My parents, determined to experience our life here in France,  jumped on a plane 29 days ago to come stay with us in Garches.  It feels as though they were here a lot longer than a month though, because we did so much together and saw much more than we anticipated we might! There were some definite ‘French moments’ where they learned the saying “WTF” (Welcome to France!!) and we had many laughs!

Some of their French moments would include:

1. Dad getting in trouble for taking photos of the Armed Military accidentally when they walked in front of my mom (they actually came over to him with their AK47’s and made him erase his photo).
2. Dad getting in trouble for taking a photo in a church (which was allowed) because a visitor thought my dad may have got him in the photo too (but he didn’t).
3. Turning the quiet Paris metro into a social platform with chatting and laughter amongst the people nearby.
4. An Uber ”practice run’ to St. Cloud to learn how to use LeBlanc’s’ new Uber app!
5. Attending the IIHF World Champions in hockey on their own at Accorhotels Stadium with faces painted and flags waving!!
6. Mom walking 130 steps down into the Catacombs (yikes) and then dad narrowly escaping trouble for holding onto one of the bones there!
7. Meeting famous PSG soccer player, Maxwell, in our school halls and talking to him after the grade 4 theatre production, “GOAL!”. (then watching him play in Boulogne 2 weeks later!)
8. Wednesday and Saturday mornings at the market in Garches and buying our fish, meat and cheese for us (en Francais!).
9. Walking to the Boulangerie with Greg for baguettes and pastries!
10. Having a beer in the Victor Hugo Park after touring his house in La Marais!

These were all memorable moments embedded within many different experiences and tours, that were all ‘WTF’ moments (whether wonderful or weird). But there were also some incredible travelling experiences that will never be forgotten.

Here is a list of some of the places they toured and explored (often by taking the train on their own!). Check out some of the excellent links!

*Versailles Palace, Gardens and Stables (2 different days)

*St. Germaine en Laye (village and Chateau outside of Paris)

*Catacombs (historical underground tour)

*Martaize and La Chausee to discover the LeBlanc ancestry that began there with Daniel LeBlanc leaving for Acadia in 1646!

*Loire Valley and it’s famous castles (We made it to the first 4 in the link:  Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, Chambord)

*Ambois and the house of Leonardo DaVinci (Close Luce)

*NORMANDY:  Juno Beach, Canadian War Cemetery and locating a gravesite for a Peterborough friend; Caen and Ardenne Abbey

*City of Rouen and history of Joan of Arc – being at the tower she was imprisoned in there. The city of Rouen, France is where Catholic saint Joan of Arc died in 1431 after being burned at the stake by the English during the Hundred Years War

*Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur, artisian squares and Van Gogh’s windmill (he painted) and apartment. By going to the link above you can have a virtual tour of the Basilica and learn about it’s history and architecture or see the view it has over Paris.

*La Marais – Victor Hugo home in section of original Royal Palace, Place de Bastille

*Hop On / Hop Off  Open Bus tour – walked to Pantheon on this day and toured it and the crypt to see the tombs of Louis Braille, Victor Hugo, Raphael, Voltaire and many others…

*Touring Paris and these famous sites by foot (check out the awesome links for pics or a quick history of these places!) : Notre Dame, La Conciergerie, St. Chapelle, Hotel de’Ville, Pere Lachaise cemetery, La Defense, Concorde, Jardins de Tuilieres, Pont Alexandre III, and walking the Seine.

We hope you were able to check out some of the photo galleries or virtual tours above to get a sense of the history that we explored over the past month. All we can say is the month flew by and we are so grateful for all the memorable moments with them!  We also flew to Dublin, Ireland and left mom and dad alone to do some of this touring on their own for 3 days and for another 3 days Brianna flew on her own to Vienna in Austria to play in a Varsity Softball tournament ~ So they rolled with our schedule and made it very easy for us to balance work and visiting!

Thanks guys!!

Enjoy a well deserved rest!! (After you cut your LONG grass)