Nos premières vacances Français, tout simplement incroyable! - Our First French Vacation, Simply Incredible!

We've gotten pretty behind on our blog entries, partly because I have been wanting to write about our first trip to France and just didn't know how to put it into words...C'était magnifique (IT WAS MAGNIFICENT) is all I want to say, but I know that's not enough. I've dreamed about visiting France since I was a little girl, what little girl doesn't day dream about the Eiffel Tower? We've not yet made a trip to Paris, but if it comes anywhere close to the beauty of Southern France then my childhood dreams about it will be true!

Our first French vacation took us to Toulouse, France to visit Chip's sister Lucy and Hélène. There hospitality was wonderful and it was so nice to get to visit with them both. They welcomed us into their home and showed us their beautiful country. Bringing a crazy little 2 year old boy into anyone's home is scary, but they made us all feel at home. Both their friends and Hélène's family were very welcoming. Getting to be immersed into their French life for a few days made the trip so much more interesting than just your typical hotel vacation.  So, before we even begin to share the wonderful places we saw we must take time to say, Merci à Lucy et Hélène de nous accueillir dans votre maison et nous montrer votre beau pays de France, nous ne pouvons pas attendre pour le faire à nouveau! (Thank you to Lucy and Hélène for welcoming us into your home and showing us your beautiful country of France, we cannot wait to do it again!)

 

 

Peyton, Chip, Lucy

 

Hélène, Brittany

We started our trip with a flight from London into Carcassone, France. Then it was time to get our rental car and drive on the RIGHT side of the road again for a change! We spent our first day touring a fortified city from the 13th century in Carcassone.

 Outside the walls of the city. Breathtaking!

 

Peyton getting a ride from Aunt Lucy, watching

a reenactment of a medieval sword fight.

 

Leaving the fortified city.

         

The next day we visited Cordes-sur-ciel (literally "ropes in the sky"), another fortified city at the top of a mountain. The views were amazing!

 

Breathtaking views from the city which is situated at the top of

mountain. The drive up was interesting to say the least on tiny roads!

 

The streets of the city are lined with wonderful little shops and

restaurants. The signs pictured are advertising Foie Gras, Duck. We had

a marvelous lunch at a little restaurant in the city where Chip ate Foie Gras and

I had Guinea Fowl, both were exceptional! Sadly we were too busy enjoying

the food to take pictures of it.

 

On the third day of our trip we toured Toulouse.  We got to meet several of Lucy and Hélène's friends in the city, do some shopping and enjoy the beautiful architecture and churches of the city. This evening we had the priviledge of meeting Hélène's family and having an authentic home cooked French meal, cassoulet with duck confit. This was by far the best meal we had in France and comes close to one of the my favorite dishes of all times! The food and company made for a great evening.

Peyton and Daddy enjoying the carousel from the 18th Century.

 

Capital building in the Town Centre of Toulouse

 

Notre Dame de Taur, "our lady of the bull," A small,

 but beautiful church in downtown Toulouse.

 

Saint Sernin Basilica Toulouse

 

The BEST hot chocolate I've ever had in my life and Chip's cappuccino.

Loved the French cafes and shopping in downtown Toulouse.

 

Our happy family in front of St. Etienne.

Notice all the shopping bags, love it!

 

The fourth day of our trip was Sunday, the market day in Toulouse. We ventured out in the rain to take in our first French market. Well worth getting a little wet!

 

The last full day of our trip was spent in Albi. We actually visited Albi twice so we could take in St. Cecile in the daytime, it is the most amazing cathedral I have even been in. I'm very grateful that we got to spend so much time at this cathedral, we even got to take the audio tour. Thankful for Aunt Lucy keeping Peyton occupied. :)

Albi at night.

Entrance to St. Cecile. I can't possibly show

enoughpictures here to justify the beauty.

The entire inside of the building is painted. It was painted over 500 years ago and has NOT been touched up or restored. The colors are amazing for that time frame!!! The painting you can see at the bottom here originally covered across this entire wall, there was no arch/doorway. Before the arch was cut out this was the largest painting of the Last Judgement in the World. The massive organ sits above this painting, but only 10% of the pipes are visible. As you can see here even the ceiling is covered in amazing paintings.

Love this Man!

Our trip came to an end far too quickly! We are excited for our next opportunity to go to Southern France and see more. This was truly a trip of a lifetime, all I could have ever asked for. After the trip I have only 3 regrets: that we didn't stay longer, that I couldn't enjoy tasting more French wine (Baby Bryce was on his way, even though not many people knew it!), and that I neglected to take food pictures. Anxiously waiting to plan our next trip, so I can make up for these few regrets!

