It's been two weeks since we returned from our trip, long enough for discussions of highlights to take place and long-term memories to settle in (while mentally deleting most of the "special family moments"). Each of us has put together a "Top 10" list, which I will include in this entry for your entertainment... I've also included some of our favorite photos from the trip, although we have yet to comb through the hundreds the four of us took! But, in addition, I must touch on my reflections on traveling as a family for three weeks in slightly but not completely [View Full Entry]

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With our new relaxed attitude we got an even later start today for our grand finale--The Orsay Museum--home to a wonderful collection of Impressionist masterpieces, and something I'd been anticipating the whole week. It did not disappoint--and what a fantastic building! The museum is actually a former train station, built in 1900, saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970's, and turned into a museum in which to consolidate the scattered Parisian collections of art from about 1850 to 1915. I finally got to see some of my favorite works of art by Manet, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, etc. An [View Full Entry]

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Last night we had a "family meeting" and concluded we needed to regroup--change our schedule & pace, in an effort to preserve our sanity for our last two days. We decided to abandon our Friday's activities (none of which were "must sees" for any of us) and split Thurday's original plan into the next two days. That way we thought we'd get to pick up some things we'd skipped earlier and do it all at a less frenetic pace (right). We headed out later in the morning than usual--part of the new plan--after first enjoying the most heavenly croissants and pains [View Full Entry]

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The day started with a visit to another iconic Parisian landmark--the Arc du Triomphe--and after a trip up to the top for more views of the city, we headed down the Champs Elysees towards the Place de la Concorde. Lots of interesting stores to window shop in--from Peugeot's race cars on display to Cartier and Louis Vuitton to the usual suspects--McDonald's, Addidas, Disney, Virgin Megastore, etc. Closer to the Place de la Concorde, the bleachers and reviewing stands from the Bastille Day parade were still being taken down, and restricted our access to the Egyptian obelisk in the center. We [View Full Entry]

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Today we started off at the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, and the quintessential tourist experience. By 10 AM the crowds were already intense, so we decided to walk the 668 stairs of the first 2 levels, rather than waiting in extremely long lines for the elevator from the bottom directly to the top. Dave, with his height issues, stopped after the first level, but the rest of us took the elevator from the second level to the top. All of this involved many lines and much time, but it was completely worth it. The Tower was much more impressive [View Full Entry]

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It's the Big Day here in France, and we decided to escape the craziness of Paris for the countryside and Versailles--apparently mirroring Louis XIV's actions about 300 years ago. We managed to negotiate the RER transit system and arrived at Versailles on a glorious blue-sky day (finally!) What can one say about Versailles? "Oppulence to the max" we kept saying, but even then it doesn't quite capture it. The Hall of Mirrors was incredible, even by today's standards. We had downloaded a tour (by guide book author Rick Steves) onto our iPods before we left, so we had a great way [View Full Entry]

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Today was our first full day in Paris. We headed up to Ile de la Cite this morning and were awestruck by the vastness and beauty of Notre Dame, not to mention amazed by the feat of construction during the 12th century. Since it was Sunday, masses were going on, and we got to hear the organ and choral singing, as well. We opted to wait in the hour long line to climb the tower, but multi-tasked and bought lunch at the conveniently placed creperie across the street and ate it in line. The boys managed to get in a bit [View Full Entry]

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July 11, 2008 We began our tour of Normandy at 0830, meeting our English guide, Dale, at the "Battlebus" (9 passenger van) which would take us around the D-Day sites. Dale enlisted in the British infantry at 17, and while he was too young to have served in WWII (he spent most of his time in Northern Ireland), he was a student of military history with an encyclopedic knowledge of everything about the Allied invasion of the Normandy coast. We began by talking about the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne ("Band of Brothers") whose mission was to jump behind [View Full Entry]

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July 9 to 12, 2008 On Wednesday, the 9th, we packed up and were out of our London apartment by 10, then took a cab to the Waterloo Station for the train to Portsmouth. The hour and a half ride was uneventful, and we caught a another cab to the Portsmouth Mariott (and arranged with the cabbie to pick us up at 7AM the next day for the ferry). The room at the Mariott was quite comfortable and large, considering the four of us were sharing it. After the boys took a quick swim, we headed off to the Portsmouth Historic [View Full Entry]

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Drew has graciously volunteered to write the blog on yesterday's activities, while the rest of us pack and get ready to clear out of the apartment. We're taking the train to Portsmouth today, then the ferry to Normandy tomorrow. Friday we'll tour the D-Day Beaches, then Saturday it's on to Paris by train. We won't have internet to continue blogging until then... Unfortunately, we've learned that the bad weather will be coming along with us to France--rain is predicted for our entire time there! So glad we packed all those shorts, tank tops, sandals, skirts, etc. On the upside, who knew [View Full Entry]

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