An Update from the Lancelots

So it's been awhile since I've last posted our tales of Velib-ing, marche-ing and wandering through Parisian streets but a lot has happened in Lancelot land.

First off, Sir Lancelot's mother passed away two weeks ago after a difficult and accelerated battle with leukemia. Madame Tootell had an extraordinary 80 years filled with adventure and such amazing accomplishment. I feel so fortunate to have spent time with her and fortunate that Sir L was able to be with her until the end. We knew that she was very ill, but were not expecting it all to happen so quickly.

This also happened the day before our entire New York shipment and Madame Tootell's Barcelona shipment arrived in Paris and our scheduled move to our permanent apartment.

Needless to say, it was an overwhelming two-weeks full of family, flowers, unpacking, rearranging, BHV-ing (the Paris Bed, Bath and Beyond) and of course reflecting and spending time together.

The culmination of the last three months left Sir Lancelot in a pretty depleted state so we decided to take a weekend away and head south where the sun still shines and the people speak a lot slower (clearly that benefits me). We left for three full days in a small town outside of Avignon and stayed at La Bastide de Marie, a beautiful winery/B&B/spa with cheerful rooms, good food (amazing breakfast) and excellent service.

It was an easy train ride (less than three hours from Gare de Lyon) - I think me making Sir L take the metro to the train station was the most difficult part. Upon arrival, we did absolutely nothing. For the first time in months, Sir L actually relaxed. We slept in, went running on beautiful trails to random villages, sat in the sunshine, read all day and just felt peace. We talked about his mom, our last six weeks in Paris and what the future in Paris holds for us.

 

By luck of the calendar, this also happened to be our six month anniversary. It was so nice to be in a quiet and peaceful place to celebrate. We felt so lucky to be able to take a step back from the chaos and remember our love for each other. Cheesy but true.

On our last night there, while I was getting ready for dinner, I looked out the window and saw a man propose to his girlfriend! It was the sweetest thing to witness and of course I became all Gossip Girl on them and called Sir L over and stared out the window for the next twenty minutes trying to make out some sort of ring.

It just made me think how happy we are - how lucky we are - and that although there have been difficult times recently with life's ups and downs, we have each other.