Reflections

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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 different but not completely foreign cultures. Our goals in going to these particular locations was to expose Chris and Drew to some of the highlights of western civilization, to help them put major historical events in context, to expose them to that "je ne sais quoi" of life in large, international cities--the food, the language, the way people dress, the architecture, the modes of transport, the energy, the sense of possibility, etc. I would say that our experiences definitely fulfilled this goal.

And of course, given that this could be one of the last trips we take as a family, I was hoping for lots of bonding, revelations of hidden interests and new-found passions about what we were seeing. Here's where things turned out a bit differently than I had imagined. Of course this goal was a bit unreasonable, given the whirlwind nature of this trip, with its very full itinerary, where we barely skimmed the surface of so much of what we did have time to do. Also in retrospect, I realize this was the first family trip where we weren't two parents traveling with our somewhat malleable kids. We were now four adults, each with our own expectations and opinions and reactions to events! It was a bit more challenging in some ways, as we occasionally "butted heads". Yet we also found we could split the responsibilities of traveling four ways, so it was a bit of a relief, too. The parental units were often exhausted with the details and challenges of traveling, and it was wonderful, for example, when the boys took over navigating the Tube and Metro systems!

The level of stress inevitably increased with our days "on the road", as we tried to keep up an ungodly pace. The weather was challenging the first two weeks, and then we were confronted with the "apartment issue" once we reached Paris. We dealt with that daily while in Paris, and it is still not resolved, but at some point will no doubt make a funny story to include in our trip reperatoire... And of course, you don't get to leave your family dynamics behind when you pack for a trip--you just get to play them out against a different backdrop! Yet when asked, we all agree that it was a great trip, we saw so many amazing places, had so many great experiences, shared memories, etc.

Near the end of the trip, in Paris, we kept seeing a movie poster for a recent French film that looked like it had an ensemble cast of attractive 30 and 40-something actors, as well as several children and pets, called "Le Premier Jour Du Reste De Ta Vie" (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life). I couldn't help zeroing in on the tag line: "Cette Famille, C'est la Votre" (This Family--It's Yours) That seemed to sum it all up--and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Here are our "faves"--in no particular order.

Dave's Top 10 Highlights List:
--Tour of the Scottish Highlands
--Pub Food
--Shakespeare at the Globe Theater
--The British Library
--The Tower of London
--Tour of D-Day Beaches in Normandy, especially Point du Hoc
--Versailles
--The Eiffel Tower
--The Pantheon
--Monet's Waterlillies at L'Orangerie

Chris' Top 10 Highlights List:
--Scottish Highlands Tour
--Seeing "Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Globe and "Les Miserables"--theater in general
--The Tower of London (especially the tour by a "Beefeater")
--Abbey Road
--British Museum
--Stonehenge
--Point de Hoc, Normandy
--Versailles Gardens
--The Gargoyles at Notre Dame
--The Orsay Museum

Drew's Top 10:
--Touring the Scottish Highlands with Bill
--Listening to a musician at a Scottish Pub
--Seeing Shakespeare at the Globe as a "groundling"
--British Museum and The Louvre
--Taking our photo with a Royal Guard
--Stonehenge
--D-Day Sites Tour
--Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower
--Food and Awesome Restaurants (Indian food, crepes, souffle, steak and frites, the Gallic theme restaurant in Paris)
--Hanging out with Bruingtons and Julia near the Eiffel Tower in the early morning hours of Bastille Day

Sharon's Top 10:
--Bill's Tour of the Scottish Highlands
--The Churchill Museum
--Theater in London, especially Shakespeare and Les Miz
--Finally getting to see Stonehenge
--Dale's Tour of the American D-Day Sites
--The Bayeux Market
--More than just your typical tourist attractions: Eiffel Tower and Mona Lisa! Who knew?
--Vivaldi Concert at Sainte Chapelle
--Impressionist Paintings at The Orsay and L'Orangerie
--Getting pastries each morning from the kind, young baker at the boulangerie next door to our apartment in Paris
--Watching the boys soak up history, theater, art--and take "food risks"!

(OK, that was 11--and there could have been a lot more-- but I'm writing the thing, so...)

And finally, thank you to all the loyal blog readers out there! Thanks for your comments and messages and for encouraging us to keep blogging...

P.S. We also want to shout out a big thank you to Miriam Marlier for her tourguide services and delightful company in Oxford. And we're all grateful to Annie and Henry Bruington and Julia Uyttewall for showing up at just the right time to liberate Chris and Drew for some much needed adventures with peers. And thanks to Dede and Jed for some adult time and their valuable perspective on traveling!

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Photos

Diagram on Omaha Beach
as drawn by our guide, Dale, to explain what took place on that fateful day, June 6, 1944

Too True!
This family--it's yours (!)