Back seriously this time. And engaged and stuff.

Friends, thanks so much for hanging in there with me! The past couple weeks have been pretty hectic and the 'ol job has really put a damper on my blogging, but I'm back and will only harass you with one sappy but hastily drafted post about how amazing France was!

First, it was incredible to see my friend Charlotte.  She and I met living overseas a long time ago, and even though we've never been able to speak to each other in our first languages, we clicked immediately and neither language, distance or time have changed the friendship.

In Madrid in 2006:

Now:

Paris was breathtaking and we tried to cram in as many of the typical touristy things as possible.

Versailles

By the Seine

Sainte Chapell

We put a lock with our initials and the date on it on one of the "love bridges"!

Dropping the key into the Seine

In the Latin Quarter

Paris Opera House

After Paris and a couple days in Charlotte's hometown of Le Mans, Watson surprised me with a side trip to Mont Saint-Michel.  It is like something out of a fairytale - a steep island that raises straight up out of the sea with an impressive abbey at the top, and a village nestled at the base. There is a causeway built to the island now, but in the past when the tide came in it completely cut off the island from the mainland.

From a postcard - not my camera! 

Old drawbridge leading to the village

We wrapped the trip up with a couple days in Saint Malo, a walled city on the northern coast of France.   Although the walls were destroyed by bombings in 1944, they were originally built in the middle ages and a section remains from 1145.

Via this link b/c other people have access to airplanes/take better pictures than I do

Lastly - I have some exciting news that's not really news at this point because it's in the title of this post. While we were in Mont Saint-Michel, Watson proposed!!!  It was a complete surprise and we have both been on cloud nine for the last couple weeks.

I promise that this won't turn into a wedding planning blog, however. As excited as I am about marriage, we talked about wedding plans for about 10 minutes a couple days after we got engaged and just about bored ourselves to tears, so I pinky swear I won't put you through the same misery.

Thank you so much for reading, everyone! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back next week with some actual clothes!