France....

Friday April 6th...the start of spring break!  This is going to be a long entry, so I will apologize now!  Although we woke up to thunderstorms here in Rota, as we drove towards Jerez Airport we saw the most amazing sight.  I would have pictures, but I was driving, besides two of the most beautiful rainbows I have ever seen!  So, off to France we go!  We spent all of April 6th, travelling to our first destination, Bayeux, a town in the Normandy region.  We flew into Paris and then rented a car and drove to Normandy.  A long day of travelling followed by a nice dinner in the town.  The town is one of the few not destroyed by the war.  Very cute little town with a beautiful cathedral!  We had forgotten to let the credit card company know that we would be travelling so by the end of the day our card was being rejected.  The manager at the hotel was so nice, and let me call the bank and fix the problem!

The hotel rooms were great, huge stuffed tiger waiting for us and  bunk beds on the other side!  They also gave the kids toys!

Beautiful B&B down the street from our hotel.

The cathedral.

Kids at dinner on the first night!



Day 2, we took a D-Day beaches tour.  The guide drove us the Pointe du Hoc, where American Rangers scaled the cliffs to capture gun emplacements on top, which to their surprise had already been moved.  The cliff top was full of bomb craters and pieces of shelters scattered over the land.  Hard to imagine what it must have been like early that morning as the Rangers were scaling the cliffs.  After visiting Pointe du Hoc, they took us to Omaha beach and then onto the American cemetary there.  It was all quite beautiful even in the misty rainy morning we were there. 

Pointe de Hoc



Shawn in one of the craters left years ago by the bombing.

 

Omaha Beach



 

American Flag at Cemetary.

 

That afternoon, we visited the Cathedral in Bayeux.  It was beautiful, lots of bright stained glass and even singers there practicing for that nights Easter vigil Mass.  Then we went to the Bayeux Tapestry, which was actually pretty amazing.  A strip of linen 230 feet long, all embroidered, depicted 50 scenes.  The scenes all tell the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings.  Then onto the Memorial Museum in Bayeux, the kids enjoyed seeing the bigger items displayed, vehicles and weapons! 





Dinner this night was delicious, but Kara and I still wanted crepes.  So after dinner we ran next door to get crepes to go, well they didn't do that at this particular place.  So we decided to take our boys in to sit and have a crepe, however I don't think they really wanted us in there, slow to serve us and not so nice looks.  Then in walked our husbands and other children, whom we quickly shoved out the door!  We ate quick and paid and were gone, as Shawn almost knocked the table over!!  But we survived, and the crepes were good and we were on our way!

Day 3, Easter Sunday, brings another adventure!  We headed to Mont St. Michel, an Abbey set upon a massive rock.  Quite amazing to drive up to, through coastal flatlands and then out of nowhere this amazing Gothic Fortress appears.  Once you could only get there during low tide, but now there is a causeway to get out there.  We joked with the kids that if the tide comes in while we are there the car might float away!  We worked our way through the street and up to the Abbey.  It was all just breathtaking and the kids seemed to enjoy the hike!  A nice day even with the off and on rain!

         



Day 4, we left Normandy and headed to Paris.  We made a stop at Giverny gardens and Monet's house!  I think this might have been a favorite!  The gardens were beautiful, with lots of flowers blooming!  Shawn learned about Monet in Art last quarter, so he also enjoyed the gardens and wanted his picture taken on the bridge!  We bought Shawn and his friend Johnathon hot dogs at a little stand, apparently they put a very hot spicy mustard in them, neither boy would eat the hot day, and it nearly brought our friend Brandon to tears! A great stop for sure!

Shawn on the infamous bridge!



After we got settled into our hotel in Paris, well actually closer to Disneyland Paris, we headed to Disney Village to check it out.  It was raining by this point in the day, so we were looking for dinner.  We splurged and took the kids to Buffalo Bills Wild West Show, and it was actually very entertaining.  The kids hardly ate because they were mesmerized!  The food was actually really good and the show was too.  I think I was the most amazed by the buffalo's, there were about 8 or 9 and they were so calm and beautiful!  Overall a really fun day!  As we walked through Disney Village on the way out, there were clown type street performers, they were also entertaining!





Day 5, into the city of Paris for the first time!  We took the train from outside our hotel into the city and got off at the stop and as soon as we came up from underground there was the Arc de Triomphe.  We then walked down the Champs-Elysees towards Tuileries Garden.  We had booked a bus tour for the afternoon so we were headed towards that meeting spot.  Only to find out that there was no room on that tour.  Our only option at this point was to get on the hop on hop off bus to see an overview of the city.  It was a rainy day, so it just made sense.  After a rather long afternoon of trying to find lunch and the crowded bus (having to change a poopy Kelsey on that crowded bus), since it was raining, we made it to the Eiffle Tower.  Another highlight of the trip so far, again as Shawn was so excited to do this!  We waited in the line to get to the top, and again, so worth the wait and the expressions on the kids faces!  And best of all, the sun came out for the first time all day when were at the top of the Eiffle Tower!  We ended up just grabbing a bite to eat in the Eiffle Tower before we made the train ride home.  We were able to see the Tower at night will all the lights and saw them sparkle! 

