Commence Sabbatical

Well......we did it. 

We both quit our jobs in order to start a few months of skiing, camping, surfing, learning new things, catching up with friends and family, considering our next career options, and generally messing about. 

Yes, you heard me. We quit perfectly good (actually great) jobs in Silicon Valley with amazing benefits to be ski-bums/hobos and sleep on people's couches and in our Vanagon.

Are you mad? Possibly. 

Or possibly, we were just plain burned out. You know that feeling where you get an email and it is almost torture to answer it, even the simple emails. Where every new project or meeting sounds tedious, rather than exciting? That was most definitely us, and it is not OK. We have been talking about taking break for a while and were finally inspired by this sabbatical Ted Talk featuring Stefan Sagmeister:

Mr. Sagmeister believes that the normal life trajectory (shown in that first bar in the diagram that follows) does not lead to happiness. The second bar, with breaks interspersed during your career and a later retirement, is more rational. This idea appealed to us given the lack of enthusiasm we were feeling in our careers. 
 

Before you all say, "well, that must be nice" - remember, we don't have kids. We figured we saved enough money (having never had to pay for daycare or save for college educations) for a few months off of a steady paycheck to simply enjoy our life and the fabulous people in it. Also, we are freaking in our 40s! If I don't learn to surf and ski like a pro now, when the hell am I ever going to get a chance. I think we are both cool with working a bit longer later in exchange for this time now when our knees are still strong and our bods are still hot (well, Dave at least:)).

Dave's freaky Elmo mask I am wearing for effect, WTF

We have both been off for about a month. How's it going? So far so good, Dave and I have:

• Spent a week in the Midwest with the family
• Traveled to Kauai for a wedding
• Camped down the coast from Big Sur to San Diego
• Enjoyed a week in Maui, just us
• Spent four days skiing

Before things really get into swing, there are still a few nagging practical considerations we need to deal with like:

• Car and junk storage
• Renting out the house
• Budgeting for the trip
• Health insurance (connecting healthcare to your employer is the dumbest thing ever, but I digress) 

So stay tuned.

Oh yeah - if anyone wants or knows someone that wants to rent a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom house in Palo Alto for 6 months to a year, let me know!

After a Delay - Parts 3 and 4

Part 3 - Avignon
OK so I am never going to find the time to describe Avignon, France as it should properly be described, especially now that I am back in the USA working full-time. Dammit.

Let's just say the South of France is better than the cliches - amazing, relaxing, loaded with history (Roman and Papal and otherwise), food and wine to make you want to never go home. One again, I will have to describe this place in pictures, and not just because I am lazy, but because the town is just so amazing.

We stayed at Maison Boussingault in the historic center of Avignon. I would definitely recommend this simple, cheap hotel. I can't even give a lot of restaurant recommendations because everywhere we ate was amazing, but we did really enjoy Le 26. Just stay away from the restaurants in the touristy bits of the town, and you'll be fine.

So here I am in Arles, a quick day trip from Avignon via train. Oh and Roman ruins in Arles will make you want to piss yourself they are so awesome. I didn't (piss myself, that is), but only because it was so UNSEASONABLY COLD while we were there. It was the SOUTH OF FRANCE in late MAY. I used caps to emphasize how pissed I was that it was the coldest spring in 100 EFFING YEARS in Europe. It was supposed to be in the 80s and it was maybe 60.

At the Roman coliseum in Arles, just redic, but cold.

Also we were detoxing from work stress, well Dave was. So there was a lot of wandering around the city of Avignon.

Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Market, don't effing tell me that cheese isn't awesome.

We carried SIX bottles of Champagne with us to Avignon from our trip to Champagne. Let's just say they were freaking heavy that some of them had to be sacrificed (consumed) before coming back to the USA. Here is a nice little bottle of Bryce accompanying our lunch picnic.

Cherries, berries, radis, cheese, bread, and faggots (meat sticks) = picnic perfection.

Oh guess what, there was drinking.

Also, castles and gorgeousness - come on.

And more drinking.

But hey, it wasn't all relaxing and drinking. We also did a 35K ride to Châteauneuf-du-Pape though vineyards and fields.......also along freeways, but we'll forget that part. The directions we received from the tourism office were in French. Luckily, I had been taking French for the 3 weeks prior to this trip while we were in Paris  - or else we might have ended up in Italy.

Fields of poppies everywhere.

This is where the Pope kept his wine during the Great Schism. Smart man.

Part 4 - Chicago and Tahoe
So we made it back to the States (should that be capitalized, hmmmm) from Europe. There were a few days in Chicago with family on the way back to Cali, most of which I don't remember because we were drinking the remains of all Champagne we didn't consume in Avignon.

There was also the Tahoe Relay!!!! After 2 years in London doing the occasional race where I knew NO ONE (and upon finishing, just went home), I cannot even express how amazing it was to run the last 200 yards of the race surrounded by the 13 women from our two relay teams. I ran the last leg and they were all there to run me into the finish. Blah, I am going to get all wishy-washy thinking about it.You ladies all rock!

