Wha??

One minute we're sipping coffee and navigating cobblestones in a tiny village in eastern France, and the next thing you know we're tucked in to a slick Stuttgart hotel checking in for our flight to the US in the morning.  Everything about that just feels wrong.  It's gone by way too fast.  We didn't get to every village in the Haut Rhin or eat every possible form of chocolate mousse or backeoffe.  The real world looms and it's verrrrry disturbing.
Dinner with Dieter helped: there's nothing like spending three hours over dinner on a patio with a friend whose mutual affection spans decades and sense of humor compliments Peter's so perfectly. If Mom had another soul mate besides Dad I strongly suspect it would be Dieter - so we all hug and laugh and talk about the next trip here or the visit to the states next year, and fervently hope it will work out and seven years won't pass before the next time we see each other again.  We've felt that every time we say goodbye here, and with every danke and merci to these generous, sincere friends. As Dieter said tonight, years can go by and yet when I see Marnie again it's like no time at all - an exact echo of Ute's words yesterday in Strasbourg. We've been outrageously lucky to see all these people, and spend such valuable time in these beautiful countries.  I so hope we're lucky enough to do it again, and in the company of my dear insane and wonderful parents, who have made this trip infinitely more enjoyable and memorable for us both.  À votre santé avec tout notre amour.