Enfin, ma famille m'a rendu visite!

And my family came at last! I met them at the airport, and our first greetings were exchanged from opposite sides of a glass wall in baggage claim, as they waited for Anne's missing suitcase (which, in the end, didn't come until the next day). We decided it was good that Anne's bag got lost rather than anyone else's, since she is by far the most laid-back, and since Dad would look kind of weird borrowing our clothes for a few days.

Paris was CROWDED. We tried to hit the main attractions--like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Montmartre--in spite of the throngs of people who had flocked to the city for the New Year's festivities. Since we all know that food is a vital part of vacation, we sought out cafés and pastry shops in the mornings and switched to bars and little restaurants at night. On New Year's, half the restaurants were closed (hey, even waiters and chefs want to go out partying!), and the remaining places had jacked up their prices so that everything was about three times as expensive as normal ... so we brought carry-out Vietnamese food and a couple bottles of wine back to our hotel room. Just as Mom and Dad started thinking about staying in and letting midnight slip by tranquillement, Anne and I convinced them to put on their go-out clothes and come with us in search of a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. We found it, and began our year by watching the tower sparkle and the Parisians pop bottles of champagne.

After Paris, we made our way over to northwestern France, where I showed my family what the heck I've been doing all these months. We visited Metz (so nice to be back in a friendly, smaller town), Thionville (one evening sufficed for here!), and Verdun (Dad could barely contain his excitement--or his droning historical narratives). In Verdun, we visited the battlefields, the ossuary, and the cathedral, where we searched unsuccessfully for the initials of Mom's grandfather, who had fought at Verdun during World War I.

Last stop: Germany! In Leipzig, Julie and her mom whisked us off the train and gave us a warm welcome into their home. The next day, they paraded us around town, showing us all the main sights and treating us to unique Leipziger food and drink specialties. It was so fun to see Julie's OTHER home! After a couple of days, we said goodbye to Manuela and borrowed Julie for a day to visit Berlin and learn all about East and West German history.

Watching my family ride off to the airport was the ONLY low point of the entire trip. The only thing that could soften the blow would be if someone could send a cousin over here to keep me company for a while ...