Living Life

The other day, Ryan told me about his dad wanting to go snow skiing during his last visit to see us in Oregon. Well, other plans were made and it never happened. It's one of those lessons learned that life is too short so you must make the most of it while you are able.

So here begins a trip down memory lane. About 5 years ago, Ryan and I decided to spend Spring Break in Prague and Paris. I sent a summer studying in Europe and really wanted Ryan to see that side of the world. We didn't have much money but we managed to make it happen. 

We toured all the major attractions which were wonderful but it's the small things that really stand out. The above photo is a homeless lady feeding hundreds of pigeons outside of Notre Dame Cathedral. She caught a couple taking a picture of her and went a little crazy on them. I carefully hid my camera after this shot.

Here we are at The Rodin Sculpture Garden next to The Thinker. The garden was our escape from the street riots happening about a block away. If I remember correctly, they were protesting a labor law. It was a little scary but we survived.

I wish I would have taken a photo of this little deli we found. Neither of us speak French so ordering food was somewhat challenging. It was a rainy afternoon and we were famished so we popped into the closest deli. The lady (whom we nicknamed Grandma) spoke no English but somehow knew the perfect sandwich for us. We ate the world's best roast beef on a baguette underneath an umbrella and scaffolding in the pouring rain on a street corner in Paris. To this date, that was the best dining experience I've ever had. 

Another memory from this trip was our adventure to a nearby town called Fontainebleau. Ryan read about it in his climbing magazine so we decided to check out the bouldering area. Remember we do NOT speak French so locating a train to take us there was quite the quest. After hiking in the woods for about two or three hours and not finding anything, we called it quits and headed back to town. 

Whenever I go to a new city, state, country, etc. I love to browse the grocery store. Before catching the next train, we stopped at the grocery. Figuring out how to weigh and label grapes was pretty funny. I can clearly remember walking along the streets nibbling on grapes, cheese and baguettes with chocolate chips. And Ryan, I want to say to you, thanks for picking out the seeds :)