Thinking about last summer

I didn't write during the summer. Now, I'm going through our photos to create our annual photo album and that got me to thinking about the summer, again.
Photobox is moving to a new system since Adobe Flash is no longer available. They haven't finished the migration and some of the conveniences of the old studio are gone and it's frustrating. I just don't want to have to start using some other service. I've got so many books created with Photobox. It's already frustrating enough that I have two accounts. I started one in the UK and then another in FR. I managed to migrate the one in France to the UK, but could not merge the two accounts. Each has its own email address. I do wish I could merge them and have everything in a single account.

So, let's get back to the summer. Rue du Général Chanzy held its annual street party. For C, it was her first and she loved it. The weather was good, too; the rain held off until almost the end. There was a new "toy": a bubble maker. C. loved that and spent a lot of time chasing bubbles. Our street has held this party for 30 years. At the time, it was a novelty, so much so, that the Maire (then, Nungesser, now, Martin) has come almost every year. Since we started, the French have created a national "Fête des Voisins", but we don't bother with that date. It has been a great success on our street, with the street blocked off to traffic and open to games such as racing on stilts, rope pulls, snail races and more. Adults gather together to watch the kids. It's nice to see the next generation continue. Meanwhile, A took a week-long vacation in the Loire valley.
Early in June, we went to Northampton to visit the English family. We went to visit a manor and a petting farm. We got to see Au. in a dance show. I had my hobby knitting machine with me and the kids had a chance to knit a little and I fixed the skirt and sweater that were too big.
Immediately after that, I went off with the AARO delegation to Washington for Overseas Americans Week. I was already exhausted because I had done most of the preparation work of getting the appointments. A couple of the other participants helped out once the lists were made but it is exhausting work.

The OAW delegation before we split up the last day.

The FAWCO delegate and I shared a hotel room not far from Dupont Circle. I got to spend one dinner with Amy, who is now working in DC. We had a tiny family reunion, eating our take-out dinner in Dupont Circle! She has a small apartment right at the Circle. Another delegate and I had a night out at the ball game - Washington Nationals vs the Diamondbacks. Other than that we all spent the week scattering ourselves from meeting to meeting both on the Hill and off. 83 meetings, in all!
Paul's cousin, Danielle, died before I got home but since the funeral was delayed, we both managed to go to St. André des Alpes for the funeral and, as usual with funerals, we got to see lots of family not seen in ages. P. and G. stayed at the same B&B as we did, so we had a pleasant get together before they headed back to Six-Fours and we headed back to Nice to catch our train. There was a heatwave and our train back to Paris got delayed. We had water for the trip, but not enough and it was an uncomfortable ride. The OUIGO discount TGVs do not have a refreshment car nor vending machines so if you don't bring your own food (in our case, lunch sandwiches) and water, you are stuck. They do have air-conditioning but they set it at a minimum, relatively high temperature. We were wilted on arrival and still had to catch the RER and walk up the hill once we got to Nogent.
At the end of June, Chl celebrated her 5th birthday. We went to Swann et Vincent, a decent family restaurant at Denfert-Rocherau and got an ice cream cone for dessert at the nearby rue Daguerre. After that, we had a little break. The kids in England were still in school and the kids in Paris were off on the beginning of their vacation until the end of July. Somewhere in there

A day at the zoo

When school was over in England, Cl brought the girls for a week at the end of July and the Parisian kids were back so the cousins had a wonderful few days together. We all went to the zoo one day. They went to the Toutankhamon exhibit and even managed to go up the Eiffel Tower before I took the Brits back to the airport. This was followed by a visit from the American cousins at the beginning of August! We only got a couple of hours together on the river bank, but the kids, who remembered the Christmas visit to Winter Park, picked up playing together as if they'd seen one another just the day before.

Chez Emma

We had a week or so to recover from all the visiting. The Brits stopped in on their way to the Annecy and took A with them for a week and the Parisians went to Oléron for relaxation and oysters. We drove down to Najac to visit E and G and after the week in Oléron, the Parisians had a week not far, so we all managed to get together, again.
Upon our return to Paris, the Brits stopped for a night on their way back to England and took me with them for a family birthday party in London -- another wonderful family reunion, especially for C, who hadn't seen these cousins in several years.
One night at the hotel and I returned home the next day. And then my shoulder froze.
PS: As usual, there are no photos of the kids. I do share them with the family.