Life in Weeting - Our Small English Village

Almost 5 months have passed since our last blog but the Grand Adventures have not ceased! We have simply not found time to share them with you, but look forward to catching up on some of them very soon. 

After 30 days spent in TLF (Temporary Living Facility) on base, we finally moved in mid-September to our first British home in the small, quaint village of Weeting, also known as Weeting-with-Broomhill. We are approximately 7 miles from the base surrounded by large farming areas, the slightly larger town of Brandon and other small villages. Weeting covers an area of about 9.7 sq miles and as of 2001 had a population of approx. 1800 people. I would venture to guess the population has not grown much in the last decade.

Weeting Village Sign

All Villages have Unique Signs in the Center of Town

The village today consists of a Village Hall, a Primary School, a small grocery store (like a convenience store), a Fish and Chip's shop, a Pub, and a gas station/car repair center.  Historically, Weeting is most famous for its castle, which is one of Peyton's all time favorite places to visit. Standing behind the church of St Mary is the ruins of this castle, which is actually a  Grand 12th Century Manor House.  All that is left at this time is ruins, but you can easily make out where the Great Hall and other rooms of the house would have been. There is a standing ice house and a large moat. You can visit the English Heritage history on Weeting Castle here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/weeting-castle/history-and-research/. Today the castle grounds are open to the public and are visited frequently by those with children and dogs. Both Kosmo and Peyton have found many friends there.

 

Reading all about the Castle!

St. Mary's Church

Main Manor House Ruins

 

The majority of Weeting neighborhoods consist of older/small British homes. However on the edge of the village there are several streets of 'somewhat' larger, newer homes. This area is where we found our first home, on Victor Charles Close. The house we live in is only 7 years old, but is still very British in its character and features.  It is a 4 bedroom house with approx. 1300 square feet and a one car garage. While we have loved our time here in this house some of it's more British features have not grown on us, such as: small British appliances, Washer/Dryer in the kitchen, gas heating, no ceiling fans, tiny bedrooms, lack of closets in most bedrooms, and the Keys that make me feel like I'm searching for a secret garden....just to name a few. One of the best things about our village neighborhood is the people.  Everyone we've met from here (both British and American) have been extremely friendly and helpful.

Our British Home

 

Kitchen Complete with Washer and Dryer

 

House Keys or Secret Garden Keys?

 

The writing of this blog comes at a strange time because we have just recently decided to make the move into base housing. A lot of things helped to make this decision but overall we are just excited about a more "American" home that will be closer to what we are accustomed. When we first moved here we wanted base housing, living off base was NOT for us. But now that we've lived off base for a short time I am very glad that we got to experience living in the British economy, I'll always have wonderful memories of our first British home. And we still have several years to make trips to Weeting Castle to play!

Pounds, Petrol and a GPS that sounds like Mary Poppins!

 

First things first, English and American are two different things!  We don't speak English in America, we speak American.  We came to this realization within our first few days, and here we are thirty days later still learning new words and phrases every day.  In attempt to offer a small sample of the TRUE English language here are a few of our favourites (yes, that's how they spell favorite).

1: Pounds= money; used in the place of dollars ($1.64 = £1.00)

2: Petrol= gas; measured in litres (yes, that's how they spell it); $6.00 per gallon



Petrol Station - Only Two Options Unleaded or Diesel

 

3: MOD= Ministry of Defence; Is it ironic that the Ministry of De-Fence signs are only posted on the fence?

4: Cheers= universal word used in every possible situation; still unclear on how to respond

5: Garden= yard; size is irrelevant, flowers/plants optional
6: Take Away= Carry out or take out; Don't ask to carry/take out your leftovers, they'll want to know where you plan to carry them to.
7: Bob's Your Uncle= like saying "...and there you have it"

Although the language is taking some time to get used to, possibly the hardest transition is on the road.  Thankfully, we have Mary Poppins, the 21st century version, in our car helping us navigate the British streets.  I will say, the English GPS is substantially better than any American GPS I have ever used.  To date, we've not truly been lost once.  Mary always gets us there.  Driving is made slightly challenging by a few items.  First, you're on the left side of the road, but sitting on the right side of the car.  Ever shifted with your left hand?  Here are a few more challenging bits.

