Disneyland Day 3

The kids were up early again, but on this morning we were going to Minnie's Breakfast at the Plaza Inn in Disneyland (on Main Street).  So we did not go up to the concierge lounge and just hit the park.  Mainly I wanted to get to Nemo's Submarine Ride.  The Monorail did not open until 10AM, so we hoofed it all the way to Tomorrowland and because we were fairly early, we made it on the submarine without too much of a wait.  Both kids LOVED Nemo's Submarine Ride.  Morgan loves the water and fish, but I was kind of concerned that she would feel trapped, but she did not. 

Then we went and got fast passes for Autotopia so we could ride that after breakfast.  After we picked up the fast passes, we went to breakfast at the Plaza Inn (on Main Street).  Minnie's Breakfast was good - a bit chaotic because of the buffet aspect of it, but I think most of the character breakfasts are buffet.  At Minnie's Breakfast we met: Raffiki (monkey from the Lion King), Tigger, Chip and Dale, Eeyore and of course Minnie.  The characters come around to the tables and will pose for pictures as well as sign "autograph" books.  I chose to get the autograph book with the picture inserts (so we can put the pictures with their signatures).  They also just sell the autograph books.  The character breakfast was totally worth it for us because it was where we saw the most characters and had easy access to them.  (Day 4 Mike and Tommy saw a bunch of characters over in "California Adventure", but when we saw characters at Disneyland itself, the lines were really long and with Morgan in tow we were not waiting in them). 

After breakfast, we headed back into Tomorrowland.  We then went to the Tomorrowland Terrace Stage to see the 10:30AM preformance of the Jedi Academy http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/jedi-training-academy/  The 10:30AM performance was the first of the day and I knew we were not going to get there in time to sit in front/wave our sign so Tommy could get chosen to participate in the Jedi Academy, so we went to Autotopia and Tommy, Casey and Mike rode that ride.  Once they were done with the ride, the 10:30 padawan training session was just concluding, so people were clearing out...I plopped down right in the front with my sign and Tommy and we waiting for the 11:35 AM training session.  We were there about 35 minutes before the show start.  Thankfully we had a spray fan (they sell them in the park) because we were sitting in the bright sun. 

Waiting in front in the sun!!!

Mike, Morgan, Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey found a table right in the front of the shaded table area that looked down on the training area.

We all had a great location staked out and now we just had to wait to see if Tommy would get chosen.  I was feeling pretty confident, but then more and more people started arriving.  By the time 11:35 AM arrived, I was very nervous.  I was told to have Tommy be loud, clap, jump up and down as well as have a sign. So that is what we did.

Here is our sign - "I was born to be a Jedi"

So Tommy jumped, screamed, clapped his hands and waived the sign and he was CHOSEN!!!  YAY! 

Tommy waiting in line to receive his robe (he is the little one in the red and blue stripped shirt).

Tommy with his robe on...so happy!

Tommy jumping up and down - he was so excited!!

Here is some video because I am sure my words would not do this justice.  It was AWESOME!!!

This is video of Tommy standing in line after he was chosen.

This is Tommy excited that he was chosen.

Tommy is practicing his Jedi moves.

Here is Tommy fighting Darth Maul.

All in all it was my favorite experience during the whole trip.

Tommy, Mike and I went on the Star Tours ride (because the wait was short) while Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey watched Morgan. Star Tours was a fun ride and Tommy really enjoyed it. 

Sometime around this time, Tommy and Mike rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and Tommy loved it!

We then all headed back to the hotel and went to the pool.  We had some nice adult beverages and snacks.  Morgan and I went back to the room for a nap/down time and Mike and Tommy stayed at the pool and went down the slide. 

After we were done at the hotel, we headed back to Disneyland and took the Monorail into Tomorrowland.  When taking the Monorail, we found out that strollers had to be collapsed to get onto the Monorail.  This was not such a huge deal, but we had some shifting to do because we put a lot of stuff on the stroller.

We then headed to Mickey's Toontown which at that time in the late afternoon/early evening was really crazy!  Then we checked our line-time applications which I will discuss in another blog and It's A Small World was only 15 minute wait, so we went there.  Morgan absolutely LOVED this ride.  She turned around to Mike who was sitting behind us with Tommy and signed "more" while saying "more, more, more."

We tried to catch up with Grandma Jan, Grandpa Casey, Aunt Anne, Uncle Mike and Cousin Emrie to watch Mickey's Soundsational

The park was closing early, so we went over to California Adventure.  I would recommend going through The Grand Californian because going through the main entrance was CRAZY (especially because the "downtown" of California Adventure is under construction, so we were just weaving through brown-barricaded walls). 

