Planning for Next Year

The Euro is finally moving in the right direction.  Next visit will be more value oriented.

July 17

We are back in Texas.

Sent from my HTC Inspire™ 4G on AT&T

Last Full Day in the Country

Today is our last full day in the French countryside.  Tomorrow we head into Paris to fly out on Sunday.  Not sure of our feelings but we are getting mentally committed to getting back and getting busy.

One thing for sure, we are going to have to sort out the milk situation for London.  She loves French milk and it is going to be difficult to find a comparable product in Dallas.

Chenonceau - Part Deux

Our New Kitchen

Beautiful Baby!!!

In the Maze...Right?? Left??

On the way to the end

Guests

As we wrap up we want to give our guests acknowledgment.  So, here we go in order.....

Shannon, Tandy, Doug, Linda, Huck, Kathleen, Ron, Ann, Maddux, Jessica, Lindsey, Carolyn, Marsella, Mike, Jean, Keri.  Holy Moly, we enjoyed time with over 15 guests.  We loved every minute of our time with our guest and want to start over.

We are returning as changed people and a different take on our lives.  Let us know if you notice.

Steve, Sherry, London

Chenonceau

On July 12th we made our way over to Chateau de Chenonceau which is a bit south of Amboise in the Loire Valley.  For reference sake, this is one of the three must see chateaus in the Loire Valley.  It was designed by women and reflects that in that the rooms are spacious, the kitchen is awesome and the layout is unbelievable.  The chateau is built on the river Cher, where the unique beauty of its architecture reflects in the water, the Château de Chenonceau is the Val de Loire’s finial.  An interesting point is that the River Cher was the line of demarcation between free France and occupied France in World War II.  The French resistance (all 4 of them) would go in the north door of the chateau, thru the chateau and out the south door into free France.  Quite the Hogan's Hero's operation.  

Château des Dames as recorded in the French history books, Chenonceau owes a large part of its charm to women: it was built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, then made even more attractive by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, and saved from the rigours of the French Revolution by Mrs Dupin.

The lovely surroundings, the formal garden and the park surrounding it add to the impression of delicate grace emanating from the castle.

We had a great time and ended up having lunch at the L'Orangerie on the grounds and then touring the vegetable and flower garden with a final stop at the Garden Maze.  Maddux quickly conquered the maze.

From a "must see" or not point of view I would say maybe.  The chateau grounds are unbelievable but the structure is not much more than a stretched out Preston Hollow McMansion.

The Walk into the Chateau

London hitting the puddles with her boots

In the Main Passageway between North and South

How Cool...a Chateau straddling a River

Note the size of the doors.  Little people during the years gone by

The Maze successfully conquered

Which way do I go???

Bastille Day - July 14, 2011

Tomorrow is Bastille Day in France, which apparently is the equivalent of the U.S. 4th of July.  We are planning on viewing events in Laval and painting our faces the blue, white and red, which is the tradition.  

Bastille Day is a day of celebrations of French culture. Many large-scale public events are held, including a military parade in Paris, as well as communal meals, dances, parties and fireworks.  There is a large military parade in Paris in the morning of July 14. Service men and women from various units, including cadets from military schools, the French Navy and the French Foreign Legion, participate in the parade. The parade ends with the Paris Fire Brigade. Military aircraft fly over the parade route during the parade. The French president opens the parade and reviews the troops and thousands of people line the route. Other people spend the day quietly and eat a celebratory meal or picnic with family and close friends.

The Bastille is a medieval fortress and prison in Paris. Many people in France associated it with the harsh rule of the Bourbon monarchy in the late 1700s. On July 14, 1789, troops stormed the Bastille. This was a pivotal event at the beginning of the French Revolution. Fête de la Fédération was held on July 14, 1790. This was a way to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France.

