Brienne came to Europe again this year, accompanied by her husband Andy and their son Micah, and they made time for a day trip to see us. We visited the hilltop city of Laon and the tunnels beneath the city, and had a delicious lunch in a crêperie near the cathedral. They stayed for dinner with us before catching their train back to Paris.
Graduation parties aren't a done thing here, so in June, we had a "going away party" for Benjamin with friends and family.
We figured their visit to France wouldn't be complete without a trip to Parc Astérix, home of France's most renowned comic book figure.
We finished our Normandy tour with La Pointe du Hoc. The site has changed a lot since we first visited in 2003. At the time, you could roam freely and go into the various bunkers and bomb craters. Now there are walkways and specific bunkers to visit, to protect the site and its visitors.
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The boys' swim meet fell in the middle of the family's stay, so they got to see the boys swim on Saturday.
We left from there for a quick trip to Normandy. We started with the D-Day Experience Museum, which is worth a visit if you're in the area.
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| Jordan & Alisa, 3-D movie at the D-Day Experience Museum |
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| We showed them the money pit |
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| Then we visited Agon-Coutainville, a seaside town |
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| with lots of great rocks for climbing |
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| Where is Benjamin? |
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| And lots of nice rocks and shells for gathering |
Our next educational outing was to learn about how and where champagne is made. We visited Champagne Pannier in Château-Thierry and took a tour of the cellars, ancient limestone quarries that run for miles under the city of Château-Thierry.
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| Caitlyn and a big barrel |
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| Frédéric |
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| Jordan, Gavin, Caitlyn, Kacey |
On the way home, we stopped in La Ferté-Milon to see the lesser known Eiffel construction, the bridge across the Ourcq canal.
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| Photographers in the wild |
If you know anything about me, you know that Paris is a city I could be happy never visiting again. But they came all the way here to see us, so I made the effort for the family.
Noah was at his school sports trip to Vendée, and Benjamin ended up with an asthmatic bronchitis, so they didn't get to join us.
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| Waiting for the train in Villers-Cotterêts |
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| Paris is weird |
We started our day with a coffee stop and then headed for the Chocolate Museum.
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| Chocolate Eiffel Tower |
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| Waiting for the RER to take us across town |
We visited the Illusion Museum, and then had lunch at McDonald's (hey, it's easy), and then popped over for a quick photo op at the Eiffel Tower.
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| Kacey, Gavin, Caitlyn, Jordan, Dad, Mom |
After the Eiffel Tower, we went to the Jardin des Plantes to see the menagerie (Gavin's favorite part of the day).
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| Menagerie in the center of Paris |
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| Across from the menagerie |
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| Ready for a nice tall glass of ice water! |
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| Pretending to be happy after a day in Paris |