We needed to find the group dinner because Mike and I were dining at Napa Rose (in the Grand Californian) at 8:30PM and Grandma Jan was going to watch the kids in our hotel room.  So we went to the StoryTeller's Cafe in The Grand Californian.  If one adult eats the buffet, one kid (I think 2 and under) eats free, so that was helpful for us.  Mike and I did not eat, but everyone said the food was marginal. 

After the group's dinner, everyone went back to the hotel and Mike and I went for a drink in the bar at Napa Rose.  I will write a separate blog about our dinner at Napa Rose, but it was phenomenal!

Cheers to a full day in Disneyland!

Disneyland Day 2.5

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the blog...there has been a ton going on since our return.

Let's see we left off when we were headed to Wine Country Trattoria (at California Adventure Park) for an early dinner.  We entered California Adventure through the Grand Californian Hotel.  We were a bit early for dinner, so we decided to ride, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  The kids both loved it and there was only one part when Ursula was scary looking, but it passed quickly and Morgan was not that afraid. 

We decided to have dinner at Wine Country Trattoria so we could get VIP standing area for World of Color which was happening at 8:15PM that night.  So our dinner was scheduled for 4:10PM and it was a decent dinner...definitely more expensive than it should have been, but it was great to eat and get ready for World of Color.    Here is a picture of us on the way to dinner:

We were done with dinner around 6PM so we headed to A Bug's Land and went to the 3D movie, "It's Tough to be a Bug"...not appropriate for Morgan's age, but Tommy really liked it.  Morgan just hid her head in my lap the entire movie.  Then we headed farther into A Bug's Land and rode: Flik's Flyers (Really slow motion around in animal cracker boxes - Morgan, Tommy and Me), Tuck and Roll Drive 'Em Buggies (Bumper Cars - Tommy and Mike), Francis' Ladybug Boogie (Fast-paced figure 8 spinning - Jan, Tommy, Morgan and Me) and Heimlich's Chew Chew Train (Really slow good for all ages - Anne, Emrie, Morgan, Tommy, Mike and Me). 

Morgan and Emrie exploring the cave in It's a Bug's Life

By the time we did all of those rides, it was time to go and figure out the situation with World of Color.  Our tickets said to get there at 7:45PM and we would be taken to the place where we could stand.  We arrived around 7:30PM and there was already a ton of people milling about to try and figure out where to stand.  It paid to get there early because they took us in early.  Here is a picture of us waiting :)

World of Color was totally worth it!  It was an amazing display of a ton of the Disney movies.  Along with fire and fireworks.  It was unbelievable.  There was a part that had Pirates of the Caribbean scenes and fire that Morgan was scared of, but other than that, she loved it.  It was really cool!

Then we headed back to the hotel and promptly hit the hay. 

Cheers to an amazing display with water, fire and Disney songs!

Disneyland Day 1 and 1/2

Here is the beginning of the much anticipated Disneyland trip.  We left our house yesterday (Wednesday, October 12, 2011) around 8:30AM.  We parked the car at Thrifty and the kids rode their first shuttle bus to the airport.  We then checked in and made it through security with little to no hassle.  The single BOB (our stroller for those of you non-kid people) made it through just fine.  And then we were off to the Alaska Boardroom.  The kids adored the pancake machine that spits out two pancakes and I had a lovely glass of champagne.  Which I needed for the mere fact that I knew Mike was probably not sitting with us on the flight. 

Then it came time to board the flight.  We headed on and gate checked the stroller (which again was no big deal - definitely traveling with this one again).  Got on the plane and sure enough there were the three seats in aisle 7 that sat Tommy, me and Morgan.  Then 7D which should have held my husband had a man and his two kids in it.  So there was no switching that was going to happen.  So Mike was about to get comfortable in his exit row, but I saw a stewardess head back to him and usher him up to first class right before they closed the door. 

The flight went fine.  Mike bought me a Bloody Mary and he sat in style in First Class.  This was all fine until of course Tommy had to go to the bathroom and we had just been served drinks, so all the tray tables were down and filled with snacks and drinks.  I had Tommy step behind Morgan and then lifted him into the aisle and told him to run up to his dad.  So he did and that worked out well, which was good because we had to repeat this process about three more times.  There was about fifteen minutes in the flight where both kids were entertained by their iPads but other than that, it was pretty much entertaining the munchkins.  During the last twenty minutes when we needed to have our seatbelts on to land, Morgan refused to sit in her seat and finally I just had to strap her in and listen to her scream :(  That was not my proudest moment, but she needed to get into the seat.

Upon our debarkment from the plane, we found Grandma Jan waiting for us.  They had arrived from Seattle about 20 minutes before our plane.  Mike and Tommy waited in the jetway for our stroller and then we all headed to baggage claim.  On the way to baggage claim, Mike called the limousine company to make sure they were on their way to pick us up.  They said they were not supposed to pick us up until 6:30PM...it was 1:30PM.  They had our correct flight number, but apparently not the right time.  Mike asked them how long it would be until they arrived and they said twenty minutes.  We found our bags, I took Morgan to the restroom and changed her from jeans to shorts, Tommy and Mike went to the restroom and then we were just waiting, and waiting and waiting...

