Florence

After leaving Holland on Wednesday, August 20th, we headed back to Paris for a few days.  Then on Saturday, it was off to Florence, with a brief stay in Freiburg, Germany to break up the long drive, where we once again visited old friends.  Late Monday night, we finally arrived here in Florence, where we stay until November.  We are staying at an old monastery, which has been converted into a language school.  We have the basement apartment, which has three bedrooms and a good size kitchen.  It is a wonderful place to stay. I anticipate having a great time here.

Amsterdam--Tuesday, August 19

On Tuesday, we went to Amsterdam to see the Youth Hostel where we met.  We were warmly welcomed by some of the workers there.  It was great to see the place again, and it brought back many fond memories.  

Holland--Sunday, August 17

Sunday morning we said goodbye to our new friends and headed two hours north to Holland to see our old friends, Max and Suzan Jonker.  After 15 years, it was good to see them again.  We knew we were in Holland by the windmills.  Cool and rainy is a nice change from the hot Italian weather.  

Brugges, Belgium--Saturday, August 16

On Saturday, Zander spent the morning learning some soccer moves, since Tom coaches a team, and we sat enjoying our coffee and pastries.  After lunch we piled into the cars to go to Brugges, the city of bridges.  We did more sight-seeing and chocolate-tasting.  We sat at a café for dinner and sipped a glass of wine and then it was time to enjoy the “Reiefest”, which is the festival of the canals.  It is once a year, and they use skits and dances to show the history of Brugges.  It was quite interesting and fun, but it made for a very late evening.  We didn’t get to bed until almost 2am.

Ghent

Walking along the canals, seeing the bicycles and flowers, I believe this may be one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. 

Belgium--Friday, August 15

On Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed for Belgium.  Not bad—only a 3-hour drive.  We were on our way to meet Tom and his family.  Lloyd met Tom in Perugia, where he was studying Italian for a month.  They met in the middle of town during an open-air jazz concert.  After talking for about 30 minutes that evening, they exchanged addresses and invited each other to their homes.  Little did Tom know that we would take him up on his invitation!  His family was so kind and gracious to have us into their home and to make typical Belgian food and then to take us out sightseeing. 

After a wonderful lunch, we got on a train and headed for Ghent, about 30 minutes away.  What a beautiful city, with old buildings and a real castle!  The first thing we saw after getting off the bus was a stand selling homemade gingerbread and small raspberry cone-shaped candies.  The gingerbread was a cheesecake-consistency and moist and absolutely delicious!  The raspberry was also wonderful, but very, very sweet.  The Belgian word for the candy translates as a “nose” because it is shaped like a nose!

Then, we went to Gravensteen, a castle that was built back in the 800s, which was rebuilt over a period of decades, starting in the 1800s.  It is now a museum containing medieval weapons and torture instruments.  The kids loved it.  The tower also offered a spectacular view of the city.

We went to the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent, which holds a very famous painting by Jan van Eyck, called the Mystic Lamb.  Here is a link to one site about St. Bavo's:  http://www.trabel.com/gent/gent-saintbavo.htm

Versailles-again

On Thursday, August 14, we spent the day in Versailles.  This time we went inside--we avoided the long ticket queue by purchasing tickets the day before at the supermarket.  We saw the Dauphin's apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, Marie Antionette's Grand and Petit Trianons.  There was more to see, but after walking for seven hours, we felt we got our money's worth.  

Chartres, France

On Wednesday, August 13, we took a trip to Chartres, which was an absolutely amazingly charming town, complete with stream and romantic bridges.  We stopped in the Cathedral and climbed up about 300 or so steps to get up to the bell tower.  At the top, my legs were a bit wobbly, but what an amazing view!

August 7-13 France

For those of you who have been jealous of our trip, this is the week you can be glad you are not in our shoes.  After twisting his ankle last week, Lloyd came down with a pretty bad cold.   Of course, he shared it with everyone else, so now we are all sick.  We did discover that you can now watch any television show on the internet, so we've made great use of our time watching Lost, Monk, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and a few old episodes of All in the Family. 

 

We are hoping to go to Chartres today, but at the rate we are going, we may not get out of the house in time.   On Friday, we plan to go to Belgium to stay with a student that Lloyd met in Perugia.  Then on Sunday, we head to Holland, where we will stay with some old friends of Lori's family, whom we have not seen in 15 years.  

By the way, I think this is the best smile on Maggie that anyone has ever captured on a camera.  We look forward to any comments.  

Versailles

Today we went to Versailles to walk around the gardens and have a picnic lunch.  We were planning on buying tickets to the palace and to Marie Antoinette's garden after we finished lunch.  But on the way to look at the boats in the canal, Lloyd stepped in a hole (that he couldn't see) and twisted his ankle.   We came back home to let him ice it and rest.  Hopefully in a day or two, he'll feel better.

