Cameroon

Elizabeth recently had the opportunity to visit a new country and continent - Africa. She went to Cameroon for about a week at the end of the summer. The flights totaled 26 hours (each way), which was exhausting. While safety precautions required her to stay on the hotel grounds for most of the trip, they were able to get to visit the National Museum of Yaounde and the Reunification Monument. She had to have a battery of vaccines before she left and take malaria pills while she was there. She also could not drink the water or eat most of the local offerings, which made this trip a bit more difficult. We were all a little nervous while she was gone and happy that she is back on US soil, but it was quite the experience.

View of the iconic "I Love My Country" roundabout in downtown Yaounde, featuring the patriotic arch.

The National Museum of Yaounde is housed in the former presidential palace from the 1930s. The museum had a collection of traditional masks, royal artifacts and historical tribal clothing. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to take pictures inside.

She couldn't drink the water or even use it to brush her teeth, so had to cover the faucet in order to avoid making a mistake.

She received two bottles of water each day, and had to make them last.

Reunification Monument. This spiral monument was constructed in the 1970s to commemorate the post-colonial merging of British and French Cameroon.

Proof of life she sent to me one day - I requested a daily check in.

The view from her hotel window at night.

France - Odds and Ends

Some of the many photos that didn't make our other posts, mostly from our travel days.

Elizabeth's first time flying alone was a big one - Albuquerque to Paris and then back. 

There was a period of about 20 minutes when it seemed like there was no history of my booking for the flight to Dublin. Lee was just a little bit stressed....

Emily had her first Guinness just minutes after we landed in Dublin, around 5:15am.

Elizabeth suffered terrible motion sickness during the flight from Chicago to Paris and was very sick during the first day of our trip. Thank goodness we went out a day early.

A bird may have pooped on Emily's head in Le Mont-St-Michel. And Lee may have spent a few minutes using google translate to get some paper towels to clean her up.

Watching Breaking Bad on a long bus ride.

Elizabeth ran into two friends, including her travel buddy Sophia, in front of Notre Dame. Our guide was mid sentence when she just walked away. We knew Sophia was in France (study abroad) but we only used wifi on the trip so none of us knew she was in Paris or even near Notre Dame that day. It was a crazy experience. Side note - highly recommend a trip with no cell service. It's wonderful.

Walking in France

One of the things that Lee and I did a lot of in France was walking. Including travel days, I logged just over 264,000 steps and more than 112 miles; we averaged about 8 miles a day of walking. On travel days, we usually walked only in the evenings, but there were several days when we were able to walk or hike in the morning and at night. Whether we were walking along the beaches of Normandy or hiking trails in the Loire Valley, we always felt like our walks enable us to see things that no one else in our group saw. Plus, it made us feel a lot less guilty about all of the delicious bread and pastries that we were eating every day!

There is nothing that Lee and I love more than the ocean and the beaches of Deauville were incredible.

Finds on our morning walk in Port du Crouesty.

The hiking trails at the Chateau du Rochecotte.

The trails were covered in large slugs.

Lily pads in the Loire Valley.

Place Vendome

Night view of the Arc de Triomphe

French Food

As expected, we ate an incredible amount of food in France. We visited boulangeries, chocolate shops and bakeries everywhere we went and tried a little bit of everything. All of our breakfasts and several of our lunches and dinners were included in our trip, giving us all the chance to try local delicacies risk free. Overall, we really enjoyed the food. It was a bit shocking to come back and have bread (even good, bakery bread) for the first time. It just doesn't compare. Missing from these photos is the fois gras that Emily ordered in the Loire Valley - she hated it; Elizabeth hated it; Lee disliked it; and I didn't even bother trying it!

My first taste of hot chocolate, in Versailles. 

Escargot

In many restaurants, we were offered a cheese selection after the main course. We noticed the most of the locals had a cheese course in lieu of a sweet dessert (we had both, of course!).

More escargot.

Some of the best food we had came in the form of snacks from street vendors. This waffle covered in chocolate was one of them.

St. Malo is famous for its ice cream, so Elizabeth had to try it.

We couldn't leave Dinard without having oysters.

Chocolate beignet in Le Mont-Saint-Michel.

Octopus  in the Loire Valley

Angelina's hot chocolate in Paris.

Macaroons

TikTok famous crookies in Paris.

French Onion soup.

Desserts at the insane farewell dinner in the Dali Room at Le Meurice.

As mentioned in earlier Normandy posts, Calvados is a very important part of Normandy culture. When we were lingering and talking after dinner one evening in Deauville, one of the servers brought us complimentary shots of Calvados. Although we tried it at the cider farm, we were game to try again. Remember - it's incredibly high proof apple juice! Emily and I were not fans, but both Lee and Elizabeth bought a bottle in Normandy to take home.