From England to France

January 20, 2012

It has been a while since we've had internet service, so this is going to be a picture and caption entry.

Our last trip in Yorkshire was to the two thousand year old city of York where we walked the outer walls of the city.  The first pic is of the ice house which was very deep inside.  They stored ice take from the city's river Ouse in winter there, and it lasted all summer.  After walking the walls, we went into the city center to The Shambles, a street where the tops of the buildings are so close together that people could reach out the window and shake their neighbors hands across the street!

The place reminded the kids of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter.  Jason even found a shop that sold brooms!

Had to take a pick of my lane!

Then it was a drive down to Kingston where we stayed in a place right next to these phone boxes.   David had a meeting at the University, so I took the kids for a walk down the river to Surbiton, where I used to live.  We stopped at the bench where David asked me to marry him, and I took a picture of the kids.  The river picture is the view from the bench.

The next morning we were up early and it was off to the Chunnel (Channel Tunnel) to get on the underground train to France.  It was a really quick trip!  We only had time for a snack and to put the head light deflectors on the car (driving on the other side of the road again) so we didn't blind people with our right hand drive car. When we stopped at a toll booth, the pay station was on the passenger side and I made a comment as to how someone driving alone could pay.  That is when David reminded me we were in the land of left hand drive cars again!  I am so confused :)

We parked outside of Paris and took the metro into the center.  Here is the little studio apartment we stayed in from the outside.  We went shopping at the market street just a block away and made a meal of bread, cheese and fruit.  The croissants are from a bakery that baked for the Queen of England!  We had to take a picture of the store front!

We also bought a special cake that is only sold in January. It is to commemorate the three wise men visiting Jesus.  Inside the cake is a porcelain figurine.  Luck to the one who finds it in their piece of cake.  Danika ended up with ours!

Then it was out for the night to the Louvre.  It is open late on Wednesday nights.  Had to include pics of the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and of course, the crown jewels that Danika had to take a picture of because of the 140 carat diamond.  We felt so blessed because the place was empty!  We had easy viewing access to everything!  We walked so much that we were all exhausted that night.

Yesterday was the day we visited Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.  It was very windy at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and the kids had a great time playing in the wind.  They didn't want to leave.  The views were spectacular.  We rode the elevators up and then back down to the second floor.  Then we walked the stairs down to the first floor.  There was an ice rink with a small tower in the center on the second level.  Then in was back to the ground and our parting shot of the tower in lights.

Until next time...    ~Mary