Summer 2020 — Isabelle & Pierre

June 14 - We fly to Paris on an empty plane… No direct flight from Miami to Paris… Only thru Dallas. it is a long trip!

After a visit to Mamie, we drive directly to Ars. We are very impatient to witness the construction!

Surprise: Our house is far from being livable… No bathrooms, no kitchen! Luckily our dear friends Laurence & François L. let us stay in their house in Ars for about 1 month!

Great news: The kids decide to come to Ars earlier than planned due to the Covid situation in Miami. We are very lucky to all have dual french - U.S. citizenship which allows us to travel between both countries during the pandemic.

But we need to speed up construction and prepare the house. It will still be a little bit like camping…

Danielle, Arthur, Charlotte & Isabelle are with us for 4 weeks total: 2 weeks remote-working and 2 weeks on vacation. What a treat to have them! Unfortunately, Agathe won’t be able to make it…

Even without a proper kitchen, they all enjoy french pastries! Charlotte couldn’t wait to try to surf and Isabelle is digesting her “goûter”on the beach…

And they rediscover Donin’s amazing merry-go-round. It has been there since Arthur and Agathe were kids!!!

Agathe and Arthur years ago…

We sail, bake, eat, play on the beach, go on bike rides, visit with family and friends: Jules, Léa et Thomas, Frédèric D., Emma T. with Cécile, Stanis Paszkiewicz and her family, Christine & Arnaud F., Pierre & Elizabeth B., etc…

Charlotte lost her first tooth so “la petite souris” came at night to put something under her pillow AND The Tooth Fairy came too!!! She took the plane all the way from Miami!!!!

More beach, throwing mud, ice cream stops at “La martinière” and dancing.

Agathe we miss you!!! She sends her beautiful smile from Bali.

Pierre and I leave Danielle & Arthur with their friends, Marie D. and family visiting from Belgium. Charlotte speaks french with Larissa… and goes to Danielle saying: “Mom I am officially a french girl!!!”.

We go spend a few days in Bordeaux where we will meet Véronique and Michel D. to go to the amazing Gustave Klimt et Paul Klee video show in the submarine base.

And eat!

Bordeaux is a beautiful city!

Sadly, it is time for the kids to go back to Miami… Bye, bye…

Mamie arrives in Ars with Christine & Xavier. Mamie enjoys the company, most of the family will be able to come visit her. Catherine & Ségolène are going on a bike trip.

Fun with friends!

We celebrate our birthdays… It is a big one for Isabelle, Medicare age yeah!!!

Quick visits from Caroline L. and Michèle et J-P A. Florence et Christophe Audousset. But amazing surprise visit from Adelia and her husband Patrice! Adelia had been working for Pierre’s parents for many years, back then…

September brings us beautiful lights! We enjoy sailing, nature’s beauty and our friends: Sophie & Philippe, Laurence and Anne-Sophie & Stanislas de Q.

We also enjoy the visit of our friends from Miami: Beryl & Rex H. as well as Dominique & Jacques G. - Beryl, Jacques & Pierre studied together at INSEAD class of …1982!

October… We still enjoy the beauty of the island but it is starting to get cold…

Waiting to know when we will be able to leave for Bali to visit Agathe, we go to the Pyla to visit Véronique and Michel in their newly renovated home. We talk furniture and Pierre hangs the family pictures!

Next stop in Anglet on the golf course near Biarritz where Marie-Claude and Bernard P. moved a few months ago. So much fun to reconnect in a totally new environment after New York or Ile de Ré. Odile & Jérôme D. join us for an amazing lunch watching the surfers.