Before we left to come here to the UK, some friends back home said that they were going to come and visit us this summer. They told us to scope out the good places for them. So everywhere we went we rated the sites according to the Johnson's visit. So they finally came! The one requirement was to see Paris ...needless to say we did end up going...but more on that later.
Greg and Kim Johnson and their daughter Megan came to visit us for two weeks. And what a two weeks! They went to the same church as us and Bryce and Megan have been going to the same school since 2nd grade.
They wanted to see a lot so right from touchdown they were on the go! They landed and then Jeanne and the kids went straight to Stonehenge and Bath.
The next day we drove through Avebury and then the Cotswolds.
These trees located in Stow-on-the-Wold are thought to be the inspiration of the doors to Moria in the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien spent a lot of time walking in the Cotswold area drawing things that interested him...and these trees were truly interesting with their gnarled roots at either side of the back door to the town's church!
We actually did make it back home after just one hotel night...but only to leave
early the next morning to park outside London. We almost made a
HUGE mistake in forgetting to pack our passports. When we checked in at the Eurostar train counter Kim had one of those moments where she said out loud...I hope I packed our passports at which point Jeanne's face turned white. Thankfully, Scott worked a half day and was planning on catching a train from Peterborough. He had just enough time to quickly drive home, grab the passports, park at the train station and board the assigned train with about 10 minutes to spare. WHEW! THANK YOU KIM! :-)
We were able to catch a matinee of the second to last show of the Lord of the Rings-- which was amazing! The stage mechanicals were incredible! There was a platform whose individually piston lifted shapes created a large circle. The journey went round and round. Mountains, Mt. Doom, rooms ...everything was made believable by the rotation and lifting parts. I tried to describe something that is probably hard to visualize...but it was really cool!
Then in the evening we caught the Eurostar to Paris. That was a direct FAST train from London, under the chunnel and then in 2 1/2 hours we were in Paris.
Jeanne was able to secure lodging for all 8 of us...in a houseboat!
It was right across the street from the metro. Most rooms in Paris are for TWO people only and aren't cheap. So finding lodging that would fit us all was amazing- but the atmosphere being on the river Seine was even more amazing! Highly recommended for anyone visiting Paris!
We had two DAYS in Paris and actually we were able to hit most of the highlights the first day. We had heard that the weather was supposed to be good the first day, but not so great the second--so we tried to make the most of it (both days ended up having great weather though).
We walked along the river to Notre Dame,
then went on to the Eiffel tower. That was great. I think it was a highlight of their whole visit. It was fun going up but the going down was made even better for the majority of the group who chose to WALK down. They stopped on the first level and said that it was their favorite! Next time I'll stop :-)
The lines were quite long there so by the time we actually made it to ground level, most of the day was gone. But we had heard that admission to the Louvre was greatly reduced on Friday nights.
So since the Mona Lisa was a "must see", we decided to visit her quickly and inexpensively. It worked out perfectly.
That evening we sat on the deck and watched the lights of Paris reflect off the water. It was very peaceful!
The next day we took it easy and saw the "Mr. Bean cube building" featured in Mr. Bean's Holiday. It makes for a great dimensional photo.
We also were able to stop by Champs-Elyses and see the Arc de Triomphe. The first day Greg has smelled a really good food smell so we went to try to find it. But the wind wasn't blowing the right direction. We did however find a nice restaurant with Ben & Jerry's ice cream. THEN, we found it. It was right around the corner! It was a really cute walking street with all sorts of Greek food. When they found an Italian ice cream store they were sold on coming back for dinner. It worked out great because they were wanting to go back to the base of the Eiffel Tower to see an evening light show.
"Greg's" street as we call it now.
The girls (our little girls) were tired from three days of hard touristing , so Jeanne and the girls took a relaxful night on the boat eating spaghetti! The girls got a big kick out of waving to the dinner boats that went by and counting how many people would wave back. It was great!
After an uneventful return journey back home we took a day off of travel. Sleeping in was just what "Dr. Kim" ordered and we did!
Leaving Scott to work (we didn't want to use vacation days) we took the Johnson's to Dover Castle and Leeds Castle. The weather was fabulous yet again. I know it's supposed to rain all the time over here...but we have thoroughly enjoyed the weather here! The winter is mild and the summers are too!
The highlight for Madison was that she now was able to go on the "Go Ape" experience. What a fun time! Do you notice her BIG smile?
Then we saw the castle and went through the maze. As Bryce used to say when he was little...."FUN DAY!"
We had a mixture of easy days with a few local sights thrown in. We revisited The Boston church. which was good because the kids hadn't been there yet. This time we decided to climb up to the top of the church tower (called the Boston Stump). It was VERY narrow, but the view was wonderful.
We were also able to visit Lincoln Cathedral and Castle, Burghley House, various local castles and castle ruins.
The sad part about having friends come over is that they have to leave. Goodbye's aren't fun. This was made all the worse for us because Scott and I had to say goodbye to our two oldest children. They also were flying back with the Johnson's for a 3 week visit back to the states. They had full schedules of church camp, visiting friends and then a week vacation in Florida for the bi-annual Shaffer family reunion at Vero Beach and Orlando.
But we are ready for us to be a family of 5 soon to be 6...But don't get too excited :-) I wrote it that way to get your attention (he! he!). This fall Jeanne's nephew is coming for a semester of schooling experience in the UK! So keep checking in...I'll try to keep the posts of our travels more up to date as we do them!
I never knew what a "dale" was. And going to one didn't seem that exciting after all of the places we've been. So when Scott planned this long weekend for us to the Yorkshire Dales none of us were too excited. Bryce and Madison were freshly back from the US and were still tired from traveling three weeks. But it was bank holiday weekend... the last holiday of the year that Scott gets off work. He has a few more vacation days but they have already been planned. So off to the Dales we went!
Scott got home Friday and we drove 3 hours to Grassington to stay at a B&B. The main tourist attraction for the Yorkshire dales are the walking paths. Saturday was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the weather.
After enjoying the outdoors we drove to a very strange place in Leyburn called "the forbidden corner". It was a sort of maze/discovery park. It was full of secret tunnels, doorways, water paths, gardens and just about anything unexpected. If anything would describe it...it would be like being Alice in Wonderland. It is a very popular attraction that has to be booked in advance (for anyone who might plan a trip to the Yorkshire Dales).
Sunday we found another beautiful town called Skipton we took a tour boat along their canal. It was a sleepy morning. We grabbed a quick lunch and then explored Skipton castle- known for being one of the best medieval castles in England.
Then came the highlight of the whole trip. Scott heard about Howsteen Gorge on the internet. It sounded exciting...and it was. It is a narrow gorge where the rushing waters have carved out fabulous rock formations. The private trail hikes along, over, and through the gorge. Our kids love jumping from rock to rock. At the end of the trail was a really cool tunnel! We climbed through narrow passages with a flashlight they give and then up and out. The kids had so much fun!
