Update

The problem with not blogging for so long, is that there is way too much to blog about so then it's discouraging and I'll never be able to catch up! 

But, after Sillygirl asked in the comments a few times, I realized that there are some loyal readers who might worry what has happened to me, so I thought I could at least share some pictures with you.

First, we are safely back in France having dodged Covid around the world, well at least in the U.S., Ireland and France, so far. 

We returned a week ago and our friends have been so welcoming and supportive, like they missed us. I know we missed them. 

My first hike back in France, this horse posed with the sunrise between the mountains. 

Our trip to the States, three months long, was too much, but we enjoyed every minute we got to spend with our sons and my parents, plus time with our siblings and nieces and nephews. Then Covid got crazy and we just hunkered down over the holidays, only seeing Tucker, who had Covid the week before we got there, and Spencer and his girlfriend. Earl's sister and her kids and grandkids all had Covid over the holidays, canceling our plans to gather. We ended up skipping out on our flight from Columbus to Florida and renting a car instead to avoid Omicron, which seemed to infect everyone, even those of us triple vaxxed. We couldn't risk taking Covid back to my parents as Dad was preparing to have his pacemaker replaced (all went well). Also, we knew if we tested positive, we wouldn't be able to board the plane back home. After three months  of staying with other people, we were ready to get home. 
But, as always, there's the terrible pull in the pit of my stomach as I say goodbye to my sons or to my parents. Leaving our sons and my parents behind is the hardest part of living in France. When I say that, I hear the scene from Love Actually when Colin Forth tells his Portuguese housekeeper and love interest that dropping her off is the worst part of his day. I find myself reminiscing about the boys' childhoods, the quick patter of their feet on the wooden floors before diving onto our bed in the morning. I see their beautiful chubby cheeks and innocent eyes. 

They're both planning trips to visit us this year with significant others, so fingers crossed that it actually happens. 

Mom and Dad both had birthdays while we visited. They're doing great and staying healthy while avoiding Covid. It's tricky these days. Luckily, their favorite thing, golf, is outdoors. 

We left Florida on a Sunday. Our flights were scheduled Tampa, New York then Dublin. We were spending a few days with Grace and Jack since they hadn't gotten home for Christmas. Jack is still waiting on his visa from the Irish government and doesn't want to leave the country in case there's difficulty returning. Grace is working on her PhD in Archeology, focusing on cultural heritage, especially our area of France. How convenient!

Our Tampa to New York flight got delayed, which meant we wouldn't make our New York to Dublin flight. My knee-jerk reaction was to get to the airport as quickly as possible so we could take an alternative flight. I stayed online with Delta the entire hour and a half drive to the airport and we only got our new flights resolved as we were leaving our rental car. At the airport by 1:30, our flight wouldn't leave til 8:30. Now we were flying Tampa, Atlanta, Paris, Dublin. I know! I couldn't believe I couldn't leave any of our five suitcases in France while we were there. 

But we made it to Dublin the next day and quickly embraced Grace. We enjoyed four nights with her and Jack, making up for our missed Christmas together. 

Daughter/dad hugs. Of course we went for a walk on the beach in Dublin.
We're so lucky to get sun when we're there. 

The countryside is stunning in Ireland, even in January. 

This climb in Bray was a good workout and had beautiful views. 

On Friday we flew back to France and our friend Derrick met us at the airport in Toulouse. It's two hours from home, but flights to the closer airport had been cancelled. 

We arrived home just in time to make it to our visa appointment. 

Since we moved to France in 2018, we have had to renew our visa every year. This is our 5th year, which means next year, we can apply for a 10-year visa or carte de séjour as they're called in France. 

After receiving our visa, we celebrated by walking about La Cité in Carcassonne. As stunning as ever.

The sky and the outer walls of the chateau

And so we're back. We've been enjoying time with friends, drinking inexpensive wine and stocking up on scrumptious pastries, along with walks and runs in the countryside. It's not a bad life.

2020 Was a Year

 I try to do a year in review to remind myself of some of the fabulous things that happened. 

The Eiffel Tower as sunset nears. 

A morning run and reflected lights by the Louvre

This year especially, I know that I was luckier than many because I had an almost normal summer and got to do some traveling, when many people have been locked down since March. But, let's not jump ahead. 

January 2020:

What delightful thing happened in January? 

Grace and Jack got married

We had no idea at the time how lucky we were for their wedding to take place smoothly when so many other weddings were cancelled in 2020. 

Then 2020 got more difficult as I decided to stay in Ohio to teach three classes while Earl returned to France.

He got back just in time to continue work on our new house and to see record floods in Quillan, which luckily didn't affect our house. 