 

1: Roundabouts- Found at most intersections, no stop signs.  Kinda like a theme park ride on the road, fun, terrifying and efficient all at the same time.

 

 

 

2: Give Way- Similar to a Yield in the states, but takes the place of a stop sign in 99% of American situations.  Seriously, there are no Stop signs.
3: Speed Limits- Just look around.  There won't be a sign, but the surroundings determind your speed.  Rooftops= 30MPH Treetops= 60 MPH Motorways(Interstates)= 70MPH  There are a few instances of posted speeds, but typically not.

These National Speed Limit Signs Indicate 60 MPH

 (Yes, on this little two lane road!)

 

4: Carriageways- Their version of a road.  Narrow, bumpy, curvy, no lines, lots of hills, buses, tractors, lorries (18 wheelers),bicycles, people and no shoulder.

We see this daily, tractors rule the roads!

England is a beautiful, historic and proud country with a firm sense of self.  It is also an island.  Which means they are stressed for space.  So, houses, streets, cars, basically everything is a little bit smaller...except the tractors and birds which seem to be quite larger than we are used to.  A typical English house will be 3-4 bedrooms and two story with a one car garage.  The house will not have central air or heat.  Air conditioning isn't needed because of the climate and the house is heated with a furnace that burns oil and pumps hot water through radiators located throughout the house.  Your wash room and kitchen are one in the same and your washer and dryer competes with cabinet space below the sink.

We still have plenty of time to learn more about the English culture and language.  The Brits have been very welcoming and patient as we learn, at least they are too polite to say otherwise.  We are all happy this adventure has only just begun!

Off We Go...

...into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

We have finally arrived at RAF Lakenheath, home of the 48th Fighter Wing. It's been a busy month getting ready to move since my first blog. On July 20th Chip and I both finished our jobs in MS, we both had an amazing four years working at Hancock and at Keesler. But, the last three weeks were even busier than when we were at work!!! The first week was spent getting ourselves and our house ready, followed by a week of packers and movers, and finally a week with family! The packers had our house packed in an amazing 3 hours - so happy the Air Force packs for us, that would have taken me weeks. The time with family was priceless - we got to visit with each of our families and make wonderful memories. It is very hard moving so far away from all of them, Praise the Lord for Skype!

We left MS on the afternoon of the 13th and arrived in London around 9:30 the morning (UK Time) of the 14th. Both of our flights went surprisingly well, Peyton was WONDERFUL! He played and slept on the way to Houston and watched movies and slept the entire way to London. Once we arrived we were greeted by 2 men from Chip's new office. It was great to be chauffeured around by them. We were able to get Kosmo from the London kennel and play with him for the day before taking him to a local kennel. Boy was Peyton glad to see his puppy, and of course Kosmo was thrilled too!

On the Flight to Houston

(Paci's were a must on the plane but hey, it worked!)

Best Way to Travel Thru

 the Houston Airport

My Big Boy!

Ready to Take Off

Now that we are here we are spending time getting acclimated to the base and the surrounding areas. Honestly we are both experiencing a little bit of culture shock, but we know that we will learn it all in time. The jet lag has been rough on our little man, it will take a few more days for him to get used to the 6 hour time difference. As our new adventure is beginning we are excited and still pretty nervous. In the next day or so we'll be renting a car - watch out people - we'll be let loose on the left side of the road!!

We know many of you have prayed for us over the past few weeks and we are truly grateful. Keep the prayers coming! It will be a few weeks still before we are in a house and can get fully settled, but we are looking forward to exploring the UK and making this our home for the next three years!

Of Course there are Parks in England Too!!!

Getting Ready for Our Grand Adventure

August 13th 2012 we will leave the US for our first overseas assignment with the Air Force. We are moving to RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom. While we are sad to leave our family and friends in South MS and LA, we are excited about this opportunity to see new parts of the world, meet new people, and make life long family memories. The name of this blog came from comments from family and friends at the start of this move – several people we talked to about our move told us that this would be a “Grand Adventure” for our family and we are ready to experience it to the fullest!

As I write this first blog entry we are very, very busy getting ready for our move: Mom and Dad are finishing their jobs here in MS, cleaning house, separating items for storage/shipping, spending time with family, etc. Who’d have thought it was this much work to move a family over 4,000 miles???  Me, that’s who! But, I’m up for the challenge.

There will be many more tales of our adventures to share with you all over the coming months/years. We look forward to sharing our story with you through this blog! Stay Tuned as we get ready for the start of this adventure…

Mitchell Family April 2012