photos by Paul Ferney
Are you ready to start the new week? Me too. And I have 3 things to mention:
1) The Easter Egg Hunt was so much fun! It really made me happy to gather friends and family for our little celebration — I’m excited to tell you all about it. I’ll start by sharing photos of the welcome sign we set at the end of the driveway to greet guests.
I used scrap wood from the barn and sidewalk chalk to do the lettering, then rested the sign against a charming yellow cruiser that belongs to the homeowners. Potted hydrangeas in the bike basket and a few ribbons help it feel especially festive, don’t you think?
The pictures make me happy.
2) The kids don’t have school for two weeks and we are attempting to make the most of their time off. So, I’m actually on a Spring Break roadtrip with the whole family, and typing this up from Hotel Perigord in the Dordogne region of France. Stephmodo & Co. are kindly playing tour guide for us. It’s gorgeous here and I’m snapping photos like crazy. Can’t wait to share them.
3) Mother’s Day is coming fast — it arrives on May 8th, which is less than two weeks away! I thought it would be fun to start the celebrations early, so that it doesn’t sneak up on us. So I’ve got several fantastic giveaways for you this week, especially for Mother’s Day. Watch for the first one later today.
kisses,
Gabrielle
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah can’t wait for pics of your Easter Egg Hunt!
Our mini hunt went excellent! Our 2 year old had a great time and understood immediately what to do. We kept telling him that the eggs were hidden (caché) and he should search for them (cherche!). He was walking around with his basket saying caché and cherche very cute!
We will be vacationing in Dordogne Region too this August for 2 weeks and 1 week in the Loire Valley. Tell us ALL about it and lots of pics please! I haven’t even started to research the area other than booking our accommodations just outside of Sarlat. My husband has been there a few times but it will be my first. Stephmodo should be an excellent guide!
Have a great vacation and Mother’s Day!
Lovely bike/hydrangea sign! Sounds like a very good Easter, looking forward to pics of the egg hunt. Over here Mother’s Day isn’t until May 29th, but a long celebration sounds good to me! Joyeux Paques et Glad Påsk from Stockholm.
Bonjour!
My sister in-law sent me your blog address last night and I can’t stop reading. Beautiful pictures!!!
She sent me your link as we are also moving to France. We are Americans who have been living in England for the last 4 years and now about to start the move to France. Thanks for sharing your experience. Will continue to follow!
xx Holli
Gorgeous way to welcome your guests!
So much fun! I am still in awe of the beauty you are so blessed to live around:) And you did a job on the bike! Very charming and inviting:)
Hi Gabrielle! Good news–you’ll get to have Mother’s Day twice this year–the U.S date, May 8 and the French date, May 29!
I am a sucker for stone buildings and your photos are making me drool! Beautiful..
Marvelous invite to you guests Gabrielle. The pictures are too lovely which shows the pleasant celebration.
I *love* the photos of the bike! I would definitely want to attend a party with a welcome like that!
I’m always so impressed that you find time to continue updating and commenting while you are on vacation, traveling for business, and/or moving to France… I suppose having 6 kids helps with your multi-tasking, but I’m still super impressed!
amy @ glass confetti
oh wow, these photos make me want to go back to france someday. thx for sharing ;)
It’s going to be a beautiful Spring break… I mean… Paris in the Spring!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!
If that’s what your welcome sign looked like I can’t wait to see all the other pictures! Fantastic!
The very best welcome sign I have ever seen!
man, someone already beat me to it. i was going to tell you that the french mother’s day isn’t the same as the american one.
Sounds like a great Easter weekend! Western Europe was blessed with unseasonably gorgeous weather and we enjoyed it every minute.
When you feel like venturing a little further up north -say, Amsterdam/Netherlands- for another one of your trips, I would be most happy to show you around!
By the way, did you have French people over for you egg hunt? I’m curious to know how easy or hard the mingling with the locals is!
Can’t wait to see the rest of the pics!
yep, I’m with Dee! can wait to see more pics!
Your pictures are wonderful! We love France and your house and entrance with the bike are so beautiful and so French. We had a wonderful Easter and egg hunt, we are keeping up a tradition that we started with our children and nieces and nephews over 30 years ago. This year we had our 4 grandchildren, and my sister’s 2 grandchildren for a wonderful hunt. I did the wheat grass and copied you with eggs in the grass in a contaniner. It came out beautiful except we started the seeds a little to earlier so grass was a little too early but we cut it down. The hard part was hiding it from the cat, who loves wheat grass and knew it was in the house. Looking forward to more pictures!!!!
bike + flowers + sign + ribbon = perfect!
The sign is fantastic, very photo-worthy. And for we who are ignoramuses, what does it say?
simply charming. thanks for sharing!
Enjoy the spring break! Can’t wait to see the pictures =)
love the shots! great layout with the flowers and such.
The welcome bike with flowers is gorgeous! Can’t wait to see the rest of the photos! What did you write on the sign? ;D
I hope you’re having a wonderful spring break with your friends and family.
Pretty! Pretty!
how funny, we stayed at that exact hotel two summers ago. we found them as we were driving down to the dordogne and scrambling to find a place to stay. they were so nice and accommodating, especially as we kept saying, “okay we’ll stay just one more night,” and then, “just one more,” and “i promise this is the last!”
the dordogne is such an amazing region. hope you can take a canoe trip down the river.
happy travels!