I considered staying in Spencer's bachelor pad since most nights he was at his girlfriend's place, but in the end I went back to the comfort of Deb and Greg's place in Upper Arlington. 

Deb and I enjoyed some Blue Jackets games. 

I got to celebrate Grace's birthday with her at the end of January and flew to Florida right after, just in time for both Grace and Spencer to come down with a bad case of the flu. Afterward, of course, we wondered if it might have been more than flu. 

February 2020:

Always so happy to spend time with Mom and Dad. Yes, Mom makes a delicious big breakfast.

I loved spending a week with Mom and Dad, plus Tupi, who didn't live to the end of 2020. Nothing beats humid runs during February, listening to the sound of the shrieks of giant dinosaur birds, and ending up with a jump in the pool. 

I didn't know at the time, that I wouldn't see Mom and Dad again in 2020. We're all waiting for a Covid vaccine so we can get together again. 
Because I was teaching English to kids in China throughout the month, I knew how bad the Coronavirus had gotten. I wore a mask on my flight back from Florida and felt quite silly doing it. Now, it's so normal.  

For my final week in Ohio, I stayed at Earl's niece's house with her two girls Regan and Caroline. Nearly a year later, my phone is still littered with selfies they took. 

Julie, Regan and I the morning before I left.

The last time my hair was straight!
So happy to see my husband, my friends, and my own home in France. . 

I flew back on February 22, landing in Barcelona on my birthday, February 23rd. Earl and I were apart for about 6 weeks, the longest time we've been separated in our marriage. He met me at the airport with some flowers that he filched from Jules. 
We had a lovely birthday celebration with friends and a local restaurant. 

March 2020:

As I look at pictures from last March, I rejoice to see us sitting outside at Esperaza market and in the square in Quillan as early as February. Fingers crossed that we have a similar early spring this year. 

Perhaps an Irish coffee at an outside bar

Jack and Grace arrived March 13, having taken a 2-week cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Barcelona. We drove down to pick them up, not realizing that theirs was the last cruise ship allowed to dock in Barcelona. A day later and they would not have arrived. 

We stopped in Perpignan for lunch, and Jack began to be surprised by French food.
Cinnamon in the ketchup. A sausage hamburger that was two sausages.
 Any sandwich on a bun is called a hamburger, example a chicken hamburger. 

We had a "free" weekend wandering around markets and sitting at cafes, and then France went into lockdown the following Tuesday. 

That meant that we were limited to walks together, within 1 km of our home. I just loved having Grace with us, although no honeymoon couple wants to start their marriage in confinement with their in-laws. 

Grace and I walked, finding flowers and blossoming trees as the spring arrived. 

April 2020:

April continued in lockdown, but we committed to getting a kitten, mostly because Grace was so lonely without her own cats who were caught on the other side of the Atlantic. We couldn't get the kitten until April, so the month passed with walks and flowers, and we began to sneak friends into our garden for drinks. We continued to be careful, not inviting friends inside. 

Wisteria bloomed, in spite of the pandemic

May 2020:

We ventured out to retrieve our new kitten the week before lockdown ended. Grace had been in France for two months, staying in our little enclave, but as we drove home from getting Louis, she suddenly saw the mountains. She pointed out the mountains with surprise, and I laughed. We live amongst those mountains so it's hard to see the mountains when you're in the middle of them. 

We called him Louis Catorze, and the most polite way to describe him is that he has character.
He also frequently draws blood so we're hoping he calms down eventually. 

With the confinement drawing to a close, we began to take local trips with friends, exploring Cathare castles that we had never visited. 

With Jim and Theresa at Chateau de Queribus


Grace and I wandered to Carcassonne, about an hour from our home,
and we went up to see the castle, known as La Cité.
The statue of the woman at the front, Lady Carcas, has wonky boobs, not sure why. 

June 2020:

In June, we took a trip, staying within France. For our 30th anniversary, we traveled to Pont du Gard. Grace had been there before but it was a first for Jack who loves Roman history. So it was great for him to experience it. The Romans build the Pont du Gard in the first century to carry water to Nimes.

Earl, Grace, Jack and I in front of the Pont du Gard

We visited Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux de Provence where the artwork is projected on the walls of the former limestone mine and come to life. 

This exhibition was Gaudi and Picasso. But a new exhibition is out now
and I can't wait to go see Cezanne

After a night in Aix with Grace and Jack, we traveled to Nice and enjoyed a few nights to celebrate our anniversary. We had never visited Nice before and were not overwhelmed with the beaches, which are heavy pebbles that filled up our shoes or pierced our feet. We bought beach shoes but the pebbles still sucked us down. Not a top choice if swimming is your goal. 