Arc de Triomphe

The sun coming out for the first time all day, fantastic timingfor us!

Day 6, we decided to give the kids a day that was all about them...Disneyland!  We wanted to enjoy the first forcasted day with no rain and play outside!  We all slept in and off to the park we went!  What can I say, I love Disney and so do my kids!  Their little faces were priceless, full of excitement!  Alyssa and Kelsey loved It's a Small World, the Teacups, Dumbo and the Carousel.  Shawn loves Space Mountain and Startours!  The park itself was really pretty, newer and fresher that the ones in the states, but smaller, which was actually nice!  Another great day!





Day 7, we headed back into the city to visit the Musee d' Orsay and see Monet and other impressionist artists work!  We walked along the Seine River and found a bridge covered in locks with peoples names on them.  Apparently the locks signify their love being locked forever!  The kids enjoyed the bridge and the walk.  We found an artist working and actually bought a painting from him.  Shawn enjoyed watching him work!  Of course by now we are ready for lunch before we even made it to the museum.  And we found our most favorite restaurant in France, welcoming to us and great service and food!  Now with everyone happy and full bellies we make it to the museum.  Wow...the museum used to be a train station, so beautiful.  An amazing clock on one wall!  We bought the big boys a scavenger hunt of sorts to guide them through the museum in search of certain paintins or sculptures!  We did have to stear them clear of one nudist exhibit!  And after that we made sure as we went through there wasn't anything too risky for them to see!  After the museum we took the Batobus water taxi down the river.  We though the kids would have loved this, but they seemed uninterested.  So, we got off and headed home on the train, which the kids love.  Grabbed a quick dinner at the mall across from our hotel.  Kids ate McDonalds, which was quick, easy, cheap and they all ate!

The artist we bought pictures from!

Our favorite restaurant in Paris!



Day 8, back to Disney, first stop Disney Studios!  We took Alyssa on the Tower of Terror for the first time, not so sure she liked it, she didn't ask to go on it again!  We went to the stunt show, which was really cool, all the kids enjoyed it!  Then Brandon and I took the big boys on the Rockin Roller Coaster, they loved it, we went on twice!  Then we went to meet with Brian, Kara and the little kids.  When we got to them, Kara says, "Don't panic, but we can't find Alyssa!"  So, Kara was home base and Brian, Brandon and I went looking.  I have never been so scared in my whole life, couldn't help but think how scared she must have been.  It probably took a good 10-15 minutes to find her....so scary.  Brandon found her in a shop with one of the Disney employees.  And she was so scared.  We all held on tight to each other for a while, but my brave little girl was not scared for long and was running ahead of us by the end of the day.  More fun rides that afternoon both in Disney Studios, then on to Disneyland!  Another fun day, ended with dinner at Planet Hollywood!  We had a hard time that night getting back to the hotel, a nice man who must have worked for the bus line drove us in his handicapped van!  We had walked into the train station, but probably didn't go far enough in to realize the trains were still running.  We were carrying two sleeping girls at this point.  We were so thankful for another kind Frenchmans help!



Day 9, our big Versailles adventure!!!  The adventure part was figuring out the trains to get there!  But, we did eventually get there!  There was a McDonalds right as you get out of the train station, so an easy and quick lunch for the kids!  And it was more than I realized, huge, amazing, and beautiful!  Everything here was over the top and huge, the gardens, the homes, etc!!  With the rain looking emminent, we rented a golf cart to drive the kids to the Marie Antoinette estate on the other side of the gardens.  A couple of us walked and got rained on, but we dried off!  Overall, just amazing, huge and beautiful.  Hard to imagine anyone needing all that, but would surely be a relaxing place to vacation if you were a Queen or King!  After we explored the gardens, and the fountains were all turned on, we went into the main Chateau.  If I ever get back here I would love to explore the place more leisurely!  But for now we have kids in tow!  So, we head back again on the train and spoil them with more McDonalds to eat on the train.  It seemed to be the cheap, easy, way to go and no one complained!  Kara and I got crepes to hold us for a bit!  At our train station that we had to change trains, we shoved all 9 of us onto a very full train, we got some very not nice looks! It was a busy Saturday night, it was the only way to get on! 





And Day 10...homeward bound!  Our plan was to take the bus from the hotel to Disney where there was another shuttle that went to the airport.  As we were standing outside our hotel waiting, a minibus taxi pulled up and dropped a group off and asked if anyone needed a ride to the airport...we said how much and he responded same as the shuttle...so away we went!  I am sure this was much easier than getting on two possibly crowded shuttles!!  We lucked out for sure!  And two planes later, another meal at McDonalds in the Madrid airport and we were back to Rota!  And a beautiful sunset to remind us how lucky we are to live where we do!