Bonjour!

We've seen London and now we've seen FRANCE!! 

We are all recovering from our wonderful week in Paris, France.  We left the house on Sunday and traveled to Dover, UK.  Dover is located on the southern coast of the UK and is known as 'The Key to England'.  While in Dover, we toured Dover Castle which was built between 1180-1185 by Henry II.  Dover Castle is spectacular!  Many of the rooms had furniture inside and even a working fire place!  One of the awesome features of Dover Castle is actually under the ground!  There is an underground network of tunnels (known as 'Secret Tunnels' or 'wartime' tunnels) located in the white cliffs that housed the command center that actually controlled the naval operations of the Channel.  That is some pretty awesome history!  We weren't able to tour the tunnels this time as they only allow a few people a day into them. 

Monday morning we boarded a ferry which took us from Dover to Calais, France.  It was pretty weird driving the van onto a huge boat parked in the channel.  While on the boat we were able to see the while cliffs of Dover even better.  Of course since I was on a boat, I had to stay seated and away from the window so I didn't get dizzy.  The kids thought it was so cool to watch the water and they all pointed out France to me as we were getting closer.  The ferry ride took just over an hour.  We got into the van, buckled up and drove onto the right side of the road headed for Paris.  After spending the last three years driving on the left, I was a bit nervous about it but I did just fine. :)  My main problem was trying to focus on driving as well as calculating how fast I was suppose to be going.  England signs are all posted in miles but not France as they use kilometers. 

After arriving in Paris, we met up with our dear friend Jennifer Falzerano.  She had french pastries waiting for us!  The kids were glad to get out of the car and stretch their legs.  We walked around Paris for a little while and stopped at the Notre Dame Cathedral which had a service going on.  Even though we didn't understand the priest, it was awesome to see the cathedral in use.  The details of the buildings around Paris are amazing!

Tuesday started off with an elevator ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower!  Devon requested that we go all the way to the top so that is exactly what we did.  The view of the city was awesome from way up there.  Our only complaint was how frigid the wind was.  By the time we got down we were all frozen to the core!  But that didn't stop us from having a great time.  Our next stop was lunch where we introduced the kids to cheese fondue.  They ended up eating spaghetti but at least they were a little more cultured in the end.  Ha ha!  Speaking of being cultured, I was taught a little lesson by a teenager on the metro.  She tried to steal my wallet!  We boarded the metro and before I knew it, she had unzipped my purse and had her hand on my wallet.  After being yelled at in English, the french girl got off the train but not before telling me that she was sorry, to which I yelled at her again.  What an experience!

Our final day in Paris was spend at Disneyland Paris!  The kids had no idea we were going so it was a fabulous surprise!  I think Dave was more excited than the kids were. :)  We were lucky and didn't have to wait in line more than 15 minutes all day.  We finished the day with the Disney parade and headed back to the cute little apartment we rented for the week.  Let me stress LITTLE one more time.  The apartment was about the size of my kitchen and living room.  It was a place to lay our heads and was located right near a metro station and several bakeries ~ perfectly located!  We enjoyed every minute of our adventure in Paris and can't wait for our next trip.