The panorama is beautiful. I had some great runs, and Earl and I enjoyed drinks and the view. 

July 2020:

Back in Quillan, July is tourist season and also festival season. How lucky were we to sit outdoors with a tableful of friends, not just for Bastille Day but for so many great evenings. 

Outdoor festivals

We danced to bands and felt like it was a normal summer in the south of France. 

Earl got interviewed by a producer from 2020. But they didn't use enough of his interview. 

I had a fall in July that has curtailed my running for months, but I don't need to share that picture. 

August 2020:

At the beginning of August, I took a hiking trip with my friend Claudine. We stayed in France, but just headed farther south toward the Spanish border. 

We climbed past several waterfalls and ended at a pool on top of a mountain. 

We hiked on some of the hottest days of the year and didn't drink enough water, but we came back alive and had a great time. 

The rock formation is called Les Orgues or the organ, for obvious reasons. 

In August also, Grace and Jack left us and headed to Dublin to create their new life with grad school and whatever other doors opened to them. 

September 2020: 

In September, Earl and I dashed up to Paris for a few nights and watched the end of the Tour de France, which was moved from July because of Covid-19. 

The Tour passed very close to our hotel so we simply walked out and watched them zoom by. 

I had hoped to see Paris while tourists from other countries were banned, and I did. We ate at outside cafes; we got off the Metro the one time that it was crowded and we felt it wasn't safe; we browsed at museums and took pictures without other people marring their perfection. 

The Rodin Museum

A train ride home from Paris and we returned to normal life, like fixing up our old house. 

Earl painted the doors and shutters, perhaps Cornwall blue

October 2020:
Then Earl promptly headed out on a hike to Spain along El Camino de Santiago

He definitely chose the paths less taken

As October neared an end and the warm days grew shorter, we planned a girls' trip to Collioure along the coast. 

It's a charming town and sometimes you just crave the Mediterranean. We had lunch outdoors and were surprised at the number of tourists there. 

Then we headed to a more deserted beach and did some bellydancing. 

Freestyling!

A new lockdown was announced and we arranged one more meal in a restaurant on the night before the confinement. 

Only six people at a table, so we had to split up. 

Women at one table

Men at the other. 

And that is the last time we ate in a restaurant. 

November 2020:

The lockdown lasted through November. We weren't as careful, inviting friends to join us for drinks or meals. Going on lots of walks in the mountains and wondering what Christmas would be like this year. 

This is just a walk I took one morning from my house.
Around every corner is another beautiful mountain. 

We had a sneak Thanksgiving celebration with American friends, technically still not allowed to gather with friends. 

December 2020:

All of that lockdown let us paint our living room. It used to be an electric blue and now the walls are cream-colored with the staircase wall a gray green. I loved the new look, although it took three coats of the cream for Earl to cover the blue. 

Who knows what may come next. Maybe a new chandelier

Then on December 20th, we flew from Barcelona to Dublin to celebrate Christmas with Grace and Jack. And Tucker flew from Columbus to Dublin to meet us. 

Tucker and Earl in the lights of Dublin

For some reason, Ireland was continuing to let Americans fly into their airport. Tucker had a Covid test before he came and we got very lucky that now of us contracted the virus during our travel. 

Tucker, Grace and Jack at St. Stephen's Green on a sunny day. 

We spent our evenings playing family games and I went out each morning to get coffee at Starbucks, one of the things I miss from home. 

We arrived home safely, in spite of countries closing their borders. 

So we managed to travel to the U.S., France, Spain and Ireland in a year without travel. That's nothing to complain about. 

I've gotten to see two of my three children, even though I haven't seen Spencer or my parents since February. 

I'm hopeful that we'll get the vaccine and my parents will get the vaccine and we'll be able to reunite in the coming months. 

Here's hoping for a 2021 without so much excitement. 

Covid Christmas in Dublin

No one expected Christmas 2020 to be normal. Why should it when everything has been turned upside down this year? 

We could have flown to the States for Christmas, but with 200,000 new cases a day, that seemed a folly. 

Also, we wouldn’t risk seeing my parents and passing on the virus to them if we picked it up in our travels. 

Grace and Jack were in Dublin. Our sons were in the States. I knew that Ireland was allowing Americans to enter, so I proposed we all meet in Dublin.

 Spencer and Kaitlin decided it was too risky. They were very mature about it. Tucker, faced with a Christmas alone, decided to join us. 

We knew it wouldn’t be a touristy trip, just a family get together. 

We rented an Airbnb. We sprung for an extra bedroom because Tucker often complains that as the only single person he gets stuck on the pull-out couch. 

