After a red eyed flight out of Yaounde we arrived in Paris on a cold dark morning. We were really looking forward to the next two weeks we’d be staying with our good friends, Evan and Janel. It felt great being back in the first world. I had to keep reminding myself I was not home. Being in France felt so normal and easy. The cultural differences were not as drastic as we were used to in Yaounde.
In November Patrick and I decided we’d train for the Paris Half Marathon. Soon our friend, Jill, who is also living in Yaounde, decided to join us. Patrick and I trained for 13 weeks and reached our 10 mile training goal. We felt ok about our first major adventure in Paris. Over all it went well. We came in just at our goal time and felt like we’d concurred the world. We had just survived Cameroon AND a half marathon.
Pre race shot with Jill, it was cold!
Post race shot. I can’t believe we had the energy to raise our fists. : )
After the race we went back to Evan and Janel’s place and celebrated with a huge bowl of bacon cheddar potato soup! Thanks, Janel.
We spent the next couple of days kicking it around Paris.
Out to our first lunch. Yummy.
We visited Notre Dame.
The Biya Aprons made their debut.
Our last night in Paris Jill, Janel and I went out to dinner and to a real movie! We saw Les Miserables at the Arc de Triomphe theater. It was a great way to break my 6 month movie theater fast… Cameroon doesn’t have any theaters.
We also visited Versailles.
The Hall of Mirrors
On Sunday we left for a 5 day trip to Aix. The summer after Patrick graduated from high school he and a good friend moved there to go to language school for a year. It was really fun to see where he lived for that year. We stayed at a professors house that he rents out. It was right in the heart of the city. We drove to the coast and saw the amazing waves crashing on the huge cliffs. It was an overall great week with some amazing friends to make it perfect. Here are some amazing pictures of our time there.
This is a little square where I sat and fed Drake one morning. So beautiful.
Our first night we ate at a nice Greek restaurant.
Aydan and Janel making Chicken Provençal. A fitting dish considering we were in Provence… great planning, Janel!
Arriving in Cassis.
Our time in France was amazing and worth every compensatory hour Patrick put in the months leading up to us leaving Yaounde. Evan, Janel, thank you so much for the perfect two weeks. Jill, thanks for leaving all the comforts of Cameroon and accompanying us to Paris to encourage us along our epic race. We miss you guys already and are so thankful for these two weeks!
A Diplomat's Wife 