Parrots Instead of Paris

Today we are in Paris staying with dear friends, and for the first time in nearly a month, we had absolutely no plan.

That sounds wonderful in theory.

In practice, after weeks of covering 14 countries in 24 days, it felt a little strange.

For weeks our lives have revolved around kilometres, ferry schedules, parking spots, weather forecasts, grocery stores, relatives, old towns, museums, and figuring out where we would sleep each night. Suddenly we were in a cool, comfortable house with nowhere we needed to be.

So we did almost nothing.

It was glorious.

The house itself feels like a miracle in this heat. Outside is scorching. Inside, thanks to thick walls and a heat pump, it's cool enough that you almost forget Europe is melting.

Being Monday, everyone else was busy. Friends heading off to work and school. The cleaning lady arrived. The yard guy arrived. Life carried on around us while we happily hid away and recovered from yesterday's marathon drive.

Of course, "doing nothing" still involved a few small tasks.

We walked their dog.

We did laundry.

Well… we attempted to do laundry.

If Cotty uses your washing machine, there is a very good chance it will receive extra attention. Machines seem to reveal their secrets to him. Before long he had drained water, cleaned filters, cleaned the dryer, and generally improved the lives of several household appliances.

It is apparently his love language.

At some point, we realized how far we'd come. Not in a dramatic way, just a quiet accounting of miles and days and borders crossed.

Although statistics can be misleading. Yesterday alone we were in three countries in roughly three hours, which still feels slightly ridiculous.

Perhaps that's why today felt so unusual.

For the first time all trip, there was no destination, no deadline, and no sightseeing mission.

Just a chance to sit still.

The funniest part is that today's photo collection is mostly parrots.

We're in Paris.

There are world-famous landmarks nearby.

And somehow I spent the day photographing parrots.

Honestly, that feels about right.

As I write this, we're still not entirely sure what comes next. We arrived here earlier than expected after changing plans to dodge the heatwave, and we're figuring out the best strategy for the final stretch of the adventure.

Meanwhile, Cotty is in the kitchen making oyster mushroom shawarma in lentil wraps, one of our favourite meals.

After dinner Cotty and the boys went for a swim in the Seine — they were, quite literally, in-seine. 😄

The kilometres can wait.

Today, for once, was for catching our breath.

We started the day enjoying the cool comfort of our friends' house, making some yummy food, getting caught up on a few life things, and generally easing into the day.

One of my favourite little errands was a trip to the local grocery store.. Grocery stores are always fun when travelling, but even more so when my French is just good enough to handle the entire interaction en français. Small victories!

Eventually we motivated ourselves to walk the dog — such a good boy — and later headed out to see Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Or at least that was the plan.

The reality was that it was simply too hot.

As it turned out, we were visiting during the hottest day ever recorded in France. While we've learned we can adapt to many things while travelling in the Gnu, extreme heat is not our favourite challenge. We can handle cold. We can handle rain. But sustained heat requires a different strategy.

So rather than push through, we gave ourselves permission to slow down.

That turned out to be a very good decision.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly dinner. David worked his magic in the kitchen while Brad handled the shopping, and together they produced one of those meals that seems simple until you taste it.

There were two salads. One was a take on a salade niçoise. The other featured cantaloupe, finely chopped mint, and lemon verbena from the garden.

I could not get over how delicious it was.

As a side note, every time I see a cantaloupe I think of a joke I wrote as a child:

"Can't elope tonight — forgot the ladder."

Apparently some things stay with you forever.

After dinner, we enjoyed one more relaxed evening together before calling it a night early.

The next morning we would be getting up very early and driving to Dunkirk to catch the ferry back to the UK.

It wasn't quite how we'd imagined ending this part of the adventure, but the heat wave had made the decision for us. Adventuring in the Gnu has been wonderful, but when overnight temperatures stay this high, sleeping inside becomes the safer and smarter option.

Sometimes the best travel decision isn't seeing one more thing.

Sometimes it's knowing when to head for cooler weather.

And so, after 14 countries, countless kilometres, and more adventures than we could have imagined, we found ourselves preparing to cross one more stretch of water and begin the journey home.