La Maison, La Cressonnière

To say we are enraptured with the maison we get to live in for the next year ... would be to phrase it lightly.

The place we call home has always been key to our family. A place to rest, to work, to laugh, to dwell. And after all of our months of preparations and day dreams ... we have been ready to be excited to be home.

We had the whole two-hour drive from Paris, in which to anticipate. But you know how it is. You try to measure your expectations, as sometimes unexpected hiccups and realities are just part of the drill. (Like when the rental car company goofs and you must perform luggage tetris to get all of your gear into a hatchback sedan. It seems okay and you just trust the children are still in the car by the muffled sounds they make, as you can't really see them anymore.) 

But when you turn into the drive, past the gate, and see it ...

You gasp and squeal with incredulity.

 And you wonder ... if this is the outside,

What must be through the front door ...