the wheels on the bus

After almost a month in the UK I returned to France last night. I will admit, I was sad to say goodbye to the land of fish and chips, wrong side of the road driving and caramel digestives. I had a fabulous time exploring and spending time with family.

The first two and a half weeks I spent with the family at the pub, The Jolly Sailor, in Orford. While there I learned how to go crabbing, the goodness, yet heaviness, of pub food and how to pull a pint. I will admit that pulling pints was one of the coolest things I did. I only felt comfortable behind the bar in the afternoon when the bar was pretty much empty and the occasional patron didn't mind that I really didn't know what I was doing.

On the 5th I left Orford and headed for London. It was really just a pit stop on my way to Bath to visit my brother. It was great to go back to Bath. I love going some place for the second time. It still has the new and exciting feeling about it with a since of the unknown but you can feel comfortable enough to take chances and explore. My brother and his wife just moved into a new apartment right in the center of Bath about a 3 minute walk away from the city center. Annabelle and Dave were in England because Dave was there for work and they came down on the Saturday and we had a mini Utley family reunion. Miia was of course adorable and loving all the attention. We went to the Roman Baths and took a long walk through the Botanical Gardens enjoying the amazing weather. I love the immediate joking and laughter that happens when members of my family get together.

Sunday Annabelle and I headed into London for our week-o-fun. It was fantastic. Since we had a whole week and we had both been there previously we didn't feel the need to rush around seeing everything. There were certain things we wanted to see or do but for the most part our days were relaxed. We walked all over London though. We went to the British Museum and the National Gallery. We saw the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. We went shopping on Oxford and Regent's Streets and wandered through Hyde Park. A major highlight was going to Buckingham Palace on Saturday. The Queen is in Scotland for the summer so the State Rooms are open to the public. It was amazing, so beautiful and ornate. We were in the last group to go through for the day so we took our time and we were able to spend time in the rooms without the massive crowds. Which, considering there were crowds everywhere (mostly Italians), was pretty cool. We also went up in the London Eye right after sunset, gorgeous. I loved being able to do all of this with my sister. Since moving to Europe all of my trips so far are done alone and to be able to experience all of this with my sister made it even more enjoyable and exciting.

Vacations are fabulous. There is always the constant pull of wanting to stay away but missing home all at the same time. For now I am glad to be back in France. I can rest up from my vacation and get ready for the school year to start and the children to get back into a routine.