Down and Out in Paris and London

I just noticed it's been nearly a month since my last entry.  Wow - time is really flying! We've been CRAZY busy.  I've settled in to the school routine with Parents Association meetings and am now officially (and reluctantly) on the committee to plan the school's Christmas Bazaar.  Agh - more fundraising - I thought I was done with that when I "retired" from the Arthritis Foundation! Additionally, I am helping with the International Mom's Club halloween party.  I am a glutton for punishment, for sure...

Also this past month, we received our first visitors!  Chris's parents flew over from Frog Hollow (their Ohio home in the woods) at the end of September for a 10-day visit.  We started their visit off by showing them around Claygate, followed by a day in London together.  From there, they were model houseguests and journeyed into London on their own several days while Chris was working and Caroline was at school.  They took in all of the key sites - Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, and of course several of London's finest pubs!  As good timing would have it, Caroline's "harvest assembly" at school happened to occur the week they were here, so they got to see her sing "Big Red Combine Harvester" along with the rest of the Willow class!  

Later in their visit, Chris was able to take a couple of days off work and we took the Eurostar to Paris for a long weekend.   For those not familiar, the Eurostar is a high speed train that takes you from central London to Paris, through a tunnel under the English channel in about two hours.  Except for Sadie's constant squirming, squalking, and general misbehavior, it was a fab trip on the Eurostar!  

We landed in Paris late on Thursday and by the time we got to the proper hotel, it was straight to bed for the girls and me.  On Friday we immediately tackled Paris's metro system and headed to the Eiffel Tower.  I should mention that we spent most of the day on Friday with the Smith family (Eric, Canetti, Aiden and Carson) who drove in from Amsterdam to tour Paris, before heading to Euro Disneyland.  We lucked-out with gorgeous, albeit crisp, autumn weather. Before leaving the Eiffel Tower and heading down the Champs d'Elysses towards the Arc d'Triumph, we were able to capture some Christmas-card worthy pictures in front of the tower, complete with cheesy french berets that just SCREAMED - tourists!!!  (It is important to note that MY hat is NOT a beret, and I have owned it for several years...)  :)

After seeing the "Arc" (my favorite Parisian structure), we had lunch at a sidewalk cafe, people-watched, and enjoyed our beer and wine.  Shortly after, we bid adieu to the Sminetti's and the Yapp's continued their exploration of the city.  

As I have mentioned before, I backpacked through Europe in 1997, and Paris was the last city we visited before heading home.  After a month of traveling, I think Jen, Becky and I were all ready to come home, so for me, Paris was one of my least favorite destinations that summer.  That said, I was really looking forward to giving it a solid "re-do." And, I must say, I definitely appreciated it more this go-round.  I had forgotten how absolutely beautiful Paris is up and down the Seinne River.  Our second full day there, we took a boat ride on the river, and any direction you looked was just more beautiful than the last, with famous structures all around - the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, Alexander Bridge - all so STUNNING.  

For me, there were two highlights to our time in Paris.  The first was our lunch at a quaint little French bistro in the Latin Quarter.  The food was AMAZING.  (And, the children cooperated...oh - AND we had two bottles of wine between the four of us at lunch!)  Actually, I'm not even sure that the food was amazing, or if I'm just so used to eating English food now, that something different tasted better???  (No offense to any English readers out there...)  The second highlight for me was seeing the Eiffel Tower at night.  Chris's mom really wanted to see it all lit up, but I wasn't sure Sadie could "hang," so I almost missed it and am really glad I didn't.  Very beautiful, even if some people think the structure isn't.  

My shout-out this time goes to my fab, fun in-laws, Donna and Charlie Yapp.  I'm so glad you came to visit and got to see and experience a little of our life in England.  We had a great time sharing Claygate with you, showing you around London, and experiencing beautiful Paris together.  And most importantly, it was wonderful for Caroline and Sadie to have a dose of grandma and papa's love and attention....even though I am still de-tox'ing Caroline from your visit!  Thanks for all of the girls' gifts and our meals out.  We loved having you here and hope you will come back soon!  

To view all pictures from the Yapp's time abroad go to:  http://gallery.me.com/jsyapp#100118

Bonus points and an honorary shout-out to the first person who can identify the literary reference to the title of this blog posting...