Our Grand Tour of Europe

Our Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I like the fact that it’s relatively simple—just a big traditional meal, usually shared with family or friends. Very little decorating, no gifts that need to be bought and wrapped, no cards, no parties, no stress—simple. Everything is just focused on that one Thursday… and really just on that big meal—turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, rolls, pumpkin pie.

Charley and I have been married 12 years, but until this year we’ve never hosted the Thanksgiving meal. My contribution to the meal has usually involved a broccoli casserole and a mashed potato casserole—no stress, simple. Yes, Thanksgiving has always been a simple holiday for me.

Or it was until we celebrated Thanksgiving in Provence…

We've been away from home now for over six months... since June 11th. It's hard to believe that half a year has already passed by--and that we are really spending 14 months in Europe. For the first 16 weeks, we traveled in England, Scotland and France--changing location every week or two. In August we walked 190-miles across England, then traveled by ferry from England to Belgium. During that part of our trip we slept in 19 different beds over three weeks! On the second of October we arrived in Provence, France where we're now living until the middle of April. Although we're not working and are just here temporarily, during this part of Our Grand Tour we're having the experience of living in France--not just traveling about as tourists. We're also experiencing life in the French countryside--quite different than if we had decided to spend our six months in Paris or even in a larger town.