France April 2017

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France Family Trip – April 2017

Day One

We flew to France on Air France. After arriving we met with Lucas where we drove to Lyon. In Lyon, we walked around our accommodation. We had dinner at at a very neat 60’s restaurant. After dinner we picked up some breads and baked goods for our place.

Day Two

We went to the old centre of Lyon. We walked throughout St. Jean and walked up hill to the Basilica de Notre Dame Fourviere . It was a beautiful hike with a beautiful view. The Basilica inside was that much more amazing. From there we had ham and cheese crepes and visited local shops. We departed to St. Jean de Belleville enroute to Val Thorens. On the way we saw many mountains, tunnels and castles that looked like signal towers along the mountain ridge. We arrived at our stay in a small village. As we arrived we saw sheep herding from a border collie. The homes are stone built and appears to be from the 1800s. The homes are beautiful. We were given local apple juice and cheese upon our arrival.

Day Three

We woke up and went to Val Thoren. This is part of Les Trois Vallees, the largest ski area in the world. Despite temperatures of high 20 degrees Celsius in surrounding areas the skiing was amazing. The views of the Alps, and skiing made for another amazing day.

Day Four

We drove to Dijon today. On the way we drove along the beautiful Lake Annecy. The calm waters and towns rested between mountains. We also saw the oldest building I had ever seen. It appeared to be a fortress with trees growing from the roof. This was on a lake south of Les Neyrolles. We arrived in Dijon and went to lunch at Loiseau des Ducs; a Michelin star restaurant. This restaurant was in a building constructed in 1560s as a mansion. We had lots of treats in addition to our three-course meal. It was delicious. We toured Dijon and visited many churches. The churches we saw were St. Michael’s Church was built in 1537, Cathedral Notre Dame where tombs were kept inside the church for display and Cathedral St. Benigne where we listened to a choir. We walked the streets and went on a carousel that has been around since 1900. It was a beautiful historic day.

Day Five

In the morning we had coffee in a local Café in Dijon. We departed and arrived in Arans for Good Friday. We walked the down town and looked at many sites, churches and shops. We had a dinner in a pub and settled into our apartment.

Day Six

Today was a very special day. The reason for our family trip. We went to Vimy. We went to the Vimy Memorial. It is a beautiful memorial on the ridge. We then took a tour and looked at the underground tunnels and trenches used in The Great War. We visited Canada 2 Cemetery. It was an impactful day filled with History.

Day Seven

We arrived in Paris. We visited The Louvre, seeing many Rafael ands and Da Vinci paintings. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. After checking into our apartment we visited the Notre Dame which was celebrating its Easter Sunday Mass. We walked the streets of Paris and had fondu at a restaurant tucked away with hundreds of others on a coble stone path.

Day Eight



The family went to the Love Locks and we threw the key into the river. From there we went to Moulin Rouge and hiked to Sacre Coeur which over looks the city. We drove to Arc de Triumph and walked to the Eifel Tower and walked through a market eating Gelato and Macrones. We then went to dinner and ate Steak and Frites and topped it off with Crepes for desert. Thank you for an amazing vacation.

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