Renton For Life: May 2008

Finishing what we started....a bit delayed but here's the final leg of our journey...London! And is it "London Bridge is falling down or London Bridges falling down?" Maybe we'll never know.

At this point in our trip I think we all were a bit exhausted so we spent plenty of time resting and relaxing in the room and visiting with Dan & Alisha. They were kind enough to show us many of the finest London parks since the weather was abnormally amazing. In fact, we spent only one day doing the typical tourist thing whilst Dan & Alisha were at work, which was fine by me!

I think London would be an amazing place to live if it weren't so darn expensive! We really enjoyed our time there but were also anxious to get home.

Long live the Queen.

Piccadilly Circus

Alisha & Dan at Green Park

The Sanvicens Flat

The Thames, pronounce Tames...those Brits have a funny way of leaving out letters..for instance the next neighborhood over from Dan & Alisha's is Chiswick...pronounced Chizick!

Primrose Hill

Trafalgar Square

Buckingham Palace

Our fearless navigator..oh wait, that's me ;)

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

The London Eye

We're now home safe and sound and have readjusted to life in the states...which we love!

After our week and a half stay in Italy and a quick stop in Monaco we finally took the plunge and headed into the heartland of my paternal families heritage- FRANCE! Our first stop was in Grenoble to stay with my Uncle and reconnect with all my cousins who have had some very adorable children since I was last there 9 years ago. We truly enjoyed our time there, despite the slight language barrier (actually, we were encouraged to learn French and have every intention of starting a "French Club" when we return- anyone interested? The commitment is- learning French and getting together once a month for a French meal- where only French is allowed, naturally.)

My family was delightful and extremely generous. We were lucky to taste many fine meals and delicious pastries (courtesy of Eddy, the family pastry chef). Jeff was also the kids favorite since he never seemed to tire of playing football. I miss them all already and am looking forward to Karine & Jean David's visit next summer.

From Grenoble we traveled to Paris...and Bryan met us! It was nice to have a familiar, English speaking face to talk to. We all really love Paris (Bryan goes every Spring-starting last year) and were very impressed with their Metro system. I think I, personally, would have enjoyed Paris more if it came at the beginning of our trip...I'm finding that with so much to see one can get a bit burnt out. It was great, nonetheless, and I'm happy to say that I've been!