The Chapel of the miraculous medal

Today we went to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.  It is right in Paris, and we had no trouble finding it.  We went to the daily Mass at 10:30 this morning, and the chapel was packed.  There seemed to be various nuns, locals and lots of pilgrims.  You can find out more about the chapel at http://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/EN/a.asp

We saw the incorrupt body of the saint, which was on display in a glass case.  

It was another beautiful day in Paris!  And to top it all off, we decided to have an evening picnic on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower.  Nice view at night!

Free Museum Day in Paris!

The first Sunday of every month, most museums in Paris are free, so we planned to see two, maybe three museums today, depending on the crowds.  We went first to the Musee D'Orsay to see many works of pre-impressionists, impressionists and post-impressionists.  There was almost no wait there at all.  We spent the morning just enjoying the beautiful artwork.  We brought a picnic lunch with us, which we enjoyed in the Tuileries Gardens.  Maggie, particularly, enjoyed feeding her breadcrumbs to the pigeons and the fish in the pond.  Next we stood in line at the Louvre so we could see the Mona Lisa.  The queue was about 45 minutes long, with a little rain sprinkled in.  It was so crowded inside that it was all we could do to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.  The kids enjoyed it and were ready when it was time to leave.  Next we decided that there was enough time to see the Orangerie museum, which has a number of Monet's water lilies on enormous panoramic canvases.  

On the way back to the house, we decided that we had a little time left in the day to see the Arc de Triomph.  What a long day, but very rich.

Paris, part 2

Another day in Paris, another trip around the Arc de Triomph.  Today we went to Notre Dame Cathedral for a tour in English and a vigil Mass.  The Mass was packed, but beautifully done.

Vive la Paris!

Paris!

Our house in Paris has been the best so far, in terms of sleeping arrangements and comfort.  There are actually four bedrooms and three bathrooms.  Not to mention the basement playroom, books, dvds and toys for the kids.  Also an actual yard for them to play in.  

The drive here was brutal.  About 14 hours after a stop-off in Settignano.  We left at 4:30 in the morning so we wouldn't arrive too late.  It was a long, long drive and very hot, especially when we got stuck in some rush hour traffic in the sun.  The rest stops in France were by far the nicest we have encountered on the road trip.  For some reason, the Italians don't think toilet seats are necessary, or even toilet paper, for that matter, and this can be troublesome when you have small-ish girls who need help with the handicaps!  

But we arrived in time to be met by Pacal, the owner, who showed us around and gave us some useful information about Paris and the surrounding area.

We spent the first day here relaxing and planning out a trip into the city.  Friday, we made our way straight to the Eiffel Tower.  The day was cool and overcast, too, much to our relief.  We all made the trip up the first 680 steps of the tower, even Maggie, with no help at all!  What a view from the (semi) top.  After a picnic on the grass at the bottom of the tower, we drove around Paris in the direction of Notre Dame and decided to head home when we realized that traffic was getting thicker and there was no chance of turning off the main street.  So we turned on the GPS, which promptly directed us to turn around and head straight for the Champs-Elysees!  That was the last place I wanted to drive, but having no choice, I gritted my teeth and hung on to the steering wheel for dear life!  I managed to navigate through the crazy Paris traffic (the craziest are the scooter drivers who will knock off your side mirrors if you don't give them enough room to get in between the lanes) while the rest of the family enjoyed the sights.  And we made it home in one piece!  

Today we are planning on going back to Notre Dame for evening Mass, and then back again tomorrow for the Free Museum Sunday.  The first Sunday of every month a few museums are free all day, including the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay.  I hope to let the kids see the Mona Lisa, if the lines are not too long.

Supposedly, half the city leaves for vacation at the beginning of August, and it appears to be true.  Both of our close neighbors have left early this morning, leaving us plenty of room to park the car.  This should make it easier to get through Paris and to find parking on the streets.

Au revoir.

Orvieto

The last week of July. It is hard to believe how fast summer is passing.  On Saturday, 26 July, we headed to Orvieto, stopping at Todi on the way.  Although it is hard to believe, I was starting to get jaded seeing another medieval town, each with at least seven grand churches that were starting to look all alike. But then, to my surprise, was the Duomo (Cathedral) of Orvieto.  What a sight--with its black and white stripes and impressive facade.  Orvieto quickly became my favorite medieval town, or at least my favorite Duomo (to see more, you can search pictures of it on google images).  

Monday was our last day in Perugia, so we spent it in Assisi, of course.  True, Assisi is a major tourist site, but given that most of the tourists seem to be on a religious pilgrimage, it is actually very refreshing.  Everywhere you look you see Franciscan monks and nuns.  They have the best scholarly bookstore for works of Scotus and Ockham that I have ever seen.  

We headed to Florence on Tuesday, where we spent the day at Villa Morghen.  Then, on Wednesday, it was an excruciatingly long drive to Paris, which lasted about 14 hours in the car.  The only compensation was seeing the Alps in Southern France.