Last night in France!

I have not posted in a few nights...I apologize.  We arrived back in Strasbourg and had been going so non-stop, I decided to take a break and really be on vacation.  I hung out in the hotel room, I met my high school friend for dinner, I met a college friend for lunch and wandered around this fun city.  There is so much to explore in Strasbourg.  But truly the last few days of this trip have been spent selfishly...doing what I want to do.  It has been VERY nice!  And as I looked at my lovely children over Skype today, I could not help but think, I should have done more relaxing. 

Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to see my wonderful children, squeeze and kiss them to death, but then it is the after part that I am thinking about.  I am commited to spending more days on adventures like we did on this trip...exploring Portland and finding fun places to see/visit.  I feel like we definitely get in a rut and just go and do the items on the schedule for the day.  I am ready for more spontinaity in our lives, so I am actually looking forward to working on that.

Regardless, my highlights from the trip:

• staying right across the street from the Tulleries Park in Paris
• having an ice cream cone in the square in Cambrai
• finding a really cool authentic butcher shop in Cambrai
• ALL of the Champagne trip
• seeing long-time friends
• having some down time
• spending 13 days in Europe with my wonderfully loving and doting husband and seeing what he does when he "works" in other countries
• trying to speak French but then pretty much resorting to "par le angleis?" ("do you speak English")- totally not how you spell that by the way
• having Jane's birthday party in the bar of our hotel tonight...complete with "Happy Birthday" balloons!

It has been an outstanding trip and with this time away from daily life and kids, it has given me such a renewed spirit to be the best stay-at-home-mom I can be.  I love my kids and truly cannot wait to spend time with them!  I love the path that I have chosen and am so thankful my life allows me to be home. 

So cheers to a renewed spirit and here is hoping that it carries me through the weekend which might be tough with the jetlag :)

Luckiest Woman in the World Part Duex

I know I already posted under this heading, but I figured if I am still feeling that way, I should probably let anyone and everyone know.
This is going to be a large posting with many days combined because I have been unable to get to the blog every day:

End of Cambrai

I left off with my wonderful time in Cambrai...we awoke the next morning, enjoyed a lovely breakfast - I of course had a croissant and orange juice - packed the car and headed to the train station in Arras (a bit north of Cambrai).

The drive through the countryside was magical. There were amazing circular hay bales - apparently it is harvest time for hay - cows and pretty much everything else you would expect from a French countryside. We arrived in Arras and Mike dropped us all at the train station while he went to find the Hertz Rental Car drop-off spot. We waited and waited...ended up that the Hertz office was closed (which Mike only knows somewhat of why it was closed because it was in a hand-written note taped to the door) and he had to drop the car/keys off at a neighboring hotel.

We waited for the train at Track Number 8. It felt like I was in the movies...waiting for a train in a European train station - but it was real life! We boarded the train headed for Strasbourg and rode the TGV until Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

Mike then again went to find the Hertz Car Rental Office. We waited at the train station with the bags. I do have to say I was a bit woozy from the train ride, but I was also starving. Mike picked us up and we all fit well in the new car, but getting to the hotel was a different story. Mike has his Tom Tom navigation unit with us, which has served us well getting out of Paris and to the hotel in Cambrai, but driving through the streets of Strasbourg was not as easy. There were a ton of pedestrian streets Tom Tom was telling us to go down. I finally called the hotel and he told me to put in a different address in the navigation unit. We found the hotel and I think all of us needed a break. We checked into the hotel and went to our respective rooms. From there, Mike and I went to find some food. There was a busy cafe across the water from the hotel so we walked there. I have a delightful cheeseburger and Mike had a chicken and mushrooms dish with spatzel. Yes I did say spatzel. Apparently we are so close to the German border that the food definitely comingles.

We then went back to our room and relaxed for a bit, but decided if we did not head out we would just go to sleep for the night. So we headed out to find the Cathedral. It was such an amazing Cathedral with intricacies, the likes of which I have never seen before. And honestly, I could not believe the scale of this building. It was enormous.

Picture of the Catheral (Outside)

Then I had my first Tarte Flambé - which is essentially a flatbread pizza with crème friache, bacon and I had them add fromage (cheese). It was outstanding, but I could not finish it - actually I only had about 1/4 of it and Mike finished the rest. He had a three kinds of meat stew that was not that great, but the potatoes that were in it were delicious!

