World Travels

Well, we are off again. This time we are heading to Belgium to visit the Christmas Markets in Europe. There will be a stop on the way to go to a Manchester United Football match! We are both looking forward to this (OK, me a little more than Amy).

After that, we head on to Belgium and visiting Dani and John, who have been there for a few months now. This should be a fun trip.

We finally get into the Paris area, and make a return visit to Versailles. The weather this time was a bit warmer than our last trip, that was in December a few years ago. We had to come back because the Hall of Mirrors was closed for repairs and cleaning.

This time, the Hall fo Morrors was open and Amy finally got to realize her dream of visiting it.

The art work of the structure itself is incredible, as can be seen by this picture of a corner in one of the rooms.

After Versailles, we moved on into Paris.

In Paris, we went to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is dedicated to the heroes of France, and many famous people are buried there, including Victor Hugo, Marie and Pierre Currie, Alexander Dumas, and Voltaire.

The inside of the building still maintains much of the church look.

As we were wondering around, we made our way to Notre Dame.

And, yes, the gargoyles are still keeping watch over the cathedral.

And, of course, no trip to Paris is completed without seeing the Arc de Triumph.

Today, we finished up our trip trying to visit the Catacombs of Paris, but found out that they were closed because it is the a holiday remembering the fall of Berlin in WWII. Were were able to visit the Pere Lachaise Cemetery and see the grave of Jim Morrison.

As this is the last chance I will get to put anything up on the internet, I will finish up either in the airport tomorrow, or after we get home.

Tonight, we are having dinner at the Hidden Kitchen, which is a private dinner club here in Paris. We are looking forward to an incredible 10 course dinner, with a few other folks. It should be a great evening to end our trip on.

Look forward to the rest of Paris, including pictures from the Eiffel Tower, and Amy's trip to the Mother Ship, Louis Vuitton.

Well, as we left the Loire Valley, we found out that we no longer had easy access to free internet. So, it has been a few days since I have been able to write anything and upload some more pictures.

We finished up in the Loire Valley with Chenonceau, Foutainebleu and we also found Chateau Ambroise. Friday was a trip to Chenonceau, and on Saturday, we went to Fountainebleu in the morning, and then had all afternoon to wonder around. We made a wrong turn and ended up in Ambroise and decided to visit the Chateau. It is up on a hill and was definately more of the defensive castle than the royal residence.

As you can see, when we got to Chenonceau, there was scaffolding up around it. As our luck would have it, it went up within the last month and is part of a 30 month project.

The tower outside the chateau looked fine, though, as did the gardens.

And, for the Amy Picture of the day, here she is in front of one of the buildings near the chateau. The house was covered with wisteria and and looked very nice.

The next day, we headed to Fontainebleu, and found a chateau much larger than we expected.

The inside was absolutely gorgeous, as you can see by this picture of the cathedral in the chateau.

After we left there, we were heading to a small town, but took an wrong turn and headed to Amboise instead. We found a nice little town with a castle guarding it from atop a big rock. Amboise is alo the final home and resting place of DaVinci. He is buried in a small chapel on the grounds. =

Here is a picture of the castle.

And for those needing another picture of Amy, here she is in one of her finer moments of the trip.

Next, Versailles and Paris.

Wednesday

Today, we made our way to Normandy and the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach. We were there very early, and it was incredible to have the place almost to ourselves for a few minutes. It is a very moving experience seeing all of the graves of the soldiers who never made it home.

The Memorial at the entrance to the cemetery is something to see. On each side of the memorial, there are maps showing the invasion points and movements into France.

The Cemetery is located just off Omaha Beach. The beach is still very wide and open and there are high cliffs to negotiate after you cross the beach. It is incredible that men were even able to make it.

After that, we moved on down to Pointe du Hoc where American Rangers climbed the cliffs to take out positions of the German cannons. Still today, the fortifications are still there.

And, you can still see lots of the holes in the ground that were made by Allied bombing.

After this, we drove on to Chambord.

Thursday

We have made our way to the Loire Valley and the Land of Chateaus. Our fist is Chambord. Built by Francoise I, it is a beautiful place.

As Amy says that the only reason anyone is reading this is to see pictures of her, here is a picture of Amy at Chambord.

And a picture of the Chateau without Amy.

That picture shows the view from our room at our hotel that was across from the Chateau. It was very nice and staying on the grounds, we were able to walk around after dinner and see things without all of the tourists. And, we were some of the first people in the Chateau this morning, before all of the buses arrived.

This is our hotel.

After Chambord, we moved on to Villandry, know for the incredible gardens. The chateau was nice, but it is the gardens that really makes the place. they are still in early spring, so they were not completely in bloom yet.

Here is the much sought after picture of Amy at Villandry.

And a couple pictures of the gardens.

And finally, the Chateau Villandry.

Tomorrow, we continue around the Loire Valley in search of the grand chateaus!

Saturday

After a a forty minute delay taking off from Chicago, we were finally on our way. It was a wonderful flight, complete with losing time, so that we finally arrived in France over an hour late, and a passanger who did not understand the concept of bathing daily. Actually, I think he had a problem with bathing monthly. We were just happy he was on the other side of the plane from us.

We got our rental car, and then proceeded to get all turned around heading to Reims. What should have been an hour and ahalf drive turned into a 2 1/2 hour drive. But, we did get to see some nice scenery.

Oh, did I mention that we are back in France, so the weather has gone from sunny and 70 degrees to rainy and mid-50's. Yes, we are back!

After a nap, it was head down to the City Center and dinner at Le 3 Brassiers. The beer was good, and we had a wonderful 4 cheese flatbread/pizza with bacon and onions on it. Then back to the room, and time to get ready for tomorrow and champagen tasting!

Sunday

Today we did a little champagne tasting. First we went to Pommery and then to Mumm in Reims. On both tours, they took us down into the caves to see millions of bottles of champagne. It is just amazing to see all of the bottles and all of the area carved out by hand over 150 years ago.

After going through the caves, you get to tast the champagne.

Monday

Monday we made the drive to Epernay to visit Nicolas Feuillatte, and the tour showed us the modern side of making champagne. While all of the other houses we visited are 150 years old plus, Nicolas Feuillatte is only about 30 years old and a very modern poduction. There were lots of robots doing the work. All of the others talk about how they have modernized, but this is the only tour that actually shows you.

And, we finally had sunny weather! It is amazing. the sun actually comes out in France!

While in Reims, we say at a B&B that is an old converted horse barn that was built in 1922, Closerie des Sacres. The place is amazing, and we stayed there last time we came to France, as well.

Tuesday

Guess what? It is raining again today.

We mad the longest drive of the trip, going from Reims to Mont St Michael and then back to our hotel in Caen. The whole time we were at Mont St Michael, it was raining, but that did not keep the masses from coming. The place was packed. It is quite amazing that this has been built up over the centuries by monks.

That is about it for now. Tomorrow we head to the Normandy Beaches and then onto the Loire Valley.