France as we know it

We have been eating too much bread and cheese to blog...apologies.

We are spending our fifth night in France and it has been wonderful. To wrap up the last few days...

We spent two nights in Saint Malo at the home of Mathilde's mother's cousin. It was lovely and very close to many beautiful sights. We spent the mornings waiting out the rain but took advantage of sunny afternoons at Mont St Michel and the old town of Saint Malo...which it turns out was bombed almost completely to the ground during the war and since been rebuilt. We were able to cook dinner both nights at the home which was a nice way to end the chilly autumn days.

Today we left Saint Malo and visited
the sites of the plages du débarquement (D-Day.) It was a very full day but well worth the walking and time in the car. Grégoire was a trooper! We began at Utah Beach and continued to the German cemetery. This was a path less traveled and had twice as many graves as its American counterpart. Sad and humbling as this was not all that long ago. We continued on to Pont du Hoc which house the remaining German bunkers for visitors. These were exactly as portrayed in the movies and very interesting to stand in.

We continued on to Omaha Beach (aka Bloody Omaha) and the American cemetery and memorial. Breathtaking. Neither of us have many words for what we saw but I think it's true when others say you will never forget it. The feeling of camaraderie was palpable and I am grateful we were not there to live through such horrible times. We finished our day at the musée in Caen dedicated to the war and to a future of peace.

Now we rest at the home of Mathilde's good friend Bea and her famille near Etretat where we will spend the remainder of our time in France. We had a delicious dinner of crepes and laughed together in spite our mutual language barrier :) I love France and have very much enjoyed our time with Mathilde and Xav. Mathilde has been wonderfully patient with my French and I look forward to impressing her with my skills next time we see them! Bonne nuit!

Avrillé

Today was rainy but it was maybe a good thing as it helped Steve and I  catch up on sleep. We woke up at 11:30, had a late breakfast with Mathilde, Xav and little Grégoire. The rain cleared for the rest of the day and the five of us took the opportunity to tour Château Angers. We also saw Mathilde and Xav's new house which will be ready for move in by the end of the month! C'est magnifique and so beautiful.

We had a quiet evening at home eating pizza, drinking wine and watching Final Destination part deux en français. Tomorrow morning we depart for Mont St. Michel where we will tour and then spend the next two nights in Saint Malo. Au revoir for now.

Bonne nuit

We are saying goodnight from Angers, France. As we have been neglecting our duties, here is a recap of the last couple days.

Yesterday we attended a morning tour of St. Paul's Cathedral. The highlight of the tour was the view from the top, 600 feet above the church floor.

From there we went to Buckingham Palace to take another tour. Turns out, you can only tour during the summer months. The Queen did not respond to requests of a public viewing.

We then walked to the museums in South Kensington. They were nice.

The next morning (today) we woke up at 3 to catch an early train to France. We said goodbye to our amazing host, Kaitlin,and the city of London.

Lots of hours on trains landed us in Blois where we met up with our friends from Angers. We hopped over to Chambord to tour the castle then back to Angers to wrap up a long, fun Day.

Please excuse strange formatting or misspellings. It's late.

Pictures:
Top of St. Paul's
French train station
Chambord Castle

London: rainy day two

Oh, hi there.

We started our day with a huge breakfast at our hotel room. T'was delicious.

We then hit the street to visit the Yelp UK office! Once outside we were showered with a proper English rain. First thing Lindsay said was, ”Would ya look at it?!” I looked at it.

The Yelp UK office was awesome. Really great building, great people. There we met up with Kaitlin, our host for the rest of our London stay, then we were off again.

First stop was the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone. That was swell. Then we just kinda walked around. We ended up at St. Paul's Cathedral. We popped in a bit late for a tour, so that'll be tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a busy one. St. Paul's, Buckingham, and 3 museums.

Hopefully we get a wee bit of sun as well.

Attached photos:
Lindsay's ILLEGAL photo inside St. Paul's.
Lunch
The Rosetta Stone
Lindsay
Roasted cacahuetes (peanuts)
Us!

Day 1...complete.

We arrived safely in London this afternoon and struggled to get ourselves out of the hotel room after check in. To combat inevitable jet lag, we decided to enjoy our first night here with a palace, dinner and yes, Starbucks.

We toured Kensington Palace which unfortunately was a bit disappointing. Not much to see and expensive to boot. I was looking forward to the Princess Di collection and it did not do her justice! Anyhow, we just finished a yummy meal at a burger place we stumbled upon during our last visit. Nothing says England like french fries, onion rings and a portabello burger!

Turning in early tonight and getting an early start to the day tomorrow, beginning at the London Yelp office!

Leaving on a jet plane

We are at Sky Harbor waiting for our departure to London. Ready for a good night's sleep and to get this party started Euro style!

Growing Up

On Saturday, Dexter officially graduated from his first round of training courses (best in class if you ask me.) We are very proud parents.