Official celebrations were held in Paris on June 30, 1878, to honor the Republic of France. On July 14, 1879, more official celebrations were held. These included a military review in Longchamp near Paris and celebrations all over the country. A politician named Benjamin Raspail proposed that July 14 should become a holiday in France in 1880. The law was enacted on July 6, 1880. Bastille Day was a public holiday for the first time on July 14, 1880.

The military parade in Paris has been held every year since 1880, except during World War II.  The Free French Forces paraded on this date in London, England from 1940 until 1944. 

St Suzanne - Fete Medievale

Today was so much fun! We headed to St Suzanne for their Medieval Festival. We have been to St Suzanne twice before with different guests, but this time was completely different. We arrived promptly at 9:00 am and as we got out of the car we were greeted by 2 large pigs on a rotisserie, head and all! I must have said something out loud because all day London kept asking where the 'gross pigs' were. I'm sure the meat was AMAZING, but something about having to see the head and feet is just disturbing.

Anyway, we made our way up St Suzanne and they were getting set up. Everyone was in medieval attire, except us. There were horses, donkeys, musicians walking around and every kind of vendor (medieval vendor) you could imagine. We stopped and had a cafe/tea and then began our walk around. The girls of course went straight for the amazing homemade soap shop for some shopping. Then we headed toward the castle of St Suzanne. They had jousting areas set up, every type of medieval weapon you would imagine and a guy explaining each weapon to a crowd. We went through the museum at the chateau and then found the food vendors for a little pre-lunch appetizer - beer and crepe-wrapped sausage - does it get any better???

We continued our adventure shopping and amusing ourselves with all the street dancers. Oh and of course, London found a 'princess dress' which she just HAD to have. I tried to convince Maddux to sport one of the very trendy medieval hats for the day, but he just wasn't too interested. Although he had so much fun trying them all on! He did want to attempt the ax throwing competition, but unfortunately it was for adults only. Where's the fun in that???

We ended the day with the Medieval lunch at the local cafe. Chicken and lentils.....quite yummy!! It was a very unique and fun day especially since none of us had ever been to a medieval festival.

Mont St Michel

Well, we finally made it to Mont St Michel. We have listened to all of our guests accounts of their visits there and finally we went to see it for ourselves. We got up bright and early and headed to the coast. Most of the passengers fell asleep on the way over except for London and obviously Steve. I'm pretty sure she didn't stop talking the entire hour and a half over. About 20 minutes away from Mont St Michel we had an unexpected delay - cows being herded across the street by dogs....isn't this something you only see in the movies?!?! So I quickly jumped out of the car to start taking pictures.

It is a good thing that we got up early because it was already crowded when we finally arrived. The sign in the parking lot gives you this time to be certain your car is removed if you don't want the tide to take it away, which I found amusing. 

We head toward Mont St Michel and immediately begin our climb. We left the stroller because there was really no point with all the stairs we had heard about. For those who have visited, imagine the joys of adding approximately 30lbs (perhaps 35lbs with all the french milk consumption) of wiggly toddler to this climb. We headed straight for the top. It was definitely beautiful and amazing how this was built.

I believe we all enjoyed the day at Mont St Michel. We ate at a local restaurant and when we were finished with lunch, it was shocking to see how crowded it had become. Definitely a good time to head home!! I'm so glad that we had the experience to see this in person, but I don't see us rushing back anytime soon, or at least during peak tourist season! ;->

Our unexpected 'surprise' delay - cows crossing the road. A little different than the traffic in Paris!

Mont St Michel as we arrived - an amazing sight!

BEWARE OF TIDE in every language! If you like your car, don't leave it here after 10pm.

We finally made it & parked. Let's go!!

How to carry a toddler up a million stairs.

When all else fails or your back is broken, just slow down and let her walk on her own.

We made it to the top. Beautiful views of the ocean.

Maddux and Jessica enjoying the view

London enjoying freedom on a flat surface outside the chapel

London, Maddux & Dad

Looking for trouble.....

Some of the reasons it was time to go home - CROWDS!!!!!!

A farewell to Mont St Michel. It was a great day!