Europe 2014

Day 5 Paris We are on our own

The guys have left to go visit some other countries, so Michael & I are alone in this  5 bedroom apartment with a bit of a quieter schedule.  We slept in, and then went out searching for a Starbucks.  When we finally got there it was closed due to a holiday festivals.  awe found a beatiful pastry shop and picked  up some goodies for tomorrow morning.  aacoffee is out of the question as they only serve expresso except for Starbucks.  We founf this  cute little crepe shop and this  was the perfect place for breakfast.  French crepes and plump, juicy, raspberries.   Yummy.

Breakfast in paris

The weather is pleasant but a little overcast, so here’s hoping the sun comes out so we can continue the day with a Sein river cruise.

We made it on a river cruise and it was wonderful.  The French architecture is so beautiful  and the decorative bridges we passed under had various uniqueness and beauty.

River Cruise

So many Paris locals come down to the Sein to sit along it and picnic, or visit.  Some areas we passed had various  entertainments such as dancing, roller blading, magic acts.

Bridge on Sein River

All in all it’s been a very good day.  But then,  everyday in Paris is a good day.

Europe 2014

Day 4 Paris Shopping & More

What a wonderful day this is!!!!!  Once we arrived on  Champs-Elipees things began to  happen.

Very Important !!!!!!  I   found a hat shop.  How fun.   I found two hats I really love and they  are coming home with me

iHat shop in Paris

Then to our surprise, tucked between two stores was a Mercedes shop.  Michael is standing in front of a Gull Wing concept car.

Michael in Paris Mercedes

As we continued to  walk we arrived at the Arch of  Triumph,  Beautiful carvings and lots of people.

Arch of Triam

From there we traveled down the other side of Champs Elipees and the first stop was at Louis Vuitton.  Here I am leaving the store with my new purse.  Wow

louis Vuitton

Our next stop was to pick up a birthday gift for Michaels 75th celebration.    Here is Michael outside the  Rolex store.  We had to pass though 2 locked doors to get in and here is Michael all perked out as he tries on watches.

Rolex store

Happy Birthday Michael

Michaels Rolex

We headed back toward the apartment and stopped for a yummy Nutella Crepe.  Oh, so good.

nutella crepes

A carousel ride is a must when visiting Paris.  Trouble is it is so hard to get up on the horses now.  But it was still fun to ride the carousel standing up.  Too bad Michael wouldn’t join me.

Carousel

We chose to do the Eiffle tower  at night.  We got up to the second floor and I thought we were at the top, but noooooo.  We still had a long way to go.  I thought about not doing it, but I can’t leave Paris with out going to the top.   It really was scary and cold at the top,  and it.s so far up.  It’s like being on an airplane without the plane being there.

view from tower

 

And here we are at the top, very scared, but smiling.

Top of tower

I’d say this is a pretty spectacular Day!

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…………

Long Beach, Calif-2012

Day 7 , A Full Day of Travel

We thought we were leaving in the morning, but because of such an early flight, at western standard time, our alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. and we got dressed quickly, grabbed a cab and got to the airport.  It seemed like a never ending flight that went on, and on, and on.  It was pretty smooth traveling both flights to get to Atlanta.

Then we got on our bolts missing plane and home to Tallahassee.

antique-plane

And today we get to wake up in our own beds.  Our family is back together!  Michael, Sharon, Angel & Abby

Long Beach, Calif-2012

Day 6 is our Last Day in Long Beach

It is with very mixed feelings that we wake up to our last day in Long Beach.  We are so enjoying spending time with  Joanne and Terry, and at the same time we long to be home with Angel and Abby.  If we just didn’t have that awful plane trip between the two.

We spent the morning packing and then made our way to the Marta bus, which is free in Long Beach, and took our ride to the Queen Mary Ship.  Terry and Joanne were waiting at the bus stop so we were ready for the tour.  The Queen Mary has a lot of history behind it.

Queen Mary

This is one huge ship.  It was considered quite elegant as a cruise ship in it’s day, and later was used to transport very large numbers of troops during the war.  The  engine room had a zillion dials and instruments located on four levels.  When we got to the steering area, Joanne and I decided to take over the ship.

Joanne & Sharon

We must not have done a super job, so I relinquished my offering and Joanne & Terry gave it a try.

Terry & Joanne

Not to be outdone, Michael got behind the steering wheel to show us how it should be done.

Michael

The ship was so large, that after many hours, we were very tired and headed back to the hotels to pack and rest.

Joanne & Terry then picked us up at the hotel, and we took a bus to a fabulous restaurant on the water, in the harbor.  Very delicious.

Restuarant

We then took the bus back, said our good buys and went to our respective hotels.   What a wonderful weekend.  Our good buys were promises of we’d see each other again.

Long Beach, Calif-2012

Day 5 is Sooooooo Special

Today my main reason for this trip, arrived at our hotel, to join us for breakfast.  My cousin Joanne, whom I haven’t seen since junior high school, and her husband Terry were our special reason.  It was joyous to share time with both of them, and to spend the weekend together in various activities.  We talked about our parents, of whom both our mothers were sisters.  And we talked about our adorable Grandma Gillette, who we both loved dearly.

After breakfast, Joanne and I went to a tapestry forum and heard great speakers.  One of them is a master tapestry artist by the name of Archie Brennan.  He spoke about his work and showed us slides of his beautiful tapestries.

Archie Brennen & Sharon

Of course Joanne and I couldn’t leave the convention hall without another round in the vendor hall.  How can it be that I’ve spent hours here twice, and I’m still finding things I hadn’t seen before.   We went to the exhibit room to see the various exhibits and they took my breath away.  Some of the artists wove things that I can’t even imagine in my mind. Convergence just provides one surprise after another.  Many many  WOW moments.

From the convention hall we walked to the library to view the small tapestry exhibit.  This was an unjuried show with such a great variety of subject matter and style in the pieces.

While Joanne and I have been enjoying all the beauty of the tapestry world, Michael & Terry found a pool hall (I wonder whose idea that was), and when they tired of billiards, they headed to the harbor and sites to see.  I think they were stalking out resturants for future meals.

Well, after walking miles we all went back to our respective hotels and soaked our feet and rested.  But time heals the body, and we were soon ready to head to a wonderful seafood resturant that was downtown.  Super delicious, and more reminiscing and enjoyable discussion.  And then time to hike back to the hotel.

Ohhhhhh        No trouble sleeping tonight.