Barfußpfad, Bad Sobernheim

I have been wanting to do this for some time now. Jason is off work on Mondays, so we took the hour drive to check it out.

During the 3.5 kilometer (barefoot only) trail you walk through all different sorts things.

We spent a good afternoon exploring this, then went to the schwimmbad next to the path and spent the rest of the afternoon in the water and sun. 

Turns out Jackson is a little daredevil on the diving board and Grace is a good little swimmer!

The first part of the trail we walked through the cold, squishy mud.

It was gross at times, but we all said it was our favorite part.

Ice cold water!

This was fun too.

Of course being near the wine region we had to walk on corks.

The last part was walking across a suspension bridge. We had another option to take a boat across...but this looked like more fun!

Playing Golf

The boys played 18 holes at the Ramstein course along with our Pastor. It was AJ's first time and he was so excited. I got him his own clubs so he was ready to put them to use. He did great and even hit the ball along the green for 110 yards! Wow!

And so begins the many more golf games they will play together in the years to come.

A (Early) 10 Year Anniversary Dinner

Next door to the place we stayed in France was a 4 star restaurant that was recommended by the front desk. We decided since Jason's parents were there it would a perfect time to take advantage of that and celebrate and early anniversary dinner. We have a trip planned to Ireland for our 10 year that we are very excited about, but won't be eating like this while we are there.

Happy (Early) 10 Years to us!

The 4th of July in Paris

Paris was a must for us since we were so close by train from our hotel. We drove about 15 minutes to the train station and got our tickets. One hour later we arrived!

 Waiting for the subway to the Louvre.

 I love the Louvre! I could spend all day at this place looking at the artwork. 

Here are just a few of our most favorite (as you can see they are mostly Greek...I LOVE Greek history!)

Venus de Milo

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, was created between 100 and 130 BC

 Cupid and Psyche

You can read more about their story here:

Love, Love it!!

Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory)

The unknown artist created this sculpture around 200-190 BC.

Before she lost her arms, which have never been recovered, Nike's right arm is believed to have been raised and cupped around her mouth to deliver the shout of victory. 

 Of course, The Mona Lisa

 We had a yummy dinner with a view of the tip of the Eiffel Tower. A great way to end our time in Paris for the day.

 But...just when we thought we would be getting the train back to our village....

 we found out that the tracks were under construction for the returning trip. As you can see we weren't too happy about that!

So our back-up plan was we caught a 10:30 pm train to another train station, raced to some busses that we rode of for almost 2 hours and finally arrived back at our resort at 1:30 am. Yikes! It was a LONG day for all of us. The kids did better than fantastic with the change of plans and went right along with it.

It will be a great memory for years to come!

Le Mont Saint Michel

We decided to take the 3 hour drive over much debate to the famous Le Mont Saint Michel. It is located about 1 km off the northwestern coast of Normandy. Being that it is part of UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. According to legend, the Archangel Michael (pictured below) appeared in 708 to St. Aubert, the bishop of Avranches (a nearby village), and instructed him to build a church on a rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger. So then gave the start of the construction on this rocky tidal island.

Here is the view from the road that leads to it.

Archangel Michael

 As you enter the monastery their is a drawbridge to walk across. I just love the thought of those who have walked across this. 

 The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres (46 ft) between high and low water marks. Popularly nicknamed "St. Michael in peril of the sea" by medieval pilgrims making their way across the flats, the mount can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous walk across the sands from the neighboring coast. Its average rate of progress is about 200 feet per minute. 

The Abbey Church was built between 1023 and 1085. It was used for a church to some 50 monks as well as many pilgrims to came to worship the archangel Michael. 

The Cloister

This place is a place of prayer and meditation where a monk walk or sits by himself to read the bible and pray.

The Monks' Refectory

Ossuary

This is the monks' former graveyard. The big wheel was installed around 1820 to bring up food for the prisoners (they converted the abbey into a prison in 1793) who were detained in the penitentiary. It is a replica of the kind of device used in medieval times to bring up building materials for the construction of the Mont Saint Michel.

We were so happy with the decision to make the drive. It was amazingly beautiful in so many ways!

Claude Monet's Gardens, Giverny

On Tuesday we took a drive to Giverny to Claude Monet's house and gardens. This is where he painted many of his artwork and where the famous "Water Lilies" painting was his inspiration.

Sorry for all the pictures...it was just beautiful there!

I started a travel journal for the kids on our European travels. Each day we travel and do something they are to draw a picture about their favorite part and write a sentence to go with the picture. Jackson does really good writing his sentences, but Grace just tells me what to write. It will be fun when she starts to write them her self soon. They are little artists!

It will be fun for them (and us) to look at in the years to come.