Mama comes to visit!

People often ask me if I miss home, or if I get homesick. It's a question I've been met with many times, both from people back home and people I meet abroad. To be honest, homesickness is a feeling that remains foreign to me. While of course I may miss loved ones when I'm away from them for an extended period of time, I've never had that I-want-to-go-home urge, or experienced any sadness or melancholy over being distanced from my family and friends. I remember looking oddly at the kids at camp when I was younger, wondering why they were crying to go home (and this was a 1-week overnight camp). So, I suppose I'm pretty lucky that way - sort of like a chameleon, adapting to new surroundings and blending in without much trouble. An ideal candidate for living abroad, one would say! That being said, it is nice to have visits from home, and I'm very lucky that I have a family that's more than willing to come visit me wherever my feet may tread, and this time around it was my mom that took a trip across the pond to come seeme! Visits from back home are great, they combine the comfortable and familiar feelings of home with the adventure and wonder of being abroad. And it's nice to get to give people a little glimpse into my daily life here!

Since my dad wasn't able to come this time, mum brought along Janet, a good family friend, who had never been to Europe before and was so excited to come visit! And that way they would be able to travel around together while I was busy working. They arrived into Paris on March 31 and hit up the touristy sites and Versailles while I was still in Nancy. Their timing also worked out perfectly, because my good friend Cigdem was moving home from Jordan and doing a 3-day layover in Paris at the same time! Couldn't have worked out better - I got to catch up with a great friend that I hadn't seen in awhile AND see my mama, all while enjoying the sights and sounds of belle Paris!

I took the train into Paris on the Saturday afternoon and met up with Cigdem at a great apartment in the 5e arrondissement that her friend Jeff had secured for us for a suuuuuper great deal through a family friend. Jeff had come along for the weekend as well, and unfortunately had injured his knee from walking around the city so much, so Chee and I headed out to explore the city on a glorious summer-like day and catch up on life! We explored Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur which was absolutely PACKED with tourists, it was crazy! It had practically been dead when I was there with Alex just a month earlier. It was hot and sunny and we pushed our way through the crowds to get a beautiful view of the city from up high, and chowed down on pastries and ice creams as we wound our way back down into the city, stopping for photos in front of the Moulin Rouge and wandering up and down the red light district. Cigdem was also determined to buy a Longchamp bag after eyeing the one I had brought with me, and we headed to Galeries Lafayette on the famous boulevard Haussman and lined up for what seemed like forever just to get into the Longchamp store! But it was worth it, Chee came out with a lovely mustard-yellow sac de pliage!

big sister and little sister!

That evening we grabbed cheese, baguettes and pastries from some local fromageries, boulangeries and patisseries and had a great thrown together (and very high in carb) meal, along with some nice wine and cider. Mmm! Poor Chee had to lay on the floor for awhile to try to digest, it was quite humorous.

Later that night we decided to go out for a drink at one of the many hip bars on rue Oberkampf, way up in the 11e arrondissement by the Bastille. Since it was still so nice out and we were too cheap to take the metro, we decided to bike it! There are "vel'lib" stops all around the city where about 20 or so bikes are parked that you can rent for about a euro an hour, you just pop your bankcard into the automatic machine and take out a bike. There happened to be a stop right near the apartment, and after fiddling with the automatic machine for quite awhile, we managed to figure out how to unlock the bikes from their stands, and off we were! It was midnight and dark as anything, and we drove through streets and boulevards and were passed by buses that came way too close for comfort...but it was probably one of the funnest things I had ever done in Paris! We biked for over an hour, winding all through the city, lit up in all it's beauty - alongside the Seine, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the background, people and cars everywhere as if it were 12 in the afternoon. It was awesome!

Tour de France here we come!

more fun than you can shake a stick at!

We enjoyed some nice Sangria at a nice little bar, and around 2:30 to bike home again. I was rather impressed with myself, that A) I didn't fall off and B) didn't get hit by a car...but mostly because I had biked through one of the largest and busiest cities in the world at 3am! Good times!

We dragged ourselves out of bed the next day, which was unfortunately a bit rainy and overcast, but Chee and I sought out breakfast at a cute little brasserie in the Montparnasse district, and fuelled up on coffee, croissants and fresh-pressed OJ. We then wandered up through Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Luxembourg gardens to meet mom and Janet in front of Eglise Saint-Sulpice, not far from their own apartment. It was the first time I had seen mum since Christmas! A very happy reunion indeed.

They gave us a little tour of their very cute and very ideally located rental apartment right in the heart of Saint-Germain on the cutest little boulevard, and we went across the street to grab some lunch at a nice little bistro.

