What a Week!

This has been a busy, but very fun week for me. Last Friday Kyle and I rented a car and drove to the Champagne region of France (basically northern France). We took the scenic route down there and went through a few very quaint little towns. Friday we went to the town of Epernay and toured the champagne house where Dom Perignon is made. Saturday we toured the Taittinger house as well as seeing the museum in Reims where Germany signed the papers that they were surrendering during WWII. Sunday was a leisurly drive home and then church. I'm working on editing the pictures with titles, but until then, just a small note that I have figured out why French women are not fat -- our room in the B&B where we stayed was up 80 steps. Once you got there, the entrance to the bathroom was only 38 inches between the wall and the sink. Talk about a tight squeeze!

Kyle's new boss from NYC has been in town all week so we went to dinner with her both Monday and Tuesday evening. Tuesday we went to one of the nicest restaurants in Brussels, La Maison du Cygne (The House of the Swan) which is on the Grand Place, and which also has a Michelin Star. The food was great, but I find it hard to think that any one plate of food is worth around 70 US dollars. The majority of the clientele were actually American businessmen and I couldn't help but think of how they were eating 60 euro entrees while some of their wives were probably home changing 60 dirty diapers.

Today the sun has finally come out which is refreshing since it has been rainy and 50 degrees for the past two weeks. Wednesday is one of my favorite days because I love going to our afternoon market. I never feel more like I am living in Europe than when I am at the market.

Tomorrow Kyle and I are headed to Bath, England for a long weekend. Well, I guess it is a long weekend for me and a working weekend for Kyle. He is attending a conference on the economic writings of Arthur Seldon to discuss such riveting titles as The Virtues of Capitalism, and Introducing Market Forces into Public Services. I am joining him because he is staying at a really nice hotel and I wanted to tour around Bath! Our two year anniversary is this Monday, so we will probably try to go out once during the trip to celebrate it.

On a different note, I was speaking with a friend this weekend about how everything is all about your attitude. I was just re-reading this entry and thought, “Man, people must think I have the greatest life with no problems.” However, I just happened to write the above only highlighting the great parts. I didn’t mention the part about having to eat the European version of McDonald’s on the drive to Reims because we couldn’t find any other place that was open. And then how we had a horrible meal on Saturday evening that was so gross I didn’t even eat my appetizer because I swear it was animal bone marrow. I could have said, “On Saturday, we bought croissants and ate them at the foot of the cathedral in Reims.” That would be true, but it would be even more truthful to say, “On Saturday, we bought croissants, but the Diet Coke landed on one, which smooshed it. We sat at the foot of the cathedral trying to avoid sitting in bird poop, while Emily continuously coughed and blew her nose because she was still sick. The croissant shop didn’t include any napkins and Kyle couldn’t find a bathroom to wash his hands, so Emily had to sacrifice one of her valuable tissues to him. We went to the tourist office to find out about champagne tours, but it took an hour to get all the information and by the time we were ready for the tours they were all closed for two hours for lunch.” To get to Bath, we were trying to save money so I am taking the train while Kyle is flying. However, due to odd train schedules, I will end up traveling for six hours, while flying would have only taken two hours. So all this to say, read my entries with a grain of salt and know that there are probably a few downsides to every trip that I haven’t included.