The Cinque Terre

We flew into Pisa and stayed the night, then caught a train to La Spezia.  From there, we visited "The Cinque Terre."  These are five small, coastal, farming towns that are connected by hiking trails and train.  They were beautiful and quaint - just what you would imagine an Italian village to look like.  Unfortunately most of the trails were closed because of flooding last fall, but we did enjoy hiking the most famous trail, the Via Del Ammore between the first two of the five towns.  We took the train between the rest.  

Our day long visit here was a nice respite from the fast pace of our trip.  We sauntered, ate, enjoyed the scenery and a nap on the beach.

Looking back at Riomaggiore

Cool little street

Looking toward Monterosso

First Gelatto in Italy - but definitely not the last!

Colorful buildings in Vernazza - my favorite of the five

Flashflood damage in Vernazza harbor

Terrace farms and gardens covered the hills

On Monterosso Beach

Relaxing on the beach.

Paris

Notre Dame

 We took a two hour ride on the Eurostar from London to Paris.  During our two and a half day visit, we packed in a lot - walking tours (Thank you Rick Steves), museums, palaces, churches, parks, and the Eiffel Tower.

Padlocks covering the bridge

 This bridge across the Seine was covered in padlocks with couples names on them.  I don't remember this "tradition" when I was in Paris 12 years ago.  I guess it is the "city of Love."

San Chapelle

 The stain-glass of San Chapelle is amazing.  Of the many churches and cathedrals we visited, it was probably our favorite.

The Seine

Our tiny flat - what you see is what there was

 We rented this tiny flat from the owner through "airbnb."  Great location - but tiny!  That is the bed on top of the kitchen and bathroom.

Versaille - Hall of Mirrors

 We took a day trip to Versaille.  The opulence of Versaille makes you feel a little sick and you wonder what your life might have been like if you were around in the 1600s - especially if you were not royalty.

Versaille Gardens

Versaille - Domaine of Marie Antoinette

We hike to the top of Arc d' triomphe and enjoyed the view before strolling down the Champs' Elysees

A long walk up!

On the Arc d' Triomphe

Arc d' Triomphe

 We finished our stroll at the Tuileries Gardens and enjoyed the sunset.

Sunset at the Tuileries Gardens

 Our final day in Paris - hit Le Louvre and did a bit of shopping before catching a cheap (but very delayed) flight to Italy.

Le Louvre

Where In the World?

Where have we been?  Well, you might say we have been half way around the world.   It's been a busy two months with visitors, parties and travel.  Fisher had a birthday and we had a visit from Fisher's sister and family - Ry, Ba and LE came for a week to enjoy the beautiful AZ spring before they very kindly took our children back to Utah while Fisher and I went to Europe (we owe them big time).

LE and Berry ready for a ride

 We enjoyed bikes rides, hiking, and a visit to the Science Center during their visit.

Bathtime bums

After sending the girls off to their kind grandmothers, Fisher and I boarded a plane bound for London - our first stop on a whirlwind two week tour of England, France, and Italy.

St Pauls Cathedral

"Feed the birds, toppins a bag"

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Got a kick out of this

The Brittish Museum

The inspiration for this trip was my brother T-man who is living near Brighton with his family.  We enjoyed several days sight-seeing with them in Southern England.  Shar posted about it here.

T-man and family at the Stonehenge

Our cute nieces - Curly & Lou wanted so badly to come along to see them!

Shar and Baby A at  the ancient Roman hot spring "spa" in Bath

Fisher & Baby A over the looking the hot mineral pool

Sampling the "healing" mineral water - yuk!

Letty spent all Sunday afternoon making this monster to scare Fisher

Arundel Castle

I thought this door was cool

Arundel Castle

A very old graveyard (1500AD) at a Parish Church  in Arundel

Royal Pavilion in Brighton

King George IV built the Royal Pavilion as his "summer home."  The whole exterior and interior are decorated in a faux oriental style complete with faux bamboo trim.  The kitchen was state of the art at the time and is still pretty impressive.  King George loved to eat and have parties and this was the place for them.

Gracie on the beach by the Brighton Pier

Fish and Chips on the pier

The best fresh donuts!  Oh so yummy!

Prawn Cocktail Potato "crisps"

A ride on the Brighton Eye

Kipling Gardens

This beautiful, classic English Garden was on the grounds of a house where Rudyard Kipling lived for a time.  We happened upon it while strolling through Rottingdean.

White cliffs of Rottingdean

We had a wonderful time visiting T-man, Shar, Lettie, Gracie and Baby A and wished we could stay a lot longer!  It was so nice to start our trip with familiar faces in a comfortable home. 

Next stop - Paris.