Chandelles dîner- Candle light dinner

Luxembourg Gardens As soon as the kids were out of school we drove into Paris to fit in a few more of the sights.

First stop-Luxembourg Gardens. What a beautiful place to be on a warm summer day. The park was full of young and old, readers, tourists, runners and the French, but everyone was enjoying the beauty of these fabulous gardens.

Posing the children on this handrail was not the best idea, what is the first thing that goes through a child's mind when they sit on one of these? I'm sure you know and I am sure you can only guess what the next photo will be.

There they go, nothing like a good slide down the handrail.

The hunt was on. One of the goals today was to find the 3rd Statue of Liberty. We knew she sat in Luxembourg Gardens somewhere. We asked several people and were mislead each time. (Of course there is not a sign or any markings on a map to guide you, that would be too easy). We didn't give up and when we turned the corner, Voila- there she was.

This particular statue was the model used for the one that sits in New York.

We were pretty disappointed to watch them close all the play equipment at 6:30 so we made our own fun with a little hide and seek. You really have to be sneaky when you are not allowed to walk on the grass.

Miss Liberty made a perfect home base.

The main attraction of the day was our candle light dinner at the Eiffel Tower. The tower was blue tonight, our guess is that maybe they change the color on different nights, but tonight she was glowing blue.

As it started to get dark we lit our candles and had our dinner while we waited for the lights to sparkle. 11:00 sharp it happened. Over the top of the blue lights there was the magnificent sparkle of the white lights that lasted for 10 minutes. We went with the no flash option so we could get the glow of the tower-it makes it a little tricky to see the children, but they are all there.It happened to be the warmest day of the year so far. It hit 97 degrees and so the warmth lingered long into the night and we were enjoying every minute of it.

Each time we come here we're reminded that this is where it all started.

We were having such a great time that before we knew it the midnight sparkle began. Cheers and applause broke out and you could almost taste the excitement in the air.

Feux d'artifice-Fire works

June 28, 2008

The family tried to light the house on fire by putting 39 candles on my cake, what were thinking? oh yeah that I'm 39. They surprised me and bought me the most delicious chocolate cake I have ever had. There was a big fireworks display in the town of Avon so we figured we better experience fireworks at least once in France. We strolled into the park the usual American way with blankets and pillows under our arms and as we walked past the policemen they said to Mark "Monsieur, pas camping"-Sir, no camping!

They just don't know how to do the whole fireworks thing. They enter the park, find a place to stand, watch the show and leave. We figured we would show them how to really enjoy the fireworks. We found a great spot on the grass spread out our blanket and pillows, we all laid down and waited for the sky to explode.

I told the kids to pretend it was the 4th of July and that they were playing the Star Spangled Banner.

Because it stays light so late the show didn't even begin until 11:00, but we're getting use to this French way of life. I told the kids I thought it was so kind of them to do fireworks for my birthday. Talk about ending the day with a bang!

Nougayrede Bas in Montcuq

June 22, 2008

Our last journey was to the southwest of France. We stayed in the small village of Montcuq. It was an ideal setting, up on a hill away from any neighbors-we felt like we had the countryside to ourselves.

The pool was the focus of our stay. I don't think there were too many hours of the day that it sat empty. There was a perfect view of the pool from the kitchen window so we could see the activity even during food preparation.

We hit the marche in Montcuq, the same excitment that is at all the other marches was present at this one as well. I love watching the locals come to fill their baskets full of fresh goods for the week and to see the tourists find the fun french treasures.

We found a T-shirt that said "Je ne suis pas gros, je suis que la préparation de mon voyage en Amérique". (I am not fat, I am just preparing for my trip to America.) Mark picked it up and asked the lady if everyone in American was fat. She looked at the two of us and sheepishly said, "you are American?" "Yes" "apparently not", a priceless moment.

The pace of life here is energizing to me. It seems strange that people who are taking it easy would be energizing but the fact that they can sit back, relax and enjoy one another on a beautiful day is invigorating. Granted, I realize these men are all retired so that makes it fairly easy to "take it easy", but I still love it!

Sophie giving us her best "fabulous" pose.

June 23, 2008

Grotte de Roland

We found a cave just 5 minutes away from the villa, when the sun was full strength we took a break and got the grand tour.

This cave was discovered in 1949 and was a refuge for cave bears and lions. There were many claw markings in the walls and several animal bones found in the cave. The stalagmites were very interesting and hard not to touch.

June 25, 2008

Another Marche-this one in Cahors. The fruit is so fresh and delicious it almost looks fake. We picked out some peaches and could not avoid getting all sticky from the juice.

Across the river Lot in Cahors is the town's signature piece, the Pont Valentré. This magnificent fortified bridge was built between 1308 and 1500 and features a trio of towers, battlements and seven pointed arches. Sometimes you really feel as if you have been zapped back in time when you visit some of these monuments.

Logan is a bug magnet, it seems everywhere we go he is finding interesting creatures. Today he rescued an injured dragonfly-he said it was for you Nikki.

They can be in their swimsuits and in the water in 9 seconds flat! It was hard to get them out of the water to go anywhere.

June 27, 2008

The Castle of Bonaguil.

We did get them out of the water long enough to make the hour drive to the old medieval castle in Fumel, this castle dates back to 1271.

There were many secret passages that were naturally inviting to the boys.

Move over Cinderella, Princess Sophie has arrived!

She can't get enough of the princess dresses and what better place to wear one than to a castle. She had many passerbys bow to her and say "Ah La Princess- bonjour mademoiselle".

Her prince was even there awaitng her arrival.

Now that is some front door!

Montcuq is a large farming community-those big hay bails were calling our name.

At the villa it was bug heaven for Logan and Dallas-Here we see one of the thousands of butterflies that made a home on Logans finger.

There are those few times as a mother that you feel inspired, when I saw those butterfly nets I knew I better buy them-am I ever glad I did. They provided hours of exhilarting and exhausting fun. The kids were the proud owners of several lizards, green crickets, grasshoppers and butterflies. Owners only for moments-the joy of the capture, a quick photo and then the release.

Hey good lookin'.

Two caterpillars in their cacoons-feeling comfy and waiting for dinner to be served.

We found the local pizzeria. We had a great view of the lake as we ate our delicious hand-made pizza. This is Mark and Jesses duck pizza -hot from the oven onto their plate.
Bon Appétit!