Anyway, if you want to know more about the Tahoe Relay, Miss AT described the day way better than I could here.

Much love to the many friends that kept up with us. I may have a few post-London blogs up my sleeve, so stay tuned:).

Where Have You Monkeys Been (Part 2 of 4)

You all know how much we Monkeys love Champagne. So while in Paris, it was necessary to take the hour-long trip to the Champagne region to do a tour and tasting.

This was a great idea, courtesy of our friends AM1 and AM2. We spoiled ourselves with a private tour of four small-producer vineyards. I won't belabor the point of how awesome it was - because you already know that. I booked the tour through Larry at Experience Paris, and he was the best. I highly recommend his company if you want to take a tour of the Champagne region while visiting Paris.

Here is how the day went, I included some of the info Larry sent me about the vineyards and houses.

   
9:45 a.m. Tasting at Godmé Père et Fils: www.champagne-godmé.fr
We tasted in the owners house, like no big deal - come on in. So cool! Established in 1946, Godmé Père et Fils is a traditionnal Champagne maker located in one of the 17 100% Grand Cru villages. They take great pride in protecting nature as much as possible and this year's harvest will be their first to be recognized as being organic - and organic/biodynamic/low-sulfite and sulfite-free wines are HUGE in France right now.

11:00 a.m. Surprise tasting at Champagne Brice: http://www.champagne-brice.com/
We were supposed to go to another producer to taste, but they were closed so our guide scrambled and got us into Brice. One of the owners (Remy) rode up on his bike to let us in, and then proceeded to give us a tour of his 300-year-old cave and a tasting that was unforgettable. Located in the heart of Bouzy, they benefit from the village's micro-climate which allows its local Pinot Noir to be absolutely fantastic.

AM and I with Remy. This guy was very French and very very funny.

12:15 a.m. Lunch at Les Avisés: www.selosse-lesavises.com/
We lunched at a B&B/inn type of place. It was very cute and comfortable. I think we had asparagus, duck, then cheese and dessert. The restaurant had a fixed menu so you just sit down and eat what they had that day. This is such an indicator of the French and their attitude towards food. None of this dairy-free, vegetarian, gluten-free, fat-free, paleo-whoseywhatsit that us spoiled Americans seem to be obsessed with right now. You eat what is fresh and good you will eat it how they prepared it, so shut up and eat. 


2:30 p.m. Tasting at Michel Gonet: www.gonet.fr
This was another location where you just walk in and taste Champagne in someone's house, it seems a bit awkward - but after the first taste, you feel right at home. The Champagne maker here was an amazing woman who told us stories about how a few sips of the humble Champagne can save lives! For real. She sat and tasted with us for an hour or so, no hurry - just keep tasting and enjoy. Then, Dave made her spit out her wine laughing. Anywho, Michel Gonet is located in Avize, and is a Chardonnay specialist. They are part of the larger Gonet group, which owns vineyards all over France.

We only look well behaved.

3:45p.m. Tasting at Tribaut-Schloesser: www.champagne-tribaut.com
Our last tasting of the day was a bit of a bust since we were all tired and full of Champagne. However, we soldiered on. Trisbaut-Schloesser produces 300,000 bottles per year and they make fruity, casual champagne. They have a range of 9 different champagnes including the award winning Cuvée René, 70% chardonnay 30% Pinot Noir matured in oak barrels.

Pretty enough to drink, but not for 3 more years!

Group photo!

Lesson learned: Don't buy six bottles of champagne while tasting and then try to carry them all with you on the train to Avignon the next day. Dear god those bottles are thick and HEAVY; however, any permanent damage to my back is well worth the reward of drinking those beautiful bubbles.

Next post: Avignon, France.

Where Have You Monkeys Been (Part 1 of 4)

Yes part 1 of 4.......

How annoying Monkeys, you ditch everyone for weeks than have all sorts of stuff to talk about. Whatever, at least now I am committed to writing four posts about the shit we have been doing for the last five weeks. It's official.

So Paris. Yeah, 3 weeks in Paris went by in a blink. And every second was outstanding. I love that place: the warm baguettes with dinner every night, the cheese, the wine, the lifestyle, the scarves, the urine-smelling Metro, all of it.

So what did we do? Well we mostly ate and drank good things, oh man  a lot of good things. So many good things that I have a butter-induced spare tire around my waist - worth every bite/drink as far as I am concerned.

Camembert, jambon, walnuts, tomatoes, eggs, and roasted potatoes = SALAD.

But also I was productive (kind of). I went to French class in the mornings at the Leutece Language School, then I worked in the afternoons at our cute little apartment. We stayed in the 19th Arrondissement, a bit outside of the normal tourist track - but totally cool! We were adjacent to the very trendy bars, boutiques, restaurants, and cafes of the Parisian "Bobo" area (bourgeois boheme). I would say the area is similar to the Mission in SF maybe, but much cleaner and less scary. There were so many affordable, interesting places to go and things to do. I will definitely stay out there the next time I am in Paris. Though a note of warning: it helped that I could speak a bit of French as English was definitely not ubiquitous in these parts.

So what else......

