Walls in France: Merci!

Today is our last day at the Defaix's beautiful home in Couzon au Mt. d'Or. We have spent two wonderful weeks here getting acclimated to la belle France. What a way to start our year! We appreciate the Defaix's generosity and hospitality so much!

We met the Defaix's via their oldest child, Lea, who was assigned to our family as an exchange student during the summer of 2006. She stayed with us at 500 Royall for three weeks and we loved having her as part of our family. I became friends with her mother, Emmanuelle, over email while we had Lea at our home. Lucy, Kathleen, Tutu and I then came to visit the family here in the Spring of 2008 on our way to Elisa Fontana's wedding in Italy. We saw the Defaix family a couple of other times during our summer in Eygalieres in 2007. Their youngest child, Josepha (9), is great friends with Lucy and Kathleen and their son, Pablo (16), is a really nice guy who enjoys surfing!

They have spent the last two weeks on the western coast of France so Pablo and Josepha could surf and so that Emmanuelle and Gilles could enjoy the beach! Lea had to work so she stayed here and we loved spending time with her again. She has a wonderful boyfriend, Alexandre, who we had the fortune of getting to know as well.

Merci Defaix family for everything! We will have fond memories of...you picking us up from the airport, the pony in the backyard, giggles from the girls, communicating in French, English and everything in between, meals outside in your yard, long walks down to the boulangerie and then back up again!, becoming friends with Juliette (the cat), feeding Marie Antoinette (the rabbit) lots of vegetables, getting le panier on Wednesday evenings, enjoying an aperitif on the deck, cooling off in your neighbor's pool, art galore in the studio, taking in the views from the house, and enjoying the comfort of your lovely home. Thank you for everything! Special thanks for your support and encouragement to make our dream come true! We are so lucky to have such dear friends. Merci!