The apartment was less than a mile from Grace and Jack’s apartment. 

We all arrived on Sunday December 20. Earl and I flew from Barcelona, a couple of hours from our home in France. 

The Covid situation was changing quickly. Suddenly, France and a number of other countries were closing their borders to the UK. Of course, Ireland is in the EU, not in the UK, but it made me nervous when friends got stranded in England. 

And Spain declared that everyone visiting from Red areas needed a Covid test to enter. It was kind of a puzzle because Ireland, with a low number of cases, isn’t a red area, but France where we originated, is. 

The rule was that we needed a test 72 hours before the flight, which would have been Christmas Day. I couldn’t find any place giving Covid tests on the day after Christmas and the only tests at the airport I could find were drive-up tests. We didn’t have a car. 

We decided to risk it, calling ourselves in transit to France. We have our carte de séjour or résident card, an electric bill to prove our address, and our parking ticket to show that our car was awaiting us. We would promise to make a quick getaway from Spain. 

So all of this was going through my mind as we tried to enjoy a family Christmas. 

We managed to cook a few meals on the wonky apartment stove and Jack cooked a delicious beef Wellington for our Christmas dinner. I had to make Tucker’s favorite holiday dish corn casserole but there was no corn meal or flour and no creamed corn to be found in Ireland. I made my own creamed corn and found a recipe that used flour. 

Grace made a delicious apple pie. 

We played family games most nights and had takeout a few nights. We walked and shopped and watched in amazement as the sun set each afternoon at 4ish. 

It was great to be together, even though we missed Spencer and Kaitlin. 

Tucker flew out this morning to the news that the US wasn’t accepting travelers from the UK. I told him some people in the US might not know that Ireland isn’t in the UK. 

As I write this, he’s on his plane, nearly to New York. 

Earl and I are waiting for our flight. The airline checked to see if we had the necessary health form required by Spain. We do and they waved us on. 

Fingers crossed that by the time you read this, we have safely landed in Barcelona and roared off in our little Audi back to France. 

The Mystery of Mercy Close -- Review

If Marian Keyes wasn't one of my favorite authors, I wouldn't have picked up this book. The title is too clunky -- The Mystery of Mercy Close. First, I don't usually read mysteries, and, second, Mercy Close sounds like some of those poetry squares put together on the refrigerator without any meaning. But I do love Marian Keyes so I got the book and finished it a day later.
A lot of times, Marian Keyes' books are considered Chick Lit. That got me thinking about the genre. Keyes' characters are funny and quirky, but they are dealing with serious situations and trying to figure out who they are. If a man wrote a similar book, he would be wise and insightful. So, I'm not going to call Keyes' book Chick Lit.
This book was about one of the Walsh sisters -- there are 5, and Keyes has written various books about the Irish sisters with each of them starring in one. You don't need to read the others though, this one stands alone.
The book begins with Helen Walsh, a private investigator, moving back home after she loses her apartment during the recession. Helen is in her early 30s, and she has a hunky boyfriend who is a father to three children. They have only been dating six months so she can't move in with him and his kids.
Here's a bit from the beginning that made me laugh with Helen explaining to her mom why she has moved home:

"I couldn't afford to pay the mortgage. You're making it sound like it's my fault. Anyway, it's more complicated than that."
"You have a boyfriend," Mum said hopefully. "Can't you live with him?"
"You've changed your tune, you rampant Catholic."
"We have to keep up with the times."

Early in the book, we begin to see hints that more than finances have turned south for Helen.

Besides, a swarm of huge black vultures was circling over the petrol pumps and they were kind of putting me off. No, I decided, I'd hang on and --
Wait a minute! Vultures?In a city?
At a petrol station?
I took a second look and they weren't vultures. Just seagulls. Ordinary Irish seagulls.
Then I thought, Ah no, not again.

We soon learn that Helen had suffered from depression three years earlier and her financial troubles send her back into depression. But this isn't simply an introspective book about depression. Helen is hired by an ex-boyfriend to help find a former boy band star who has disappeared just before the boy band reunion. Millions of dollars are at stake. The work is the only thing that helps Helen hold on.
I think Keyes, who has also suffered with depression, did a great job of relating the hopeless feelings that accompany depression, and conveying that depression isn't necessarily cause and effect -- it sometimes happens for no reason. It's a brain issue.
I did figure out where the boy band member was awhile before Helen did, but that didn't ruin my fun.
Other than the title, I thought the reason Helen hated her ex-boyfriend was a little weak. The rest of the book ran away with me.
Keyes is a wonderful writer and her characters are people I would love to run into in a bar to just while away the evening as they spin their Irish yarns.