Thursday, July 21, 2011

Au Revoir Fonty And Another Game of Catch Up

Well folks, our time in Fontainebleau has come to an end. It was a great ride and we're still getting used to the idea that France isn't our home for the time being. I don't think it'll be the last time for us though - Karim loves to quote the catchy Friendly Fires song and say "someday we're gonna live in Paris - I promise..." I'm holding him to it.

But before we wrap up our INSEAD portion of this blog, we need to play catch up once again.

Since we last wrote we've traveled to Ibiza and Sevilla, Spain and took a chartered flight to Split, Croatia with the majority of Karim's class for our official graduation trip. Then Nehdi arrived and Karim graduated (and yes, I screamed like a proud soccer mom for him when they announced his name!). We said good bye to INSEAD in typical fashion - with a great big party at a chateau full of champagne, bad dancing and a few tears. The next morning it was off to Greece with our good friends Kelsey and Justin. And now I'm back in the US of A with my family here in Bethesda. Karim got the short end of the stick and single-handedly moved 14 of our suitcases and boxes from Fonty to London via the Eurostar and then hauled them off to storage for a month. He's also on a mission to find us our London flat. Wish him luck!

Karim will be back on Saturday and then, come mid-August, we'll be off to our new home - London!

But before then, we'll share some photos from the past month or so.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Random shots from the past few months

Yes, we've traveled a lot, but we also have a great time when we hang out in good old Fontainebleau - we just don't take as many pictures here. Here are a couple fun, random shots from the past few months. And now we're caught up!

Next week we'll be in Ibiza and Seville, Spain. Then we're headed to Split, Croatia for the INSEAD grad trip. After Karim's graduation we're jetting off to Santorini, Greece with Kelsey and Justin. We'll update the blog with photos from those trips when we have the chance. And we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible when we're in the US from mid July to mid August!

Our 3 year old neighbor Aletor loves Karim

Alberto doing his best Che impression

Karim and Liz is matching Nigerian outfits

Dinner out in Fonty at Chez Elle, home of trashy waitresses in rose-colored glasses

Ouzak, my second favorite gentle giant

Give me sexy girls

Such a cute shot of Kelsey and Justin!

Relaxing in the grass after a great meal

Go Jason go!

Nice one Justin

Dusk in Barbizon

Dinner at Adi and Assi's place. So glad they'll be in London too!

Another photo of Adi and Assi's backyard

Mini Me making his way off the rugby field

The INSEAD rugby team. Undefeated!

Liz & Kelsey smile before our alterna-ball dinner

Thursday, June 16, 2011

5 Days in Provence

From London we headed back to Fontainebleau to unpack and repack our bags and headed off to Fayence in Provence. Our good friend Come had invited us, along with some other friends, down to stay at his family's vacation house for the week. It was a wonderfully relaxing few days filled with reading in the sun, good conversation, excellent produce and lots of rose and petanque. Thanks again for having us Come!

Nina, Nicolas, Come and Liz picking up wine at a vineyard

A couple shots of the vineyard


And the petanque begins...

Karim looking dapper in his pastels

Roma sends the petanque ball flying

A couple shots of the yard at Come's house



A perfect spot for relaxation


And the petanque continues. It might be the worst spectator sport ever, but it's pretty fun to play

Liz has a go

Gemma's signature heel lift

Team Liz + Kevin

And we're off for a hike! Love the pink shirt Come. Where'd you get it?

Max, Karim, Come, Liz, Roma and Kevin take a break from hiking

What was the name of this town? It was a teeny tiny town we visited after our hike

The place was strangely deserted



Great views from here


The town became even more beautiful as dusk set in






There's that pink shirt again!