barcelona, and whether she’d go back, since it’s so close–just a short train ride away. She shrugged (I imagine) and said, probably not; she has more places to see before she comes home in December. When I spent a year in Montpellier, I went to Barcelona three times. I found it fascinating and lovely. Read what she says below; it’s exactly what I and my friends did, too. I felt the same way when I got back “home” to France.

“Barcelona, Spain

Bonjour!

Just got back from our trip to Barcelona! It was beyond fun. We ate tapas, paella, and drank so much sangria. The Museo Picasso was fantastic, we walked along La Rambla, drank coffee, saw the cathedral and the Sagrada Familia, figured out how to navigate the metro, and probably walked close to 20 miles for the entire weekend. Yet, I was enormously happy to be back in France, where at least I can speak the language!

Stay tuned,

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 16, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #4

Carcassonne is not too far from Montpellier, and I do wonder what it looks like now compared to a few decades ago, when I visited it with my group of study-abroad students from UNC. I remember that we had a picnic and did not eat at a restaurant, but we did drink wine. I also recall that my fear of heights kicked in as we toured it.

While Mademoiselle was touring Carcassonne, I was appearing at the Decatur Book Festival. She’s been such a great cheerleader for me this fall, as I go here and there to book signings and festival/writers’ conference panels! Something I never dreamed I’d ever do the day I spent in Carcassonne.

“Bonjour!

On Sunday we visited Carcassonne, a medieval fortress that has been completely restored and maintained in its original state. For lunch we went to this fantastic restaurant where we had cassoulet, a specialty of the Languedoc region, and plenty of wine (of course). After, we toured the castle and the cathedral and visited all of the touristy shops! So glad you had fun at the Decatur Book Festival!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 13, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #3

This carte postale is hands down my favorite one so far. Nîmes is a town right next to Montpellier, and when I was the age of Mademoiselle, my coloc (roommate, and apartment mate) and I visited it one day toward the end of our year in France. However (and don’t tell Mademoiselle this), to get there, we “fait du stop” (hitch-hiked). But that’s another story.

We saw the Arena (L’Arène) too, but we didn’t get to tour it. I’m sure we looked in the guidebook before we went, but we didn’t see as much as Mademoiselle and her friends saw. Wish we had!

“Bonjour!

We went on our first solo trip to Nîmes for the day, “une ville avec un accent,” and saw almost all of the sights on the other side of the card! La Tour Magne, Le Temple de Diane, La Maison Carrée, L’Arène, Le Jardin de la Fontaine, and the Cathédrale St-Castor. Nîmes is a beautiful small town with fantastic Roman architecture (apparently it was the largest city in Gaul/France during the Roman Empire). We did not get to see the Pont du Gard (bottom right) but it was such a fun trip! Hope all is well!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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November 10, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: A Royal Affair

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Anchovies
Poblano Peppers
Spinach

Movie:

A Royal Affair*

*You’ll notice the movie this time wasn’t one currently out in the theaters. That’s because my husband and I had planned to go see The Martian (and still do), but because it was playing at 7:00 – a bit early for us, after going down to the Corner Pizza first – we decided to go home instead, and watch A Royal Affair on Netflix.

I had seen it before, one time when he was out of town, but I love movies about any kind of royalty (and the affair part makes it juicy). Both my husband and I like foreign films, and since our daughter (who’s studying in France) recently visited Copenhagen (and saw the Amalienborg Palace), we thought it would be interesting.

It was.

The movie came out in 2012, and it’s based on a true story. The actress who portrays Caroline Mathilde, Alicia Vikander, starred in Man from Uncle (U.N.C.L.E.) this year, and she did a great job. Turns out, royalty has problems, too.

The pizza we chose was three shades of green (sort of). At my insistance, my husband picked all the toppings, and these are what he chose.

I guess he was in a salty, spicy, and healthy mood.

November 9, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #2

With the exception of Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Carcassonne, France, all of Mademoiselle’s many travel destinations so far have been different from mine when I spent a year abroad in France. Her first excursion was to Collioure.

Mademoiselle and I have similar tastes in art, and she is much more knowledgeable than me about history. And we both adore the beach!

Quelle jolie carte postale, n’est-ce pas?

“Bonjour!

This is from our excursion to Collioure, a medieval port town that’s known for its art scene. Apparently painters like Picasso and Matisse lived there at one point and painted the scenery. Also visited the castle that was once controlled by the Visigoths, the Spanish, and the Huguenots at some point or other, and then laid on the beach (far right).

Love you,

Mademoiselle

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November 6, 2015 0

Postcards from Europe, #1

My daughter (I’ll call her Mademoiselle, but if you’ve read ALL THE ABOVE, you know her name), is a junior in college, and is spending this semester studying in the south of France. She’s living in the same city I did (Montpellier), when I did the same (as a student at the same university*) for a year. Like me, she’s somewhat of a chronicler, and since August, she’s been sending me postcards (cartes postales) via la poste (snail mail).

Just as I’ve been doing with “Pizza and a Movie” posts, and as I’m starting to do with “Wine with Wendy on Wednesdays,” I’m going to do a series of posts sharing her postcards sent from Europe. Notice that she uses the French way for dates (day/month/year):

Voici la première carte postale:

“Bonjour à tous!

Today I visited the Château de Flaugergues, a small summer home built in 1696 by a member of the French Royal Court! Today it has sprawling gardens and the family that lives there makes wine (the rosé is the best) and it’s only 15 minutes away by train! I hope everything is good at home and I love you all!

Love,

Mademoiselle

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Of course, she’s been in touch with me and her father by telephone, text, email, and even the odd photo on snapchat or instagram. But her postcards seem more special, and they kind of link her time in France with mine.

*The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

November 4, 2015 1