Bonjour, mes amis!

It has been quite awhile and I have a lot to blog about! Chad's parents left yesterday afternoon to head back to Mt. Vernon after a whirlwind European vacation! We has so much fun with them in London and in our travels in France and Italy!

Their first week here, they spent a few days in Scotland and were able to take a day trip to St. Andrews, which they really enjoyed! I'll try to make a long story short - we had a crazy beginning to our 9 day trip with them at the end of that week. Chad was in Germany for work and Linda, Keith and I planned to take the Eurostar through the chunnel to meet Chad in Paris Friday evening after I got off of work. Well, unlucky for us, there was a fire in the Chunnel on Thursday and we found out on Friday morning that all trains were cancelled! So needless to say, we had to think quickly and we got Linda and Keith on a Friday afternoon flight to Paris (via Dublin because there were NO flights available) to meet up with Chad. I got on an early morning flight on Saturday and we were all together by Saturday evening!


So we continued to have a busy trip but there weren't any other major travel delays along the way - other than the fact that Linda and Keith were delayed out of London and missed their connection in Chicago and had to stay there the overight. We did get our fare share of flights, train rides, driving and taxi's so cover a lot of ground but it was worth it!! So here it is....

View from our hotel on the corner of Rue Cler and Ave Motte-Piquet. We decided to take Rick Steve's advice and really enjoyed staying in this area of Paris. Our hotel was very close to the Eiffel Tower and Rue Cler was a cute little shopping street!

Chad and his parents on Rue Cler! I wasn't there on Saturday when the toured the city and went to the Norte Dame, the Lourve, Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe so I don't have any photos of all that excitement!


And of course - I had to take tons of pictures of the Eiffel Tower. We went at night and got to see it light up with blinking lights. Right now it's in blue lights and has the European Union Flag stars because France is currently the head of the Council of the European Union.

After leaving Paris, we flew to Florence and stayed an hour away in the Chianti region. It was so beautiful but a little colder than we had hoped!

We stayed in a cute place, Il Borgo Pietrafitta. We had our own little unit with a living room and kitchen (and horrible TV - oh well!) Anyhow, we had a nice and relaxing time touring around the region and relaxing!

Grape vines!

The infinity pool - it was pretty cold but still beautiful!

Chad and Linda convinced me to get in the freezing pool and here's the proof!

Tuscan Sunset!

We also did a day trip to Florence and hit the major sites, David, the Duomo, shopping in the market and just enjoying the warm sunny day!

A huge row of motorcycles!

The Duomo

We also took a hike up the hill to see the city from Piazza Michelangelo and it was so worth it!

I don't think I've ever had so much Gelato in my life!! I made everyone walk all over each city just to find that perfect place. Here's a pic of the goods in one of the many! And us enjoying our selections of course!!

So after Paris, Florence and Tuscany, we headed to Rome for a few days......

Our first night in Rome, we did a night walk. Here's Linda and Keith in front of the Trevi Fountain...

and making our wishes!

Here are the Palmers outside the Pantheon! Our day started out ok but by the time we went to the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel, it started raining and did not let up ALL day long! It was quite a day but we kept walking and saw St. Peters (after waiting in line in the rain) and headed back to our hotel exhausted and soaked!!

View of St. Peters from the Vatican

The morning we left Rome, we did some walking around the ruins and went inside the Colosseum. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and we could enjoy the sun!

So we left Rome and headed back to Paris for a night before we got on the Eurostar and through the chunnel and back to London! Linda and Keith were with us for the rest of the week and we were so lucky to have them for company, make us dinners and do our laundry - we were getting sp used to it - this weekend has been a struggle!

Finally, here are some pics in front of the major sites in London, Paris and Rome. Linda got us all t-shirts that say "London, Paris, Rome and Mt.Vernon" so the girls decided to get our pictures in front of each site on our shirts! Mt.Vernon is yet to come and I can't wait to be back in Ohio to complete the shots, but here we are in the others...

London - Big Ben!

Paris - The Eiffel Tower!

And Rome - the Colosseum!

We had such a fun and memorable time with Linda and Keith and can't believe that our visitors are gone! That also means the end of summer and a busy fall and winter ahead, which is not so fun! This weekend has been really relaxing but we've got a busy travel schedule ahead - with work and a few weddings - the next few months will go by pretty quickly!

Until next time, Au revoir! xoxox

The French Riviera...or the Cote d'Azur

Hi Everyone!

Well, I'm a bit overdue on making this post - we've had a lot going on!!  

Linda and Keith, Chad's parents, arrived in London this past Sunday and we're so excited to have them here!  They've spent the past few days in Scotland and are heading back to London as I speak (or I guess as I write - I'm not talking out loud to myself)!  Anyway, we're headed for a 9 day trip with them to Paris and a few places in Italy and we just can't wait!  More on that in the next post...

So we had Ben and Lindsey visiting a few weeks ago and it was such a fun time!  They came and spent a few days in London - then we headed to France for a few days and then had a few more days in London with them before the headed back to the Nasty, I mean Cinci!

So - I won't go on and on about everything, but will share a few photos from our trip.

We stayed at an amazing hotel right on the Mediterranean, called Balli de Suffrin.  It was literally right on the water and just beautiful!  Here we are on the balcony off the lobby.

View of the pool and the beach from the balcony above.  It was so great to have a "proper" beach vacation!   The weather was great and it was so nice to relax.  And it was good for Chad and I to actually get a little tan.  We are pretty pale after the British summer!

The lovely beach!

Another view of the sea from the hotel!

We took one day trip and headed to Monaco, which was a few hours from where we were staying.  This is the famous Casino of Monte Carlo. There is a nice park leading up to it with these fountains and statues. The flags are blocking the view out front but there are bunches of flashy cars parked outside the casino. Plus, the thing to do is to drive your car around the roundabout to show it off! Due to the fact our car wasn't so flashy (a BMW hatchback - nice - not flashy enough though) we sat at the cafe on the left of the photo (see the umbrellas?) and enjoyed watching all the action. It was great!

Monaco also has really really ridiculous (Zoolander anyone?) yachts.  Here is a view of a few of the massive ones!  We did some research online of the HUGE one in the distance and apparently it's the 5th largest yacht in the world!!  So crazy!

Here's a few of the castle that overlooks Monaco.  It was pretty fancy!

This is the path heading down from the castle and you can see the sea in the distance.  I read that the principality of Monaco is no bigger than London's Hyde Park.  So it's a small place but there is a lot of money there!

Here we are at dinner our last evening of our trip. What a happy bunch!

Here we are back in London.  We went to Borough Market for lunch on Saturday and Lindsey and Ben loved it just as much as I do!  We were in line at this point waiting for chorizo sandwiches - good stuff!

Here's a group shot of dinner at the Gaucho Grill.  Like I said, it was so fun to have visitors here and we had such a great time!  Ben is always a source of entertainment and he kept us laughing for a week and a half!  Lindsey took a bunch of photos and I should try to get them up here because she got some great shots!

So that is that and we're back to France tomorrow!  Time flies I tell ya!!  We passed our 1 year in London mark last week - can you believe it?  We'll be heading back before we know it - we just have to make sure we get a few more trips in before that!

Take care and talk to you soon!! xoxox