Our favorite souvenirs

Without a doubt, our favorite souvenirs are the experiences and the friendships we made in France. But those are harder to unpack and describe in a single blog post. Here are the tangible versions of our souvenirs:

My favorites:

• My French shopping basket. I bought it the second day I was there and I used it every single day. (By contrast, this morning there are 4 giant Amazon Fresh plastic bins on our doorstep. Very practical. Not as charming.)
• Four cookbooks. I might pull together all of our favorite recipes into my own little cookbook – let me know if you are interested in a copy!
• Petanque boules. So heavy they were considered a weapon and had to be checked in.
• Essential oils and Herbs de Provence.
• Gifts from others. A gorgeous memory book from the Dardauds. A sunny cicada from the Romas. Recipes and photos from Laurence and Malory.
• A gift from my husband, given to me on our 10^th Anniversary. It will always remind me of his first night in Provence – all four of us together again! I am a very lucky girl.
• Fabrics, prints, postcards, invitations, tickets, photos, etc. – What am I going to do with all this stuff?

Sophia’s favorites:

• Her cahiers (notebooks) from school– which include photos from all her field trips.
• Her class photo.
• A watercolor of Nice, which she has hanging in her room.
• A suntan.

Sasha’s favorites:

• A hand-written cookbook from her friend, Stella.
• Her cahiers from school.
• Her Birthday CD – Sasha and her friend Audrey had a joint birthday party! We made a CD of the girls’ favorite songs and gave them out in the goody bags. If Sasha had her way, she would listen to this CD every minute of every day.

Dan’s favorites:

• The girls’ diplomas. They did it! They finished the school year in France! We now have a First Grader and a Second Grader. Who are bilingual. crazy.