After a delicious lunch we split up again so mum and Janet could continue to see some more touristy points (they would be coming to Nancy the next day anyways) and Cigdem and I headed to the Pompidou Centre. It was the first Sunday of the month so museums were free, and we joined a very long but fast moving lineup to get in. After checking out some very cool and some very weird modern art, we went to the Champs-Elysees to find us some macarons! The lineup to get into LaDurée was ridiculous (and out the door), but we were determined, and Chee ran across the street to fetch us some pastries we could eat in line while waiting (it was a sugary-suicide kind of weekend). It was well-worth it though...LaDuree macarons are definitely the best! Miam miam! After that we headed back to the apartment so I could pick up my stuff and head to the train station, t'was time to go home! *sniff*. It was a short but sweet visit, but it was super fun and we packed in a lot! And I was so glad it worked out with both mum and Chee coming at the same time, a simultaneous visit!

Mum and Janet arrived in Nancy the next afternoon, and I picked them up at the train station and we hopped on a tram (where Janet felt it was appropriate to take a picture of us).

mama and daughter reunited!

 We enjoyed a drink in Place Stanislas before they checked into their cute little hotel just a few steps away. Mum had a brief panic moment at the hotel when she thought she had lost her moneybelt, and we tore the room apart trying to find it (while mum sat down on the bed and starting putting on lipstick without a mirror...you know you're distraught when...). Janet and I even went back to the café to see if it was there, but moments later mum came running down to say she had found it...it had fallen between the bed and the wall when she had flung her coat down. *Phew*, we were so relieved!

With everyone's wallets firmly accounted for, we had a great dinner out on the rue des gourmands and enjoyed an overwhelming amount of fondue!

mum has issues keeping her eyes open for pictures

Over the next week (under the glorious warm Lorraine sun...we were so lucky!) Mum and Janet explored ma petite ville while I was in class, and we had a great time basking in the sun in Place Stan over a drink.

this turned into somewhat of a ritual...

And since I was lucky enough to have only 1 morning class on Tuesday and no class Wednesday, we fit in 2 day trips, the first to Saverne on Tuesday and Strasbourg on Wednesday...with sun following us the entire way! Even though I had already been to both places, I love both of them, and I enjoyed being able to show the two ladies around so they wouldn't have to worry about navigating a new city, they could just relax and enjoy the views!

mama and I in Saverne

lazy sunbathers in Strasbourg

having a self-portait moment in Petite France, Strasbourg

That Saturday we took one last day trip to Trier (joy for the Saar-Lor-Lux pass!), which was quite bittersweet for mum, having spent a good chunk of her life growing up between Canada, Luxembourg and Germany and had many fond memories of going to market in Trier with Nana as a child. We had a great day eating our way through the town, starting with mushrooms, garlic sauce and potatoes (and pork on a brötchen for Janet, and beer!) in the morning at the market, belgian waffles, spargel (white asparagus) and potatoes for lunch, and a mad dash to find florentines before we left! (We did see the city, as well, in amongst all the chewing)

mmm waffles!

By the end of the trip, Janet had nailed down how to say "a beer, please" in 3 different languages, and was quite thrilled with being able to drink one anywhere, anytime...even on the train!

On Sunday, the ladies last day in Nancy, we had another lazy day in the sunshine, and Place Stan was full of people trying to do the same!

awful weather, really...

We got ice creams and wandered through the park, and picked up a few souvenirs from the tourist office before I left mum and Janet to take the little tourist train around Nancy while I could scope out a restaurant for the evening. (Turns out the train left from a different location from when I took it in September, so they never got to go on.) However I did find an awesome flea market set up in the old town, so mum and Janet had fun exploring while I got a few things done back home. That evening we had an awesome meal of galettes (crêpes salées) at a creperie in the old town, and headed down to the fair which has come to Nancy for the month. It was lively and lit up, and mum and I took a ride on the ferris wheel for an amazing view of the city lit up at night! (Janet kept her feet planted on the ground and took pictures).

up high on the ferris wheel!

la fete foraine

view of Nancy from up high!

The ladies headed out the next morning (with my large suitcase in tow, filled with 50 pounds of my crap. Sorry ma!), back to Paris for another couple days before heading back to London.

The week went by super fast, but we had a great time and it was fun showing mum and Janet around my city and other parts of the country. It felt kind of weird being a "tourist" in my own city, but it was a sort of mini-vacation for myself as well, and I was so fortunate that they were able to come and visit!

It's only when I talk to people from back home or see them that I realize I really miss them. So it was hard saying goodbye to mum again, but at least I know that I'll be home in just over a month, and time always flies by quick here...so I can't waste it by missing home too much, can I?

Merci pour la visite muttilein :)