France Archives - Annabelle Denmark Weddings

Westvleteren, Disney, Mers Les Bains and back home

The last two weeks have been packed with a short trip to Disney, awesome sights, amazing churches and cliffs and more oceans.

We first went to Westvleteren, a Trappist brewery in Belgium and is one of the 6 lefts in the world. You can only by the beer at the brewery, it is considered one of the best in the world….it is simply delicious <3

Next we went to Disney and enjoyed rides and princesses and sent Brian back to America. The girls an I drove back home, making a quick stop to the Chateau de Chantilly, a truly amazing place and horse back riding capital of Europe.

We then headed to Mers les Bains, a seaside town with magnificent houses, a living museum of the Art deco era. I will have more pictures in my next blog 🙂

The girls are now well traveled and are picking up on the culture, food and language. They love their grand parents (especially pay on his bike and many with her cats) and they love their cousins.

We have many images to share, here is a select few!

Westvleteren, A unique trappist Brewery in Belgium

Le Chateau d'Aisne, near my native village — Le Chateau d’Aisne, near my native village

My dad and his new bike that he loves very much

Le Tronquoy, one of my favorite places every, locates walking distance from the family home — Le Tronquoy, one of my favorite places ever, located walking distance from the family home

Topaz of "Grumpy cat" posing for me — Topaz of “Grumpy cat” posing for me

Falco, who went on an hunger strike when we invaded his house

On our way back to Les Hauts de France : Chateau de Chantilly, a huge domain and the horse capital city of Europe

Back home before heading to Mers Les Bain

Next blog will be up soon and then…Paris…the city of love, food and fashion <3

Ocean, Ocean, Ocean

When I was a little girl I used to go camping with my family for 3 weeks every summer in Normandy. Since then I have travelled and discovered many beautiful places but I have never forgotten about this camping place and “La Vallee du Lude in particular”. I have talked about it to Brian, I have talked have about coming back and finding this wonderful place again. La Vallee du Lude is a small path in the tiny town of Carolles that opens up, between two lush valleys, to a pebbled beach. This place was always a source of endless games with my two brothers (my sisters were too little to play with us). This place was my Narnia, my escape to magical kingdoms, my base for unbridled playful creation.

Luckily my brother now lives two hours away from it.

Imagine my excitement when, yesterday morning, Brian, the girls and I drove to Granville and then Carolles and then la Vallee du Lude. Imagine how I felt walking down this same valley where I have spent countless hours as a kid, playing in the pebbles. And imagine my joy when my kids did the exact same thing, tottering around the rocks, collecting sea snails, exclaiming over the beauty of the place.

The last few days have been full of the ocean, the waves, the sand and the pebbles. It has been full of my family and talks about the future, near and far. Finally it has been full of my girls bonding with this family. Because in spite of everything, my girls are half French and I am trying so hard to wake their Frenchness inside <3

During this part of the trip we also visited “La citee de la Mer” in Cherbourg, L’Abbaye des moines Trappistes, Le nez de Jobourg, the coast, a biscuiterie, a cheese restaurant, the beach, Granville, the beach, the beach <3

Journey to France : the great arrival

After a 24 hour of flying and commuting, getting stuck on the Tarmac because Icelandair had misplaced some luggage, getting stuck in traffic because everyone is driving west for the Tour the France.

We arrived.

The car stops, we see my family come out of the house, they were waiting, impatiently as I can imagine, by the window.

So the car stops. 1 2 3 4 5 6 people come out, rushing one after the other to hug us, the smelly and frazzled travelers that se are.

I park into a rustic French courtyard, surrounded by trees and ferns and roses and walk into an incredible modern interior with beautiful concrete counters, ultra modern kitchen equipment, glass and wood balconies and a vintage tile.

The whole house feels balanced with the old and the new mixed together to fit my brother and his wife’s vision.

And of course we eat, as we always do first thing first. It is late, we eat and talk and the house is loud of 5 years of not seeing each other. Words pour out, a confuse mix of languages. It is one am by the time we finally settle and I don’t even need to count how many hours I have been awake anymore. We are happy.

My nephew and niece discover the girls.

My sister in law is bubbly and surprisingly good in English

My brother has more grey around his temples

My father and Monique look the same as usual

This was a long day. An amazing day. We sing happy birthday to Sophie. Candles on gourmandises. I get macaroons. The lights switch off.

I crash.

7:30: I wake with a jolt as the light filters in the room. It is quiet and I decide to go for a walk and be by myself for a few minutes. It is very difficult to get time alone in a house full and the next 15, are a bliss and I find : Delphine who quickly gets that I will be walking alone. An adorable baby cat named mignon. A handful or rabbits and chicken. A path of trees, the house, the rain, a rainbow. The land surrounding the house is huge and lush, with tree covered paths and fields. During a family walk we also find the sheep my brother acquired. The rooster. The pasture for a future horse. This land is incredible, it seems to take care of itself, the rains make everything lush, the birds sing, there is no sign of people or traffic, my nephew and niece are running wild around, showing my daughters the ropes of climbing trees and jumping in puddles.

And then we play marbles.

Witching 36 hours we moved quickly from the frenetic life in Colorado’s suburbia to the quite life of a modern nano farm.