Guest Post

This past weeks guests, Barry & Alicia Gordon have decided to throw the BC Tour de France a curve ball, by contributing a guest post. Thanks for the kind words B&A, it was good to have you!

" Alicia and I just returned from an amazing 9 day trip taking in Paris and Barcelona. Barcelona makes a great hop using Paris as a base if anyone is thinking they might not get another chance to go there and wants to. It is very worthwhile also.

For Paris- it seems inconceivable to be able to "live" for a few days in any better location. Rupert and Mary Jo are walking distance to almost anything you could think of to see in Paris. About 7 minutes WALK from the Eiffel Tower, Napoleon's Tomb, The Military Museum, and the flame of Princess Diana. Just a few more minutes to the Rodin Museum and The Musee Dorsay which houses a ton of Impressionist Art including all the biggies from Monet and Manet, to Van Gogh and housing some of their most famous works, and even the Catacombes. Just a bit further across the beautiful Siene River, is the Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, Champs Elysees, Place Concord, and Notre Dame. A short subway will get you to Monmatre, Moulon Rouge,and the incredible cemetary which houses the graves of Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. This is by no means an exhaustive list but they are most of what we were able to see in just 4 days, without a lot of pre-planning. The stay also includes lots of visiting time with Rupert and Mary-Jo, french bread, pastry, and CHEESE. French wine, crepes, and if you hit the right day- pancakes, and Mary- Jo's fabulous dinners.

I suspect many blog watchers know all this, but if you haven't yet had the chance to see it up close, it's just hard to really imagine.

Thank-you Mary Jo and Rupert for a wonderful time."

Champagne on Pont Neuf - Check!

Last year on Rupert's Birthday, friends and family were asked to give him a piece of advice for his two years in Paris (see "Advice for Rupert" post). Tagget's suggestion "drink a bottle of Champagne on the wooden footbridge" was put into action with this week's guests, the Gordons.

Oh, how lovely it is, to sit outside with friends and a cocktail and enjoy the lights of Paris.

Mary Jo with Alicia & Barry Gordon sipping Champagne on the Pont Neuf

BC's AT the Tour de France

With much anticipation, we walked down to the Champs Elysees to watch the final laps of the Tour de France today. We made quite an effort trying to acquire the inside scoop on a good spot to stand, what time to get there etc, but came up empty. So we chose to arrive two hours early and went to the closest spot to our house (if you watched the coverage we stood right beside the awards stage).

Unfortunately two hours was not enough to secure us a spot in the front - four rows back more like it - it was packed!. The fact that we were surrounded by english speakers was probably a good indication that we had not chosen a good spot. But settled in just the same. The girls sat on ground and counted each others teeth, Rupert educated some new friends on the ins and outs of the Tour and we all waited "patiently" for the Lance and the boys to arrive.

Although the winner had already been determined yesterday, it was still very exciting when the riders arrived- the crowd cheered, cameras went up in the air and everyone struggled to catch a look. I have to admit I didn't see much, there were too many people in front of us and the riders were extremely fast, but it was great to be a part of it all!

Next year I think might choose a spot further outside the centre of town. Vive Le Tour! Rupert's Hail Mary shot of Lance and the winner Contador (yellow jersey).

Williams Sisters Watch Out

The girls spent their mornings this week at Tennis camp. Despite their teachers very serious disposition, they had a great time and picked up some Tennis skills along the way.

Mini raquets, mini balls and mini players - It doesn't get much cuter than this!

Giverny

Last weekend we took a car trip with our first house guests of the summer to Giverny - Monet's house and gardens about an hour outside of Paris. Some of Monet's most famous paintings, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings, were of his garden in Giverny.

The "water lily" pond was stunning, but much smaller and more enclosed by vegetation than I imagined.

The girls sketching the water lilies

Us with Sharon, Henry and M. in Monet's Gardens

With an afternoon still left on our car rental, we consulted the "points of interest" feature of our GPS and decided to check out La Roche Guyon, a chateau not far from Giverny.

The lack of the Chateau's guidebook presence meant that we basically had the place to ourselves and we were able to enjoy the grand rooms, views from the tower, and curious contents in peace.

Our unassuming walk through this typical French chateau ended with a surprise - a military bunker. It turns out that Rommel defended Normandy against the Allies in World War II from the bunker located here- La Roche Guyon was Rommel's headquarters.

The girls in front of the Chateau