Back in France

The iconic Morro Rock and Morro Bay seen from the Elfin Forest, a few minutes walk from our house.

It’s snowing today. Yup. Snow. What the heck?! I mean, we're back in Montpellier. This is the South of France, for crying out loud!

And to think we left sunny warm California for this:

My thoughts Monday morning when I woke up to snow!

What we left: the view from our downstairs apartment in California.

 It’s been four or five days since we’ve been back. We’ve recovered from the jet lag… mostly. Still waking up at 5AM, but that happens anyway. 

The trip back was good. We fly on frequent-flyer miles, and so take what route we can get; not always the most direct! This time we flew from San Francisco to Lisbon, Portugal. (Our one requirement is that we get a non-stop from the west coast to Europe: no stops in O’Hare, or JFK, or Newark, especially in the winter!) We had one more flight, this one to Barcelona; our third counting the commuter hop from San Luis Obispo, “our” airport, to SF. 

Thankfully, we had a chance to rest, spending the night in Barcelona. We had a good night's sleep in a quiet hotel near the train station. The train is comfortable, far less stress than a plane flight, and by 2PM the next day (Wednesday) we were making the short walk from the Gare Saint-Roch to our apartment in Montpellier.

 

 

Yeah, so if the video doesn't work, this is what I was looking at! That's snow on those cars, seen outside the window of our apartment in France.

Now, about that snow… It seems it snows here about once a decade. We’ve seen photos—old photos—of snow on the ground. This stuff falling now probably won’t stick. Ah, and it was so sunny and warm yesterday! A sunny Sunday, followed by a gloomy Monday.

(No, it did not stick. The flurries stopped after about an hour, and the temperature only seemed like it was freezing and in a few hours the accumulation on the car roofs was gone.) 

We are slowly getting back into our French way of life, although the rainy weather, aided by the jet lag, has put a damper on our excursions out and about. Our friends Mark & Mary did invite us over for coffee, along with some of our other friends here. It was a nice “welcome back”! 

And we are glad to be back, although the pleasures of California—the climate, the gorgeous landscapes, and of course our many friendships—still resonate strongly. It was a reminder that much as we enjoy life in France, we still feel very connected to our California home. 

It was also a chance to renew our acquaintance with the physical beauty of life on the California coast. We are nowhere near done yet with our time in France, but it would not be a tragedy to return to California!

 And since we're speaking of the physical beauty of the California coast, here's a few images...

We introduced our friend Frank to the wonders of the Elfin Forest in Los Osos. This is his photo, with Hollister Peak in the background.

Frank in the boardwalk.

Frank's photo of the elf he found in the Elfin Forest.

 While visiting the near-by community of Morro Bay we found this otter mother caring for her new-born in a protected corner, oblivious to the human passers-by.

Mama otter, in the protection of the commercial docks in Morro Bay.

 

Reaching for her new born, which she stashed against the rocks while she had a snack or two.

Mama and baby.

After all the rain, this will be a booming (blooming?) year for wild flowers; sadly, we will not be there to see them! But we got a preview at Montana de Oro, our local State park, where the California poppies (the State flower!) are popping out.

Paula got this picture of California poppies in Montaña d Oro with her new iPhone 14.

Paula in the poppy fields.

Cliffs at Montaña d Oro

Up next: We have ambitious travel plans for spring. Mid-March we meet our friends Sue and Alan from Portland OR in Paris. From there we'll all head to Petra, Jordan and the exquisitely carved caves there. After that we will, finally, complete the trip to Sicily we planned pre-Covid, then Napoli and Sorrento and end with a few days in Rome. There are sure to be some good tales coming from that trip!

        But for now, we'll say

            Ma’a salama

            Arrivederci

            À plus tard

            See y'all later!

Hollister Peak, seen from the Elfin Forest near our house.