Versailles

Versailles, the most popular French Palace, was fantastic. This place was huge and took pretty much a day to go through. The inside was much like any other palace we have been in before but the gardens where wonderful. The grounds of Versailles are massive and no way were we ever going to walk them all, but you can get a taste from the pictures. Too bad we were late for the fountains, they have turned them all off now that it is fall. But I hear the fountains are fantastic lit up at night.

Paris Trip

Well we finally made it to Paris. We took the Euro-rail from London straight to Paris, and with in 2 hours we were there. On our first day we decided to explore Versailles, which was only a short 30 minute metro ride there. This palace was remarkable, unfortunately we missed the fountains. They only run them during the summer times. However the gardens, HUGE, were beautiful. On our way back into Paris we decided to do Paris a night and went to see the Eiffel Tower, which now Emma pronouns it like "awful tower". After a full day of sight-seeing we sorely found our way back to our hotel for some sleep. The next morning was jam packed it sight to see. First thing was the Eiffel Tower, to go up to the top. Took the elevator up, but walked down. Mommy was the lucky one to backpack Emma on the way down. Next we went over to Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle, both so beautiful. In the evening we strolled down Champs-Elysees and found a place for dinner. Next next day we tackled the Louvre, before getting a train back home. We could have spent another day at the Louvre, maybe another trip.

The Solo Visitor

Maureen came to visit us at the end of September. Since she was our solo visitor, Emma and I keep her company while she got to see London. We took the hop on hop off bus and were able to see most of London is a short time. We covered Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guards, Royal Mews, & the Queens Gallery (and I am sure I am missing something). That is impressive for just 4 days. Maureen was so sweet to also take us out to the theater while she was here. It was good that we did all that sight-seeing quickly, because for the weekend we all headed to Paris. That will be the next blog.

Mimi & Popi's Visit

We had some great visitors one early morning, Mimi and Popi! Emma and Mommy got to spend some quality time with them, however Daddy had his big convention happening, so he work most of the week. We headed off to Salisbury one day on the train to visit the Cathedral. From there we hoped on a bus to Stonehenge. It was a great afternoon. We were able to drag daddy with us on Saturday for a day out in Brighton. Definitely too cold for swimming but we had a relaxing trip. We also explored Greenwich for a half day. Mimi and Popi brought over new books, Knuffle Bunny. Definitely our favorite lately. And of course they where the popular ones at story time. Just wondering who was going to fall asleep first.

Emma's Best Friend Visit

The 1st week in September we had our friends from Orlando come for a visit. This was a special visit because Evan was coming. Evan is 2 months older than Emma. These to adored each other, they shared toys and bath time. They would chase each other and exhaust each other. It was great, not to mention we loved hanging out with Evan's parents. We went to Hampton Court and made it through the maze with a little spy help from the kids. We took Evan to Diana's Memorial playgournd and Emma got to show him all her favorite spots. Of course we took the kids to the London Zoo, which is becoming a hot spot with Emma. And lucky for Beth, Jamie and Evan the Wimbledon Carnival was in town. The kids rode the train around, shared the spinning teacups and went for a bouncing adventure (which they didn't want to leave). We were very sad to see them leave. I think Emma called out Evan's name every day, for a week after they left. I still get the occasional, "Evy, where's Evy".