Picture Link

Eric put some pictures up on Shutterfly if you want to take a look at them. It's a variety of pictures from our trip. Hope you like them.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AaMXLFm4asWTol&emid=sharshar&linkid=link4

Home Sweet Home

We are home! Yippie! Now I have more time to write. No time limits on the computer at the internet cafe. 

I can't believe we are home already. We had such a great trip and now we are home recuperating from traveling and jet lag. It's been a rough one that's for sure.We were up for about 21 hours. Starting at 7:00 am on Sunday. We couldn't make it past 8:30 last night. We had to go to bed. I was dragging, Eric was too. Before we went to bed we went to Whitey's for dinner. I was trying not to close my eyes for too long. It was a battle but we made it through. I ended up sleeping for 13 hours! Yes, 13 hours. Eric got up at 3:00 am and stayed up for a couple of hours and then returned to bed. It felt great to sleep for a long time. It sure doesn't feel like 3:00 in the afternoon on Memorial day. I've managed to get unpacked and do 3 loads of laundry for the day. I haven't even gotten out of my pj's. Maybe I'll feel better if I get myself dressed. Maybe I'll do that. Maybe not....

Our trip was so amazing. We had a great time. We had our ups and downs like anyone else would. The biggest struggle to the whole trip was the language barrier. If you go overseas you must know how to speak the language. At least a little bit. Try to communicate in their language. At the end we had some sentences down but not much. 

We ate so much and thought for sure we put on weight. But we weighed ourselves Eric lost a few pounds and I managed to say the same. I'm glad in that. We thought for sure we weigh more after eating all those crepes. mmmm.....crepes. They rocked. Love 'em. The bread was fabulous too. So many baguettes and croissants to choose from. They were all delicious and after awhile we could tell which ones were better than others. Eric said we were becoming experts in French cuisine. ( : 

In the end we had a fabulous time. We can't complain. I hope everyone enjoyed reading the blog. I'm not sure when I'll write again but check back you never know what we will be up to next. Now here we go back to the everyday norm. 

Chat later.

Some More Pics from Giverney

What an End to an Amazing Trip

It's Saturday and it's our last day here in France. To end it we took a trip out to a town called Giverney. It's where Monet got his inspiration for his water lilly paintings. We had to first take the Metro to the train station. From there we had to transfer to a bus to take us up to the place. It's a small little town that really shows the true look of France. It was beautiful. When we got into the estate of Monet all you could see were gardens and gardens of flowers. It was so magnificent. We went and toured his house as well which was pretty amazing. We didn't want to leave. When we were there you could go down by the water where the water lillies and asian inspired bridge was. It was like we were looking at his paintings. A truely beautiful site. This is what makes France beautiful.

So, to end this series of blogs. We had a wonderful trip to France. It was pretty rough in the beginning but in the end it was unbelievable. I hope everyone enjoyed looking at the blog. It was fun to let everyone know where we were ate in our journey and seeing all the comments. We will be home tomorrow trying to get back to normal.

We hope you have enjoyed all the pictures and to end it we put some more of our day to Monet's garden.

Talk to tomorrow.

Love,
Alisha and Eric

Our Trip to Versailles

Well here's to another day. It's about 4:00 for us and we just got back from Versailles. Nope, the trains weren't on strike. Yeah! This town is outside of Paris and has the largest Chateau (castle) in France. Well it's. true. The train got into town and hordes of people got off. I couldn't believe the amount of people heading to the castle. It was like we were at the state fair trying to get around people and standing in line forever. This place was gigantic. It was a little overwhelming and then on top of it too crowded. So, we hurried through the rooms of the place and wanted to get outside. Once we got there it was beautiful. The gardens were so immaculate. We wandered around and saw lots of fountains and paths that could lead you to so many secret hiding places. We were there for about 4 hours. Now we are in Paris and had yet another crepe. They are so delicious! We think we have found the best stand that sells them in Paris. We've been there twice. ( : There are so many desserts we want to try but so few meals.

The weather has been pretty good for us so far. We've had a couple of days with rain but it's gotten a lot better. It's about 75 degrees out right now. This is probably the hottest day yet. On our last day we are going to head up to Giverny. It's a little day trip outside of Paris.

Well I guess we are off. Hope everyone is doing well.
See ya in a couple of days.

At a Stand Still......Trains on Strike!

