We are home.  It’s a wonderful feeling, after a week away.  There are piles of laundry to wash, several bags to unpack and acres of dog hair to vacuum up.  Our apartment feels HUGE right now (and not just because it needs a week’s worth of cleaning — our apartment in Paris was roughly the size of just our living room and dining room put together, and we were very comfortable.)  We’re so happy to be home, but we had an excellent time in France.

Paris was exciting, gorgeous and magical.  Normandy was beautiful, serene and peaceful.  The food we ate everywhere in France was phenomenal (they make a masterpiece out of a ham and cheese sandwich).

My favorite part of the trip wasn’t discovering France, although I am thrilled to have been able to.  The best part was spending 7 days together, on vacation, as a family.  (We’ve never done that before.)

We didn’t need to be up at any particular time or be anywhere on a schedule (most of the time).  We ate our meals when we were hungry, the boys napped when they were tired (Dan and I each got a few naps, too, but not as often as we needed them).  On days when we wanted to see stuff, we did, and on days when we needed to rest, we did (mostly).  We let the boys make a lot of the decisions, and we absolutely over-indulged them (isn’t that what vacation is for?).  But, mostly, we spent a ton of time together, all four of us.

It was great.  I love vacation.