We headed back to the hotel and I tried to organize for our trip to Champagne. We decided to only take one bag, so there was a bunch of rearranging that needed to occur. Finally it was time for bed.

The next morning, I slept in a bit...contrary to my notions of getting up for an early morning run/walk. I did not really even want breakfast, so I stayed in our room reorganizing and getting ready for the day. I met Jane and John downstairs in the lobby around 9:30AM and we were off. We headed toward the boat tours of the city which we were hoping would give us a better understanding of where we were. So off we went.

We found the boat tours and it was really fun. It was an hour and 10 minutes and they had headphones which had all sorts of languages that gave the tour. I chose English-Adult and Jane and John chose English-Kids. It was great. Learned all sorts of things about Strasbourg and where things were. We even got to be lifted up in a lock (right by our hotel) and then brought back down later in the tour. I thought it was great!

Then we went back to the hotel, I moved one bag up to the Heins' room (for storage) and then took one down to the Front Desk to store until we were ready to leave. We then went and had lunch. I had a delightful salad with warm goat cheese and beets. It was yummy!

We went to the park to let John play a bit and that is when Mike and Dan came back to the hotel from work. Mike and I waited in the lobby for our taxi to take us to the train station. Once we arrived at the train station, we needed to waste a bit of time so sat down for a drink. Then we found our train and boarded for about a 2 hour train ride to Champagne.

Champagne (Reims)

As we rode the train to Reims, we went through a bit of a rain storm, but when we arrived, the sun was out and it was beautiful. The train station seemed very new and our driver from the Chateau met us there and hauled our enormous bag to his car. We took about a ten minute drive to get to the Chateau and upon arrival have been treated like royalty.

Here is the website to our hotel:Hotel and if you look at the picture of the hotel (Le Chateau) our room is the top floor left-side window.

Our room is AMAZING!!! I do not even know how to describe it other than magical. The ceilings are about 20 feet. Our room is decorated in very regal red and gold. There is a door out onto a tiny balcony that overlooks an amazing lawn that they call their garden.

Within 5 minutes of us arriving in our room, they brought our luggage and two glasses of Mumm Champagne for us. There was a gorgeous fruit plate and a bottle of water for us as well. We quickly (or if you ask Mike slowly) got ready for dinner and headed to Le Jarin Brasserie (the "bistro" on the property).

Dinner was AMAZING!!! I wish I could use a different word to describe this place, but it truly takes your breath away. We of course started with a bottle of Brut Rose Champagne and let our server pick out what would be best with the meal we decided upon. I started with a swordfish tartare and Mike started with warm summer potato salad with shaved truffles. Our entrees were: Steph - Cod in a tandoori sauce and Mike - Filet of Beef and Foie Gras (in a sauce that we can only describe as flavored like the Swedish meatball sauce from Ikea, but a million times better). Mike literally wiped up all the sauce with the remaining bread on the table.

We then arrived back to our hotel room where they turned down the bed and we were ready for a great night's sleep.

This morning we got up and went downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was again glorious and very similar to the breakfast we had in Paris (way too much food). It was however required to get in a good breakfast since we had a full day of Champagne tastings to go to. I had a cheese omelet with bacon and Mike had a cheese omelet with mushrooms. Both were outstanding and they served us something in a little clay pot that I can only describe as the filling in crème brulee or pot de crème. It was outstanding.

We headed to Tattinger (which they pronounce Tat-i-jay) and learned all about the champagne process and then toured their caves. It was fun to learn about the process in France. I have been to many explanations/tours in Oregon Wine Country from phenomenal places such as Argyle and Soter, but it was pretty cool to be in caves that the Romans had dug out and feel the history in every step we were taking.

Back to the Jardin Brasserie for lunch where I had a wonderful Lobster Salad and Mike had basically a Charcuterie plate. And of course we both had glasses of their featured Rose Champagne.

We then headed to Veuve Clicquot which was fascinating.  Apparently it was Madame Clicquot who developed the riddling table which still is what is used today for the larger bottles in production.  It seemed more commercial to me, with many more items for sale and kitschy wine containers for their bottles.  But it was still amazing to be in these facilities that were used so long ago and gave birth to the Champagne industry.

We are now back at our room resting for a bit before we walk over to Pommery.

