Category Archives: Europe 2014

Europe 2014

Day 3 Paris and more Emotions

We are thankful for such beautiful weather with sunshine and barely 70 degrees.  our first event of the day was to visit the Louvre.  It  is so huge with miles of  walking to see the art pieces.

paris louvre

It was almost surreal gazing at the Mona Lisa and reflecting on the character of Da Vinci.  We have such an array of  art materials available to us, that I have to wonder about the ingenuity of artists of the 16th century.

Mona Lisa

We saw many wonderful masters paintings and have renewed appreciation for the masters.  There were so many people there, from many countries, yet with the common excitement and respect for art.

We ate lunch at the  Louvre and then headed for the Cathedral of  Notre Dame.  It is 8 centuries old and displays wonderful gothic architecture.   We walked the inside of the cathedral and saw beautiful gold  & silver increments.  Once again we saw people from all parts of the world giving  interest and respect to  a great Christian site.

Cathedral of Notra Dame

I loved the beautiful stained glass windows and found that many reminded me of quilting patterns I have seen or used.

Windows of Cathedral

We saw some gorgeous robes that were hand embroidered.

robes at Cathedral

This was a remarkable  part of out travels today.  We are tired from the fast paced  several days in Paris, and will rest tonight in preparation for another great day tomorrow.

Europe 2014

Day 2 A Day Filled with Emotions

A wonderful day, today with so many events to still look forward to. We left Paris & headed to gverny to see the house and grounds of Monet. We loved seeing the country side and architecture of the farm land and small villages. Along the way we stopped at a flea market to get some sodas, snf gounf yhat they were selling dead chickens with their heads still on. Very gross and you have got to be thankful for our Pubix and no grossness.

When we arrive in Gverny, we begun with the Gardens. It was a surreal experience to stand in front of a place in the grass where I can picture Mont in front of his easle as he gazed at his beloved garden. It was so beautiful, and we had to have our moment on the bridge above the water lilies. What an inspiration he was to us, showing us a new way to look at the beautiful things in nature, that we have been given to enjoy.

pic oh monet bridge

lily pondAs we toured Monet.s home we saw a love of all kinds of art as there were pieces from the masters throughout the  rooms.

We left the Monet grounds with a sense of thankfullness that we have had the opportunity to walk where Monet walked and see what Monet saw.  I hope the inspiration of his work will be well remembered.

We then headed further away from Paris to Normady and then to Omaha Beach.

Omaha beach

 

We were speechless as we looked upon the beach and remembered the 48,000 soldiers  who had given their lives to bring freedom to France, Belgium, Netherlands etc…So many countries working together on that day and our American soldiers were led by Commander Eisenhower.

Flags at Omaha Beach

An event that  brought freedom to many.  We find through that the French credit the U.S with bravery and gratitude and have created a very touching memorial.  We are so thankful that we chose to visit this moving tribute.

Tribute

 

Europe 2014

The Trip Begins

Our plane trip was the usual rattling creaky part from Tally to Atlanta, but a surprise awaited us in atlanta.  Our flight for the long leg of the trip was a double decker with an abundance of people aboard.  It was huge.  The flight was relatively smooth.  It had already been a long day, but I decided to watch one movoe and then try to sleep.  I chose the movie Frozen, because my grear granddaughter  Chloe loves that movie and I wanted to see what it was about.  Cute Disney movie,  It was hard to get comfortable in such narrow seats, so we arrived today very tired.

We love the apartment  which overlooks the Sein River and Eiful Tower.  We have 4 bedrooms and a master so there is room to spread out.  A really beautiful view.

Sharon at Paris apartment

 

Michael at Paris Aparment

Tomorrow, when we are more energized we will  start visiting the charming offerings of Paris.

Europe 2014

And the Planning is Coming Together

What a journey this has already been.  It started out with a longing to take a short trip to Paris, and we would have been thrilled with that.  However, as our younger son heard our excitement about Paris, he very practically said, “what a waste of time to go so far, and not stay for at least two weeks”.  He also said he would love to go on a trip with us and this one would be right, as he too wanted to see parts of Europe.  And at that point Steven took over the planning of the trip, to include my passion to see Ireland, and has made this as easy as could be.  We will make a stop along the way in London, to see Stonehenge, as we missed in when we were there four years ago.

Nothing has changed in the past four years, and I still so wish there was another way to get across the ocean quickly without being so high up in the sky with just a metal framework.  But alas, the airlines again gets to take me on the scary travel, so that I can get where I want to go.

We are busy doing laundry, getting last minute prescriptions filled, trying to stay organized.  We will save another day for packing.  Maybe Monday.

Until then…………