Ok, here we are in Paris. I can't complain what so ever. But our plans were to go to Versailles today. We tried to get tickets at they wouldn't sell them to us at one train station. Since the language barrier is so difficult I thought they were being very difficult. So, we decided we would try to go Giverney instead. So we walked to a different train station and saw all kinds of security and managers around the train station. We found out the trains were ON STRIKE! So, we are stuck. We can't really go anywhere. (Well we could but we didn't research anywhere else.) So, we decided to spend our day in Paris just bumming around. We managed to kill a day that's for sure. We hung outside of the Opera house, went to the Petite Palace. This place was free to get in but man do they bug you to buy and audio guide and to check our bags. We didn't even need to do either at the Louvre. So, we were a little annoyed and we left. From there we walked around, shopped a bit and decided to take a rest back at the apartment. Since then we managed to go have lunch late and we at at McDonalds. Eric heard it's suppose to be better over here. You know what IT WAS! I don't know if it's because we are away from home or what but the Big Mac ROCKED! So did the fries and even the coke with no ice.

I guess that's all. Not much else to say. Tomorrow we should (hopefully) be off to Versailles. Cross your fingers and hope there's no strike tomorrow.

See ya!

Relaxing somewhat in Paris

Today we made a trip up to Jim Morrison's grave. This was a little creepy but a lot of people were going there to see it too. We managed to transfer subways in order to arrive there in a half hour. If we would have walked it would have taken probably an hour and a half.



This next one is for you Mom. We went to the opera house that the Phantom of the Opera is based off of. This place was incredible! You would have loved it. We were able to see the front part of the building and almost missed the opportunity to see the auditorium. We got in though. They were having rehearsals earlier. This place was truely beautiful. We were in awe.









We have gotten use to the people here. Well some of them. The guy at this coffee house didn't speak English but was very helpful in trying to figure out what we needed. We managed to pull through with our cheat sheet language book.



Well We've got to go. Our time is running up on the internet credit. Hope everyone is doing well. We are off to Versailles tomorrow.

Here's Some More Pics...We're Off to Eat Another Crepe

Ok, now that you are done laughing, let me explain the pictures.

Picture 1- Eric on the train sleeping (but not snoring) back to Paris.
Picture 2- Our fancy anniversary dinner: pannini, fries and beer outside at a cafe
Picture 3- Who doesn't want their picture taken?
Picture 4- This one is for you Jim (JW)

Chateau

Well our trip has been very enjoyable. A lot of running around. Today we went to a beautiful Chateau. I don't even want to figure out how to spell it. It's difficult. This place was beautiful from the castle to the gardens that surrounded it. We even did the maze in the garden. It was pretty fun. Like being a kid again. On our way there we managed to meet some Americans from Florida. They were pretty interesting to chat with. We ended up catching a cab back to town with them. It helped split the cost and communicate to the cab driver. The lady spoke French a lot better than we could.

Now we are waiting for the train to head back to Paris. It's been fun in the Loire Valley. Nice change of pace. I think we really needed it.

Oh, and by the way, we've started smoking just to fit in.

Thanks everyone for all the comments on the blog. It's great to see.

Au revoir.

Tilt your head and watch this....

Pictures from Sunday

Sunday the Louvre....Monday in Amboise

So, here we are again posting a blog. It's day 4 of our trip. Yesterday was a world wind tour of museums. We first went to the Notre Dame and climbed to the top. More steps for us. I should have worn a pedometer. Got rained on. Then we headed over to the Louvre. OH MY GOSH! This place is huge and amazing. We saw the Mona Lisa, Venus DeMilo (Sherry I saw it and took a picture just for you) and works by Michelangelo. This place can be pretty overwhelming but for the art history majors this would be thrilling. If I was one I would have been there all day but I'm not and we weren't. I have to say I can't believe all of these museums you can take pictures in. You would think you couldn't. Nope they let you take lots of pictures and eat and drink. That's just weird but I guess it's the American way to get another buck out of someone appreciating art. Anyway, the Mona Lisa. What can I say. Some people say it's disappointing. Well when we walked into the room we could see it between all the people gathered around it. It was actually beautiful. You see it in so many books and prints but to see it in person was unforgettable.

So, after the Louvre we headed over to the L'Orangerie. This is where the main attraction is Monet. Two rooms of his water lilly paintings. This museum was ten times smaller than the Louvre. It was kind of nice to be in a smaller place for awhile. Everything is so big and so much to take in. Monet's water lillies were beautiful. I never knew they were so big.