Cheers to being in Champagne country where Cheers happen all the time!

Cambrai is a really cool town!

We made it to Cambrai yesterday safe and sound.  It has been so fun to explore this quaint shop-lined, cobble-stone street town.  Everywhere you turn there is another wonderfully stunning church or building that just begs us to walk up to it and sometimes even through it.

Dan and Mike went into work today around 8:45AM, after a nice continental breakfast provided by the proprietors of our lovely hotel.  I had a croissant, a yogurt and orange juice.  Once the boys left, we headed out to explore the city and then quickly realized that the town stores really did not open until about 9:30AM.  So we headed back to the hotel and I relaxed in our bed while watching Rio on the iPad.  Once it hit 9:30AM, we were out the door again on a wonderful adventure.  We walked by and into so many shops, it was a wonderful way to spend the morning.

We also wandered into several churches and through some city monuments.  It was a glorious way to spend a somewhat drizzly day.  Yes, for the first time since we have been on vacation, the sky was overcast and the rain started to fall early this morning.  It misted through most of the day, but that did not stop Jane, John and I from exploring.

We went all over the city including a walk by a wonderful butcher shop that I was especially drawn to because I just finished the book "Cleaving" by Julie Powell.  It was so exciting, I brought Mike back later in the afternoon to oogle over the amazing meat these people had in their butcher shop.  I also adored watching them actually utilizing their butcher skills on a variety of meats. 

We went to lunch at fun restaurant across the street from and old entryway into the town.  I had carbonara pasta that was so rich and creamy that I could not finish it.  The lardons (bacon croutons) were delicious and the creamy sauce melted in my mouth.  John had pasta with bolingese (I know this is mispelled, but you get the idea) and Jane had a calazone.

We then headed toward the grocery store so Jane could pick up a few items and bingo...there was McDonalds.  I took John to McDonalds, ordered a Happy Meal and then John played on the play structure.  The ordering of the happy meal was quite comical because I knew how to say no cheese - "sans fromage" but I had no idea how to say no pickle - so there was a bit of acting a pickle out.  Basically I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger about the size of a pickle and said "verte" - she totally understood and said "Ahhh cornishon."  So that was perfect!

After our time at McDonalds we headed out to find the park that Mike had pointed out to me the day previous.  We got a little lost, but found some wonderful structures that we were not sure what they were.  Jane took a ton of pictures of them, so hopefully we will find out what they were used for. 

We then headed back to the hotel after being briefly lost and they boys were back from work.  They had a good time touring the warehouse.  We hung out for a bit, but as mentioned previously I had to take Mike to the butcher shop.  So Mike and I headed out on our own afternoon adventure.  We walked to the ice cream truck and I had a scoop of chocolate chip mint and Mike had a scoop of coconut.  We went to the butcher shop and while I preferred to watch from the outside window, Mike went inside to see the entire case of meat.  He said they had some pate and other prepared meats at the end of the counter.  We both wish we could speak French mainly so we could talk to these experts.  We then headed into a bakery and I found what I have been searching for...a meringue.  It was lovely but HUGE!  I think there is a picture on picasa of the large meringue. 

We headed back to the hotel and rested a bit before dinner.  We went to dinner with J.C. who is a local Columbia employee and then three Portland warehouse guys that were in town doing a software upgrade.  It was a lovely dinner with pink bubbles included (for those of you who do not know, I LOVE Brut Rose).  I also had steak with shaved black truffles and butter all over the top of the steak.  YUMMMMM!  It was so good. 

We headed back to the hotel and fell asleep.

I truly enjoyed our time in Cambrai and would love to spend more time there.  It was what my idea of a French town is!

Cheers to an exploration day in Cambrai!

Paris is an amazing city!

Yesterday was day 2 in Paris - really our only full day - and we made the most of it.  We headed to the Eiffel Tower from our hotel and decided to walk, which was so wonderful.  Everywhere we went there were new amazing buildings to see and bridges to walk over. 
When we arrived at the Eiffel Tower, there was a crowd bigger than I have seen in a long time.  Apparently you have to have purchased tickets days in advance to go up the Eiffel Tower, but it was magnificent just to stand beneath the tower and marvel at it's gargantuan architecture.  Mike has pictures up on his Picasa site of yesterday: Mike's Pictures

This was the only one I could get to load into the blog, but this was a great one from the Eiffel Tower:

After we marveled at the huge structure, we decided we wanted to take a boat back to the hotel.  So we found the "Hop on Hop off" Boats, which allow you buy a ticket and then you can hop on and hop off all day long.  It was a great way to see Paris.  We just took the short ride from the Eiffel Tower to the Musse d'Orsay, but planned on doing some more boat riding in the evening. 