Finally the limo showed up and I figured I would get the kids inside because it was really hot outside and we did not need to wait out there while they were getting the luggage into the car.  So we hopped in...it was really warm inside the limo as well...well turns out the A/C was broken in this particular limo.  REALLY?  Anyway, we pretty much sweated through the limo ride all the way to the hotel.  At one point I glanced over at the front of the limo and the exterior temperature was 103 degrees F.  And let me tell you the inside of that limo was not much better.  I kept putting ice on both Tommy and Morgan trying to cool them down.  Ridiculous.  We finally started to see signs of Disneyland and our driver said he missed the turn so we had to go back...that was the best.  He got lost. 

Stepping out the limo, Morgan's face was beet-red and we were all dripping with sweat.  The driver tried to wait around for a tip, but Mike was fuming and I think he got the hint and left.  Once we arrived at the hotel, things slowly started to get better.  Morgan was exhausted and needed to get down for a nap.  So Mike checked us in and we headed to the room on the second floor.  One thing you need to know is that the Disneyland Hotel is currently under renovation which means there is sawing, hammering and general clatter all over the place but especially on the first floor.  So I took Morgan in the room and she promptly fell asleep on me (which was good), but I could tell Mike was not happy with the room.  He and Tommy left to go exploring.  They found the "Concierge Lounge" which is one of the benefits of having a two bedroom suite.  Mike asked them to help him find a better room location so Morgan would be able to sleep during naptime.  They moved us up three floors to level five.  We tried to move Morgan and keep her asleep but she pretty much woke up. 

I realized I had not eaten and it was about 4PM, so Mike ordered room service, even though we were supposed to have dinner around 6:30PM.  The food was much appreciated and I think we all started to get in a better mood after that.

I unpacked everyone and we got settled and then we developed a plan.  Aunt Anne Bear, Cousin Emrie and Uncle Mike were going to head to the pool.  We all were headed to Disneyland to walk around and maybe ride some rides. 

Stepping onto Main Street in Disneyland was magical!  I honestly started to tear up because it was so wonderful.  I was surprised by the amount of people, but Casey and Jan said that this was not busy at all.  So that was nice!  We headed into the park through Sleeping Beauty's Castle and headed right for King Arthur Carrousel.  I will post video of this when we get home...not sure how to get it onto this computer (I am using Mike's Mac).  Morgan, Tommy, Mike and Grandpa Casey went on the Carrousel.  It was great to watch them go around and around.  Then it was off to the Mad Tea Party.  Tommy, Morgan, Grandma Jan and I braved the tea cups and it was really fun - as long as I either looked at the kids or looked at the round steering wheel.  Looking in to the crowd was when I started to get dizzy.

That is where we met up with Aunt Anne, Uncle Mike and Cousin Emrie.  We decided it was time for dinner and we headed for Big Thunder Ranch BBQ.  That was really fun.  It had started to cool down a bit, but once we sat down I was instantly thirsty.  So we all ordered water and then I had a Sprite which was outstanding.  Everything at Big Thunder Ranch BBQ is served family style and it is all you can eat - we had: chicken, sausage, ribs, baked beans, cornbread, corn on the cob, coleslaw.  It was so yummy and a fun big family meal.

At the end of dinner Morgan started to get a bit feisty, so I decided to walk back with her and leave Tommy and Mike to their own devices.  Anne, Mike and Emrie came back to the hotel with us, which was nice.  Again, I could not believe the amount of people that were out and about on a Wednesday night.

We arrived back to the hotel room, I changed Morgan into PJs and she went promptly to sleep - in her own bed, by herself (I propped pillows under the bottom sheet on both sides of the bed as a nice little bumper).  Tommy and Mike soon followed after picking up ice cream cones on  Main Street.  We put Tommy to bed - he crashed hard - and then we went to sleep.  We all were exhausted.

Morgan woke up at 11:45PM and 2:30PM, but I quickly put her back to sleep and she was fine.  She slept until about 6:30AM and Tommy slept until 7M when Morgan went to wake him up.  We watched a little Disney Channel and then got dressed for the day.  We headed over to the "Concierge Lounge" for breakfast and then into Disneyland to start our day. 

We were in the park by about 8:30AM.  We picked up our free lanyards and pins in Frontierland and then we went to Splash Mountain.  First Tommy and Mike rode the ride and then I rode it with a "Fast Pass" or "Switch" which is where when one parent is left behind with a smaller child, they get to get in the "Fast Pass" lane when the others come out.  So that was nice.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was next with the whole family.  Morgan and I rode in the front with Tommy and Mike behind us.  It was a very gentle ride, but when Pooh started to have crazy dreams of honey (with Black Light and florescence included), Morgan started to get a bit scared.

