Loving France? Still Waiting #3

...continued .... This post is a continuation of  the Loving France?  thread that tells how I became a card-carrying Francophile.  You can read earlier posts and read them in numerical order, if you wish.
Just check out the archives.  

When I last left you in this thread (in #2) we were on vacation in a tent having a gin and tonic.  We were not in France.  Not even close.
  
Our life changed over time.  In the words of the inimitable Sonny and Cher, "The Beat Goes On."
We find new jobs in new cites.
We move past the tent. (We still kind of miss it, and we still use a tent for weekend trips to state parks)
We plan our first trip "across the pond."

If you are someone who uses "summer" as a verb -- as in "Last year I summered in Nantucket" -- I am sure that it comes as a shock to you that someone could be this far along in life without making this journey.

Oh, you who had ski trips to Saint Moritz in middle school and high school spring breaks in Prague!
Not everyone had the opportunities that you took for granted as a kid.  We are just thankful to be able to do so now.

So it it time to make our first trip overseas.  And we chose .... not France.
We went to England.  I think many Americans choose England for their first big trip.
We are embarrassed and nervous that we are not able to speck another language.
We think that (at least theoretically) we can speak and be understood in the UK.

So we took several trips to England

and then to Scotland

 

and also to Wales

It was wonderful, as you can see.  We loved every single minute of our trips in the UK -- from Cornwall and Devon to Yorkshire and the Lake District in England to Aberdeen and the Isle of Skye in Scotland to Betws-y-Coed and Snowdonia in Wales. 

Then my dear dad took me on a trip to Italy.

Fantastic.  What a beautiful country!  The food!  The art!  The wonderful people!

But not France.

You are probably wondering, "When does France come into the picture?"  And what is it about that place that gets under your skin?

Stay tuned.