We stopped at the Tulleries Park and ate lunch at a cafe in the park.  I had a Croque Monsieur (please forgive my spelling...I really do not speak French).  We went back to the hotel and took a siesta (I know it is France, not Spain, but a siesta was definitely in order).  

After we woke up, we decided to go out to dinner.  We went to another café the other direction from our hotel.  I, yet again had an amazing steak tartare – this tartare was more traditional than the previous night’s tartare.

We then walked back to the boat pickup from earlier in the day and rode the boat down to Notre Dame.  The iconic building was astonishing all lit up in the night.

We walked back to our hotel from the Louvre boat stop, which was not very far and had champagne and ice cream.   Guess who had what!

Then this morning we woke up and headed across the river again to the Musse d'Orsay.  The line was big, but yet did not take that long to get inside.  The most shocking thing was we were unable to take photographs in the museum.  Something that was not the case 16 years ago when I was here.  But it was still enjoyable nonetheless. 

We then walked back to the hotel and it was time to go pick up the rental car.  So Dan, Mike and I went on the hunt for the Hertz Rental Car agency.  This was pretty funny because Mike had an address, but we could not find it.  It said it was in the Carrousel de Louvre, but of course we had no idea what that was.  What we came to find out, post-walking all over, was that it was in a "mall" beneath the Louvre.  So Mike and Dan found a car that barely fit all of us and our stuff and we headed back to the hotel to pack the car up and hit the road for Cambrai.

Of course Mike's knees did not really work that well in the car because it was so small and it is a manual transmission so he could barely steer and shift with his knees against the dash...so Dan had the honor of driving our troop out of Paris.  He did a great job navigating through the city with Mike right there telling him where to go.  It is no wonder they work well together!

So now we sit in our room at a quaint bed and breakfast and this town is definitely more low key than Paris.  I feel very relaxed here.  I look forward to exploring the town a bit tomorrow and maybe seeing the warehouse that Mike came so many years ago to help build. 

Cheers to Paris being such a wonderful city!
Cheers to our new adventures in Cambrai!

Luckiest Woman in the World

I am the luckiest woman in the world.  I sit in my Paris hotel room, about to take my siesta and cannot stop thinking this phrase, "I am the luckiest woman in the world!"

Today is our first full day in France.  Yesterday we flew into Amsterdam and arrived around 9AM.  We then flew to Paris and arrived around Noon.  We checked into our hotel - which I have decided is the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in - around 2PM.

Mike and I took a walk at the park which is right across the street - The Tulleries.  It is an amazing park that has carnival rides, but also wonderful walking/running trails throughout it.  At one end of the park there is the Place de la Concord and at the other end is the Louvre.  We walked across the Seine over to the Musse D'Orsay.  Which was good because I found out they are not open on Monday, so that has me going back for my visit there first thing on Tuesday morning. 

We stopped in the bar at our hotel on our way back from this little adventure and had a cocktail or rather a champagne cocktail. 


Yes Aunt Diana, the one on the right is mine.  It was my first Champagne in France (at least this time). 

We then met our other traveling companions, Dan, Jane and John, for dinner.  We went to a cafe up the street and it was so wonderful!  I ordered Beef Tartare, which arrived and was the size of a tea saucer and about 3 inches tall.  So much food, but you can bet I ate pretty much every bite.  And then came the creme brulee and raspberries and cream.  Both desserts were wonderful, but I have to say the creme brulee was possibly the best I have had.  Yes Mom, I think it beat out Number One Market in San Francisco. 

We ended the night by walking down through the park again and Mike captured this great shot with his phone:


Then Dan, Jane and John rode some carnival rides and then it was time to head back to our hotel rooms.  I took a bath in our extremely large Parisian bathtub.  And when I was done with that, fell promptly to sleep in our huge fluffy bed.

It was an outstanding 1/2 day yesterday and I can't wait to tell you all about today!  More later...

Cheers to being the luckiest woman in the world!