I also wasn’t sure what to expect because I hadn’t yet seen the African bush in its glory.  Everything was new to me.  The landscape, the sky, the heat.  We were hours and hours away from the city.

Because it was my first time looking for animals, Ludi and Amy insisted I sit in the front passenger seat.

“Now Bridget,” Ludi started, “because everything is new to you, it’s going to be hard for you to spot animals in their natural habitat.  Remember, they look like the landscape.”

“I see an elephant!” I yelled.

“Exactly,” said Amy calmly from the back seat.  ”When you see something wandering around, just yell it out.  Let us know.”

“I SEE AN ELEPHANT!” I yelled again.

“Oh for real!  There it is!”

And Ludi put the brakes on the bakkie, threw it in reverse, and we watched quietly.

This is what I saw.

But he was there.  He was a really real wrinkly elephant.  And then he saw us.

And he said hello.  And we said hello.  And I fell in love with him.  He followed us for nearly two kilometers down the dirt road as the sun set on Zululand.

He was a little shy at first.

Then he stopped at a puddle and muddied himself to cool down.  And then he got back on the dirt road and continued to follow us.

I really wanted to get out of the bakkie and hug him.  He probably wouldn’t have liked that.

Bye, bye, lovely.

There is just nothing like Paris in the winter – except, I imagine, Paris in the summer, spring and fall.  And even though it rained nearly the entire time we were traipsing across the city’s ancient cobblestone, it was still well worth the ride on the RER from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Paris.  We had twelve hours to soak it all in.

It was kind of a love fest.  We were married.  We were in La Ville-Lumiere.  We were on our way to Africa.  Pretty romantic.

Tres adorable.  I learned in Paris that Chris has an EXCELLENT French accent.  So many talents!

Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris.

Un artiste.

Velos.

Un ecrivain de fumer.

Pour un appartement de jardin.

Musee du Louvre.

La Tour Eiffel.