crunchy leaves and rolled up sleeves

Yesterday was one of those days that I wouldn't mind reliving a few extra times. Time didn't fly too fast yesterday, but I wish it would have moved slower. It was so far, the most beautiful day of the year. I was invited to my boyfriends grandparents country house for Sunday. Of course I accepted the invitation. I have been there on 2 other occasions, and each visit featured a sky that looked like drywall, and a boring temperature that required sweater on, sweater off every few minutes; muggy, but cold. And the other times I went it was with all of his family (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) This time however, the weather was perfect and it was just Thom, his grandparents and I. It is autumn so everything is orange and red.... the kind of colours that make you feel warm, even if it's cold. But the morning started out freezing cold as we made our way to the train station at 7am to catch the 7:30 train. The country house is just 1 hour outside of Paris. By 10am the sun was shining, it was warm, t-shirt weather with a light fall breeze that smelled like grass and fallen leaves. The sun shone ALL day. If I had the super power of deciding the weather, it would have been exactly that.

The view from the back of the house.

When we arrived we had a lovely breakfast, speaking in French. I understood about 20% of it. Not bad for me. After breakfast Thom (boyfriend)and I played ping-pong. Or rather, he taught me the correct way of playing it, for about 1 hour then we were bored of stopping every 2 or 3 times to pick up the ball....because that's how exciting most sports are with me. After ping-pong, a long nap, outside on the lounge chairs by the pool, under the sun. It was the best 2 hour nap of my life....under the warm sun! Thom ended up with a burnt tomato face. After the nap, a delicious lunch with his grandparents! After lunch Thom and I went for a long walk along the river which runs behind the backs of all the country houses. We spoke French for almost the entire walk! I surprised myself.

Photos from the walk.

I love Paris like no other, but a day away from the big city is necessary. It was a wonderfully relaxing Sunday.