Blog

Hi team. Taking over the blog here to post my favorite pics of the trip thus far. Enjoy. Mighty Notre Dame (Paris) Funny pipe smoking guy (official title) at the Louvre (Paris) Louis XV dictated in style (Versailles) D-Day tank looking cool (Normandy) Cassandra through the bunker (Normandy) Lovely profile of my lovely at the Duomo (Florence) Bell tower at the Duomo (Florence) Feeling very Dan Brown “Inferno” in the Duomo Baptistery (Florence) The only thing more beautiful than a Florentine sunset (Florence) Dwarf buns, hilarity in the Uffizi (Florence) I tried to show his more impressive side … (Florence) Impromptu picnic in this Tuscan vineyard (San Gimignano) Bucket-lister (Rome) Brown magic (Rome) Feeling very Indiana Jones (Pompeii) Mount...

There are many things we love about Europe–and find hilarious. Here are some of our favorites. 1. French garbage (drink much?)    2. Umbrella machines!    3. See-through bathrooms (don’t worry, Mac is just re-enacting his urinal experience)    4. The difference between tourist cheese (left) and cheese a Frenchman would buy (right) Note: We fell for this one. The two cheeses are exactly the same kind–except the one on the left, the tourist cheese, has been sitting out for a couple of weeks. Thanks, Didier from Ferme des Saules, for enlightening us.    5. The number of selfies we see on a daily basis...

We’ve been in Italy now for a couple of weeks. Our time here started with four days in Cinque Terre, followed by three in Florence. We did a quick reshuffle of our itinerary to chase the sun and get out of the rain, so after that we trained to Tuscany for four days (but still managed to hit a fair amount of rain) and then three days in Rome. We’re now in Naples, where pizza was born. There are so many fun memories to choose from. In Cinque Terre, we got the last room in town, a small attic spot that was the hotel storage area. Every day we’d come back from our afternoon adventures and something would be very different about our room. One day they added an extra double bed and two nightstands. The next day they took them all out and gave us an...

The first leg of our trip is over. Today we left France and headed to Italy for three weeks of hiking (in Cinque Terre), wine tasting (in Tuscany), and pasta (absolutely everywhere). To celebrate, here is a little more of what we saw–and loved–over the last three weeks. Locks on the “Love Bridge” (Paris) The interior of Notre Dame (Paris) An uncommon French sight: an empty cafe (Paris) The best view in town, from the Arc de Triomphe (Paris) A sign of the times (Rouen)   And this is only half of the hunting dogs in the chateau’s pen! (Cheverny)   The most romantic walk in town (Cheverny) Biking from B&B to B&B (Cheverny)   As far as the eye can see: Catholics (Lourdes)   The tools of faith (Lourdes)...

   And now a message from Mac: France is wonderful. Paris left me awestruck. I feel sorry for those who have diluted their sense of wonder and culture to the point of declaring Paris overrated. Walking the streets, taking in the grandeur of the architecture. Sipping incredible wine while participating in the vibrant Café Scene in Le Marias (my favorite district). Cheese, cheese and more cheese.  The only thing missing are the rude French waiters. Everyone has been extremely nice and helpful. I dare say this change has come from a concerted effort on both sides. People from the States are more conscious about avoiding the ‘Ugly American’ tendencies while the French are eager to shed their uppity stigmas. Oh, but look out the Chinese. Thank the lord...

This past weekend Mac and I spent a couple of days exploring Normany. Learning more about World War II—and seeing the battlefields—had been on my bucket list for a long time. After all, learning about history is one of the best ways to make sure it doesn’t repeat itself. On Friday, we spent a full day at the Museum Memorial in Caen, exploring all of the events that led up to World War II. Then on Saturday we spent a full day on a minibus touring the most important sites we’d learned about, including Saint-Mère-Église, Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetery. You might remember Saint-Mère-Église from the movie The Longest Day and the famous story of an American soldier who got caught on the roof of the cathedral while parachuting down...