French/Italian Thanksgiving?!

Oh, so much to tell that this will probably best be done in several installments, so bear with me as I get time to put it all down in writing over these first couple days that I'm back...

Thanks so much to all those who were praying for me and my family as we met on another continent for the Thanksgiving holidays together. God is still in His heaven and He still answers prayer! We all had smooth flights, connections and car travel - everyone got where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be and with no negative issues (health or otherwise). We spent a terrific week in the south of France with the entire family.

We did some sightseeing in Nice taking a bus tour. It was very nice, one of the double decker kind where the top was in the open air (we rode up top, of course). We enjoyed having a bakery nearby and had fresh baguettes every day! (Yes, it's back to South Beach for me very soon!!) We spent a day in Monaco - for those of you who don't know that's where Monte Carlo is - and enjoyed it immensely. There was an excellent museum there that we spent quite a bit of time in. It was called the Oceanographique Musee and had some exhibits as well as a huge aquarium that was a reconstruction of a coral reef and life surrounding it. They also had hundreds of small tanks with different types of fish and all the info on each. I enjoyed having my new digital camera and took lots of pics of the fish and a giant sea turtle too. James (my 10 1/2 year old nephew) really enjoyed this place too.

One of the things that my Mom said that surprised her about the area in general was that the mountains went all the way to the sea, literally. She wasn't expecting that - and it was beautiful! Chilly for my parents compared to where they live now. It was the first time either had on closed-toe shoes since they moved to Chiang Mai in March! I personally thought the weather was perfect and couldn't have asked for better. Indeed, before we left the states to go the forecast was calling for rain all week, but we actually had none at all which was a blessing.

We spent some time relaxing one day with no plans at all, just hanging out at the condo and chatting, playing games, counted cross-stitching, crocheting, crossword puzzling and napping. Also doing laundry! Susan even got some studying done - she had two books to read during the trip so that she could write papers when she returned home.

Thursday and Friday, my cousin Michael (who is stationed at Ramstein in Germany) and his new wife were able to drive down and spend with us. They stayed at a hotel in Cannes, which was only 15 minutes from the small town we were staying in. Tina was able to meet the rest of our family (I was the only one who had met her previously) and we enjoyed our time together. Michael had just returned home the weekend before from a 6-month tour stateside in NC, so it was good of them to take the time to hang out with us. They will be moving back to the States in mid-January.

Thanksgiving Day we drove over to Italy to San Remo. Several months ago my nephew had requested that we have "real" pasta for Thanksgiving dinner. It was only about 60 k to the nearest good-sized town in Italy so away we went. I was a nice drive along the coast and we found somewhere to park without too much trouble. Though we found out later when we left for the day that the reason there were plenty of spaces in that particular parking garage was because it actually had a limit of 1 1/2 hours. Since we were foreign tourists, they let us off without any trouble! Yes, the dinner was good, 3 of us had pasta and the rest had pizza of many varieties that you wouldn't find in any pizza joint here in the good 'ol US of A. One of them even had an egg cooked on top! I had gnocci with a cheese sauce and it was delicious and panna cotta for dessert - YUM!!

We were up pretty late that night visiting and then slept in some the next morning. We drove down into Cannes and met Michael and Tina at their hotel and then went to lunch and walked the streets of the city some... down to the sea and did some shopping as well. Then we went back to our place to pack and have dinner for the next morning was a really early drive to the airport.

So, it wasn't a traditional American Thanksgiving by any stretch of the imagination... no turkey, no stuffing (of food or the people), no leftovers, no football, but there was family. And in my book that outweighs all the rest hands down. After 8 months of having my parents on the other side of the world and all the adjustments that come with that for all of us - we were just blessed that they had the means and the desire to bring us all together for those few days. I've learned again and again not to take any of the time we are given for granted. It is all special and I've learned to enjoy the moment for what it is!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be sure and tell you about the 2nd week of my trip as soon as I get a chance to write it up! Have a blessed day!