After our tour of museums we took a break and then headed back out to climb more steps at the Arc de Triomphe. This where the Tour de France ends and the busiest intersection in the world. (So, I have heard.) From there we headed back over to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. When we got there it was sparkling. It was so beautiful. We both think it is more beautiful at night than in the day. We have pictures to prove it. Then on our way back we enjoyed another crepe.

I almost forgot. We figured out the Metro system. How wonderful this is! Not as much walking especially when your feet hurt so bad you want to cry.

So, today is Monday. We took the train from Paris to Amboise. What a difference. It's like coming from New York City and traveling for 2 hours and arriving in Burnsville.
Paris Population: 10-12 million
Amboise Population: 10,000 -12,000
What a difference this place is. Much more friendly and slower pace. We are staying in a cute B&B. We toured the Chateau in Amboise and off to Chenonceaux tomorrow. After the Chateau we bought french bread and cheese and enjoyed it over looking the river. So, calm and peaceful. I wish the weather was a little warmer. We have been rained on once a day. Not yet today but it's a little breezy. Otherwise, it's beautiful. I can't complain!

So, for now that's all. Sorry the blog is so long. We didn't get to an internet cafe yesterday. Hope all is well back home.

Sorry no pics. today. We'll make up for it later.
AW & EW

Day 2 of our Adventure

Today we made it up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We decided to do to stairs to the second level because the line was A LOT shorter. Plus we are young why not. They marked the steps for us. It was a total of 670 steps to the 2nd floor. Crazy I know! Our legs were tired but thought it wasn't too bad until later. It was beautiful from there but we needed to see more. So we decided to go to the top. This time we got to use the elevator. It was a little crowded up there but really cool.

From there we went to two museums. The Rodin where "The Thinker" statue was. Eric liked it but I wasn't blown away. Then we made it to the d'Orsay. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! This was an old train station converted to a museum. They had Monet, Manet and Van Gough. The building was amazing too.

After that we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a sandwich and headed over to the Louvre. This place is huge. We didn't make it in yet because it was too late but we enjoyed the grounds. Very beautiful. From there we decided to take a break at the apartment. Good idea since we had a little down pour. Now we are enjoying the evening and the cool breeze.

That's all for now. Until the next blog.....

We Made It To Paris....YIPPIE

So we finally made it Paris. The flight went well. We managed to have 2 little kids behind us but it went pretty well. Plus we ended up landing 1 hour early. The airport wasnt ready for us. So we had to go down onto the runway and have a shuttle take us to the airport. That was pretty interesting.

So, we got settled into our new humble abode. Managed to take a 3 hour nap and then hit the road. We started to wander the streets and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. The weather has been hot with a few sprinkles. We tried our first crepe and the are AWESOME! There are a lot of people here. Some friendly some like you'd expect the French to be.

Now it's 9:00 pm and we need to eat. We had been searching for an internet cafe and managed to find one. They are few and far between. Even the keyboards are in French. None of the letters are where I'd expect them to be. IT SUCKS especially with Eric critiquing every word I type.

Now we are off to get some grub. Hope everyone is doing well. Until next time.

Alisha out. and Eric too.

Pack, Pack, Pack

Well I think we are ready to go. We just need to do a few more things before we go. I'm surprised how light my bag really is. I'm going over with just 2 pairs of shoes, skirt, capris and jeans. Of course the shirts too. Eric is ready to go with both the cameras and now let's start taking some pictures. 

Tomorrow we leave from MSP at 3:30 and should get to Paris around 7 am on Friday. Our flight is about 8 hours long. I'll have to make sure we do some stretches and get enough water. We'll have to deal with some jet lag when we first get there too. Hopefully we can get a quick nap in before we take in all the sites for the first time. 

PARIS HERE WE COME!

With less than 28 hours before we go I've decided to make a blog about our trip. Thanks to Sherry's pushes I've taken the leap.

Eric and I are excited to make another venture over to Europe. We have been very fortunate to have as many oppourtunities as we have had to go. France is going to be brand new to us and can't wait to go see the Eiffel Tower, Louve, Chateau's, Monet's gardens and much more.

So, let the count down begin. We are in the midst of packing. We are trying to determine if we need 7 shirts or if we can live with just 5. We'll be able to do laundry over there. Not to fret. Our plans are to carry on our luggage. It's been done before. So, we will pack then unpack, take stuff out and start all over again. We will slowly start making our bag as light as we can make it. So we can pack souveniers to remember our time there.

So, Paris here we come! Please don't be too rude to us though. We just want to enjoy your country. (:

We will try and post pictures and blog about our trip when we can. We hope everyone will enjoy seeing our thoughts and sites.