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May 3, 2013

Grand Finale

Well, we did enjoy Paris!  Its art wrapped up our art history lesson perfectly. Its food satisfied our appetites. Fortunately, and following a pattern typical of this trip, we arrived with weather perfect for each day and its activities.  In this case, the first good, warm spring weather.  The cliché Paris in Springtime is, well, you know, and as a bonus made us really happy to be coming home during this season. We ended up leaving our ascent of the Eiffel tower until the last day.  The Elevator door opened and the first thing we noticed was the lighted board above the windows that shows the major cities of the world at their bearing from Paris, along with the distance to that city and the height of its tallest tower.  “Hey!  We’ve been there, take a picture.”  There too, and there, and so on all the way around the observation deck.  This silly, unexpected exercise brought it home that we really did go all the way around.  We enjoyed the view until they were closing down for the night and we had to catch the last train to our apartment.  A perfect wrap for this travel around the world project! It all feels a bit overwhelming, so it may take us a week or two to process and be able to write some follow up posts.  Please continue checking our website!  We will let you know when we have finished up.
May 2, 2013

60 Plus Posts by Mom

That’s kinda a lot and I don’t have too much more to say. Ha. Soon, logistics for me will look quite a bit different – answering phones, scheduling, cooking, cleaning, all that fun stuff. Life is good! Here’s a bit more showing our time in Paris. All four of us really liked it and we are super glad we ended the trip there.  
April 30, 2013

Paris and the Questions

Well, its over… and I’m happy for that. I’m not saying the trip wasn’t awesome. It was! I’m just happy to be somewhere that I know. Paris was really fun and If I had to live in a city that would be on the top of the list. Now, to answer some of those questions that I know all of you will ask. #1. How was your trip? It was awesome… duh. #2.What was your favorite place? Well, that’s a hard one, but I would say my top three would be Ton Sai, Thailand, Jordan, and France. #3. What was the funnest thing you did? We went to see the play Monty Python in London. It rocked. #4. Would you do a trip like this again? NO, not one exactly like this. #5. Where would you like to go back to? Thailand, Israel, Greece ( I want to go to the Island, Kalymnos for the climbing) Nice, and Paris, France. #6. Where do you want to go next? Spain and  Portugal are next on the list. P.S. If you have read this, please don’t ask me the questions that I just answered. 😉  
April 24, 2013

Rewards

My eyes got all teary. I almost started to cry. I was so happy! Paris, France – We were in the Louvre. Having just admired the small, but famous Mona Lisa, we turn to leave the room when Rebekah stops and points at the far wall. “Hey, that is a ‘Paradise’. It was painted by one of those 14 famous artists that were commissioned for that competition to replace a piece that was burned in Venice. This is one of those pieces.  Remember?  Tintoretto won the commission, but the piece was finished by his son who screwed it up and painted it wrong. It’s the one we saw in the Doge’s Palace in Venice – the largest oil painting in the world.” IMG_2207 Then we proceeded to the sculptures where Levi points out, after a very quick glance, that we are in the wrong room since, “Hey, these are Greek, not Roman.” IMG_2214 My job is done and the reward is great!! IMG_2213 Jeb says he’ll look like this by end of summer. I’ll rub his toe just for extra measure.
April 23, 2013

Hallelujah Moment

We visited the Chateau Versailles today. The moment actually came first thing this morning when we stepped outside of our apartment and realized that we should put our sweaters back. We wouldn’t be needing them today. It was 70 deg. and sunny. Haaalleeelujah! P.S. We even all got a bit of a sun burn. Nobody’s complaining.
March 8, 2013

Provence

We spent a day driving north from the coast through Provence, stopping in St. Remy for lunch. It was a small touristy town that reminded us too much of Leavenworth. Beautiful place with great shops and old buildings, but everything was made in China. So we bought locally-made baguettes, cheese and wine, soaked up some sun-rays in a pretty little square, and then headed on our way. We continued driving north into the French Alps where we paid a pretty penny to cross back over to Italy under Mont Blanc – the 5th longest tunnel in the world (13.5 km long). We were glad for the toll roads that allowed us to drive 110 miles an hour so we could get back to Milan in a jiffy. Shopping in Milan for leather shoes, bags, and ties will be more fun.
March 7, 2013

To the Beach!

The French Riviera is really all that it’s chalked up to be. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! Turquoise waters, long promenades, fast, sexy cars, ungodly-sized yachts, windy scenic roads, wonderful chateaus tucked everywhere, flower markets, Frenchmen effortlessly climbing huge hills on road bikes, immaculately clean, sunshine, dramatic ocean views, and happy people eating gelato and crepes. And then there’s Monte Carlo. It falls into its own category. To sum it up; it has sparkles in its paved roads and all the exotic sports car dealerships sit on prime real estate. Oh, the eye candy!