Well, it was mother effing ass unseasonably cold the WHOLE TIME we were in Paris. And also rainy. My broken umbrella and I were really sad about it. All I wanted was to escape the looooooooong cooooooold British winter, and Paris was absolutely no better than London. I was lucky if it broke 55 degrees the entire 3 weeks. Booooo.

It wasn't all bad though, after all it is Paris. There was biking, that made me happy!

City-sponsored Velib bikes!

There was the Paris St. Germain soccer match, which we attended with the gorgeous, Canadian Kerry Anne from my French class. The match happened to be David Beckham's last game ever! 

Love you Kerry!

Also, there was the Paris sewer tour. OK - I know it sounds weird. But actually, it was really interesting, perhaps because I used to work at a civil engineering firm......but I digress.

A bit stinky but cool.

We also toured around the Palais Royal and the covered galleries of Paris, which are a little hidden-gem of a tourist attraction, because tourists don't really know about them. At least, I didn't until this trip.

Douche.

Posts will follow about our day trip to the Champagne region (yes), Avignon (double yes), and finally Tahoe - where we are hanging out right now for a few days.

Love you bye!

What the Hell Is Up

So what have the monkeys been doing all week since the move from London. Well, I'll tell you - mostly in pictures because I am feeling uninspired and very lazy.

Stonehenge: OK that was before we left the UK technically, but we had to go see it.

That blue shy is deceiving. It rained almost the whole time we were there.

Promenade de Plantee/Viaduc des Arts: So we mad it to Paris and the next day we wandered over to the Marche d'Aliglre, which is awesome. Then we accidentally discovered the amazing elevated park and walking path that is the 2.9-mile-long Promenade de Plantee, which used to be an elevated railway. It was spectacular on a sunny day!

On the walkway.

Redic.

Normandie: On Sunday, we took a loooooong bus ride out to the Normandie coast to see the WWII beaches and such with our college friend, Scott. Aside from the really early bus ride, it was pretty amazing. I need to watch Saving Private Ryan again now that I have see the beaches and the ruins. My grandpa Glaser was in northern France and Belgium during the war. I cannot even begin to put myself in his shoes to imagine what he saw over there.

The Eiffel Tower at sunrise, yes the bus ride was that effing early.

 

Ruins of the old Nazi bunkers.

Crazy stuff everywhere.

More ruins.

One of the many bomb craters.

Thanks Scott for organizing such an unforgettable trip!

What else: Well I am taking French and working (and eating a lot). Dave ditched me and went to Poland this week, whateva. Luckily (so as not to go crazy on my own in a country where I barely speak the language), I made a friend in French class and we went to dinner and drinks tonight. She was born in MENLO PARK. How funny is that! She is a chef and sommelier and we are going to a market tomorrow morning because - surprise - it is a French holiday so no language class.

Anywho, I will take more photos and let you know how it is going over here. xo

The Move

Well, the movers have packed up all our crap and left. Wow.

Everyone should have to go through their shit every 2 years. It is amazing how much ridiculous junk you collect, and how cleansing it feels to get rid of all that extra stuff.

As part of plan "get rid of shit", we played “what not to wear” the other night with two of our favorite (and very fashionable) friends. They helped us complete a clothing purge the likes of which have never been seen. It was a bit scary, but soooooo cathartic. Dave still wouldn’t dump the black fleece though, I think he hid it. That guy thinks he is like Steve jobs with the black turtle-necks......

Since we cannot make anything easy, we are taking a less than direct route home from London - including:

• 3 weeks in Paris in an apartment owned by the nicest dude ever - http://www.vrbo.com/420495
• One week in Avignon, which is quite possibly the closest place to heaven, staying here - http://www.maisonboussingault.com/
• A few days in Morris, Illinois to see my family
• And few days in Tahoe to relax and host the Tahoe Relay post-race BBQ, we have two ladies teams this year - so 14 women and Dave. Lucky man!

I'll be back at work on June 10th, as though the last 2 years didn't even happen - weird. I am hoping to see Sammy that same day. He'll either be stoked or he'll bite me, we'll see what happens. I am so video-ing the reunion. I have been looking forward to it for 2 years.

SO EXCITED to see that face!

I suppose I should be feeling really sad to leave London, but I am OK. It makes it easier that we had an awful winter after a really bad summer, and I am still waiting for spring. Besides, the Bay Area kind of rocks. And I miss hiking in the mountains, farmshare and cooking, my book club, long Saturday bike rides with friends, and of course Sammy. I even miss working and having my awesome coworkers to talk to (since I have worked alone in our basement apartment for the last 2 years in London). 

 

I will really miss all our friends here. However, I have maintained a state of purposeful denial or have been just plain busy lately, that way - I won't start blubbering. It will hit me soon enough, probably when I am wearing mascara because that is how I roll.

Anyway, I'll post some stuff about "living" in Paris. Bring on the butter and duck fat! I am so excited to go to the food markets as a customer and not just as a photo-taking tourist. Our rental apartment has a decent kitchen and a huge terrace so we can dine outside if it is warm enough.

Photos soon!