Like the other tourists, we decided to be photographed with a Leprechaun in Dublin

Stag party man trying filling up the Leprechaun's gold pot

It is not that I despite my homeland (France is a lovely place to live in) but, at a young age I always thought that “grass was greener abroad”, especially in Ireland.

View from our hotel room in Kilkenny

Eight months ago, when we left Ireland for good, I wouldn't have thought we’ll be back so quickly. We came back because we were invited to the wedding of an old friend of ours in Kilkenny. It was a traditional Irish wedding that occurred in a catholic church, followed by a party with Irish music in the playlist. 

Being in Ireland reminded me how much I love that place even if it rains a lot. I love it, because there are life scenes that are peculiar to Ireland and that can only be seen over there.

Now, imagine you’re sent by mistake to Ireland without knowing it; if you do not hear the Irish music in the soundscape, how would you know you’re in Ireland? 

We brought Teddy to the world famous Ha Penny Bridge, Dublin

Easy. Going outside of the plane you’ll be blown away by the strongest salty wind storm you may experience in your life. You’ll be welcomed by beautifully layered grey clouds and eventually a few showers. If you’re going to the closest supermarket at 10am in Ireland, you may bump into guys who just purchased cans of beers. Only in Ireland, you drink beer in the local pub as your breakfast (the traditional Irish breakfast being a pint of Guinness with a plate of oysters). Then, taking the public transports, you may observe the new faces around you for a while and notice hysterical noises coming from the back. It would be a group of suburban’s teens dress up in a very colourful way and wearing “Amy Winehouse” type of hairdo. Going to the city, you’d experience a very relaxed atmosphere and listen to a few Irish performers playing rock music on the main streets. Pubs are easy to spot; there is at least one every 100 meters. Finally, it smells fish & chips. You may also notice girls wearing pyjamas and slippers in Dublin city centre or people completely drunk walking like zombies in the middle of the road, blocking the traffic; or you may witness a violent alcoholic person being pushed out of the local public transport by the policemen. This is the sad face of Ireland: alcohol consumption has a very high rate in here. Then, if you pay attention to what the Irish people say, you may find their language funny. They will “thank you a million” for buying something or scream to one another “Stahree budz!” (How are you?) and reply “I’m grand!”. Even if Irish people do not believe in fairies and leprechauns like the stereotype would like to, I would like to emphasize the fact that Ireland truly is a magical place. It is an island worth discovering to the full. I'll always be Irish by heart (even though I am French). 

Temple bar, the most popular and the most arty place in Dublin.
Kind of quiet in the day time, it looks very different at night.

Our lunch meal (joke)

Last day in Dublin. I did some "Fake" street art again and for the last time in order to keep some souvenirs
of the place and people I met.

Photo taken on Sunday after the Tea Party

This was the moment… As the plane rose to take some altitude, Agnes had her face against the window trying to catch a last view of Dublin, then, Dublin bay…Then, nothing… We have left Ireland and we both very moved. We had some of our best years in Ireland, 7 years for me and 4 for Agnes. A few days ago, we had our leaving party, one last opportunity to say Good-Bye to our friends. The move went smoothly, even though it caused a bit of stress (which created a bit of tension between us… the normal life as a couple!). We had everything prepared for the flight: 1 bag-pack each (that should not exceed 20kg) and one cabin luggage each (that should not exceed 10kg). In the end, all our bags exceeded the required weight but Aer Lingus did not bother and gave us our boarding pass with a big smile. Then, going through security, I realized I forgot to take out the laptop from the bag, and the case was already through. “Doesn’t matter, it was not detected on the scanner anyway” they told us. Dublin airport is also the only airport in the world to spend less than 1s per passport at immigration.

We’ll miss all this: the cool and relaxed attitude of the Irish…

Good-Bye Ireland, we will miss you…

A, our former flatmate, with his daughter Tess

Ca y est… Alors que l’avion prenait de l’altitude, Agnes avait sa tete collee a la fenetre, essayant de regarder derriere elle une derniere fois…Dublin, puis la Baie de Dublin, et puis plus rien… Nous avons quitte l’Irlande et nous sommes emus, car nous y avons passe nos meilleures annees (7 ans pour moi, 4 ans pour Agnes). Il y a quelques jours, nous avons organise un pot de depart a la maison pour dire au revoir a nos amis. Le demenagement s’est bien passe, meme s’il a engendre un peu de stress (et quelques tensions entre nous…comme un couple normal, quoi !). Nous avions bien prepare nos valises : un gros sac a dos chacun (ne devant pas depasser 20kg) et une valise cabine chacun (ne devant pas depasser 10kg). Resultat : nous etions en surplus de bagages tous les deux. Alors qu’on s’attendait a payer un surplus, l’hotesse d’Aer Lingus nous donne nos billets en souriant. En passant le portillon magnetique, j’oublie de sortir mon ordinateur portable : « Pas grave, le scanner ne l’avait meme pas detecte », me repond l’officier. Dublin est aussi le seul aeroport au monde ou les officiers passent moins de 1s a regarder les passeports a la douane. C’est ca qui me manquera : cette cool-relax attitude.

Au revoir, Irlande, tu vas nous manquer…

Ben

Pictures from our Tea Party: here with our South Korean friend Eonmi

I will miss the friendly people of Ireland, the walk along River Liffey, the seagulls in the city centre, the DART that goes along the sea and brings you to the best costal sceneries around Dublin, Howth harbour and peninsula, Dublin Bay, Mr Whippy calling me from his ice-cream van, the smelly Fish & Chips, the Irish indie rock scene & Phantom radio, the Celtic music, the pub at the very end of the Military Road and Donegal...
Finally, we will miss the Irish slang: “Are you SERIOUS!!?”, “It's GORGEOUS!!!” , “It's GRAND!”, “Thanks a MILLION”, “Thank you LUV’”, “What the STORY?!!!” …

Agnes

Pictures from our Tea Party: Venkat, Andrew, Claudia, Eonmi, Susan and Marc

Pictures from our Tea Party: with Muriel

Pictures from our Tea Party: Ben with his 66 degree North shirt from Iceland

Claudia, Andrew, Susan and Marc

Pictures from our Tea Party: Alan and Dina

Day -2 before leaving Ireland: Junon and Sam

Day -1 before leaving Ireland: Mairead, Xavier, Ryan and Amy

Day -1 before leaving Ireland: throwing the cake away at Xavier's

 Now, some photos souvenirs....

The excellent annual Bastille Day at the French Embassy

Our friends Christina and Thierry with their two daughters Stephanie and Carla

Hiking in Ireland with our friends Elaine and Gordon

Hiking in Ireland with our friends Darragh and Neil

Oliver, the House Master, mastering in welcoming people in his house and organising great parties

Our friends Derek and Sinead

At the MDB (La Maison du Bonheur) with Olga, Pablo, Ethan, Oliver, Nourredine and Eva

At the MDB with Alexis, Laurent, Philippe, Lana, Oliver, Gaelle, Maiwen et Sebastien