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. And best of all, the whole family enjoyed it! Thanks to our downloaded iPod tour, they finally understood the context in which these artist were operating and why their work represents a rebellion and a turning ... read more

The day started with a visit to another iconic Parisian landmark--the Arc du Triomphe. 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 this restricted our access to the Egyptian obelisk in the center. We circled round to the Tuilleries Gardens, where we picnicked before heading to the L'Orangerie Museum to view Monet's Waterlillies paintings--impressive and moving. These and a small collection of Impressionists and a few post-Impressionists works gave ... read more

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 about everything we saw, but even that 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 of understanding and viewing just enough of what could have been an overwhelming experience. Then there were the gardens, grounds, and smaller palaces. And a little "fairly tale" village that Marie Antoinette had ... read more

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 German lines in the dead of night and secure major roads and causeways so that the Germans could not move reinforcements to the beaches once the invasion began. We visited a small village where two ... read more

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 you could survive 3 weeks wearing just 3 pairs of long pants! Next trip we will know you really can pack light! ************************************************************************************ Tuesday was our last full day in London, and we still had ... read more