After that we went to the Haunted Mansion.  Tommy, Anne and I ventured into the house which scared me to death as a kid.  The one scene that I remember as a kid was the ghosts dancing in the ballroom.  The Haunted Mansion, like much of Disneyland at this time in the year, is themed out in Halloween on steroids.  The Haunted Mansion has the cast of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, which did not scare Tommy in the slightest.  So that was good.

Onto the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island.  We rode a ferry over to the island and then explored caves and rope bridges all over the island.  It was very fun, but we had started to get hot.  So we took the ferry back across the Rivers of America and headed toward the Jungle Cruise with the idea we would find a refreshing snack before or after the Jungle Cruise.  We caught up with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Casey on that ride.  The kids were scared of the ride, but after we were off, said it was great.  So who knows. 

We then picked up a snack of fresh strawberries, blueberries and grapes at a stand by Jungle Cruise and the Leepers headed back toward the hotel.  We decided to find lunch and then from there head back to the hotel for some pool time and some nap time.  We had lunch at Jazz Kitchen Express: Tommy had mini-corndogs, Morgan had chicken nuggets and Mike and I both had shrimp po-boy sandwiches with jalapeno bacon potato salad.  It was all pretty good and everyone seemed happy with our lunch choice. 

Back to the hotel we headed to get our suits on and go to the pool.  After slathering sunscreen on, we went to the pool that had 3 waterslides.  Two small slides, similar to the ones that you would find on play equipment at a park, one medium sized slides that were perfect Tommy sized and then a large slide that Mike went on that he said was super fast.  Tommy would only go down the small slides until Morgan and I went up to the room for nap time.  Then he hit the medium slide and apparently rocked that about 20 times, all while Mike watched him from his chair sipping a frozen cocktail. 

Morgan is now currently sleeping in her wonderful cocoon, Tommy and Mike are snuggling in bed and I am blogging.  A great vacation so far and I am so glad we have three and a half more days to go.  We are having an early dinner tonight at the Wine Country Trattoria, so we can get VIP standing to watch the World of Color at 8:15PM.  Should be fun!!

More to report tomorrow I am sure!

Cheers to being in the happiest place on earth!

Chicken, Artichoke and Spinach Calzone

Yummm...This recipe is from the October/November 2011 issue of Cook's Country (one of our favorite cooking mags).  It is called Chicken, Artichoke and Spinach Calzone and it was wonderful!

Here is the recipe:

1 rotisserie chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded into bite-size pieces
9 oz frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, patted dry and chopped
2 oz (2cups) baby spinach
6 oz low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 1/2 C)
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled (1 C)
1/4 C chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (1 pound) ball ready-made pizza dough
2 TBSP olive oil

1.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine chicken, artichokes, spinach, mozzarella, feta, basil, salt and pepper in a bowl.

2.  Divide dough in half.  On lightly floured counter, roll dough into two 9-inch rounds.  Working one at a time, place half of filling over half of dough, leaving 1-inch border around edges.  Brush edges with water, fold dough over filling, and crimp to seal.  Repeat with remaining dough and remaining filling. 

3.  Brush rimmed baking sheet with 1 TBSP of oil.  Transfer calzones to prepared sheet and cut two 1-inch slits in top of each calzone.  Brush calzones with remaining 1 TBSP of oil and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Serve.

Test kitchen tip: the dough will be easier to roll if you let it sit at room temp for 5 minutes before rolling out.

Here are my pics of it:

Start of the process...I have taken the chicken apart and chopped the artichokes.

Prior to cooking the calzones.

Baked up and yummy!!!!

So cheers to a yummy, fast and pretty healthy dinner!

Elmo Cake

Okay so here is the process on the Elmo cake.  It took me about 3 days to do.  Baking and frosting making on one day, frosting the base and 1/2 of Elmo the 2nd day and finishing Elmo and finishing the cake on the 3rd day.

So here is the base cake in the pan getting ready to be baked:

I made a yellow cake for the base as well as a chocolate cake.  So the base of the cake was two cakes high with white frosting in between and on the outside of the cake.  Then I baked Elmo and once he was cooled I popped him on top of the frosted base cakes.

Here is another view:

Then I started frosting Elmo himself...I started with his mouth:

Then I did his orange nose:

His eyes started with the white part and then I filled in the black pupils. 

I then mixed the red frosting to the color I wanted and started in on Elmo's head, but 1/2 way through I had to take a break because my hand was cramping up too much - so here is a shot of where I took a break:

Then as many of you saw here were the final pictures of the cake:





So cheers to Morgan turning two and having a "Melmo Cake" (which is how Morgan described her cake)!

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!