London

I agree with Keats when he said "Happy is England! I could be content to see no other verdure than its own;"...although, I'd have to change verdure to Piccadilly Circus. We didn't see much countryside, but the city was amazing! From Buckingham Palace to Big Ben, from Westminster Abbey to the London Eye, we couldn't get enough of this incredible city! Here are a few of the things we saw: (in no particular order)

Big Ben

the London Eye

Westminster Abbey

Wicked! (we also saw Les Miserables!)

Buckingham Palace the Guards
Dustin at the Royal Gardens

Though this may sound a little odd, the next time we head to London, I'd love to see everything associated with Henry VIII. (Philippa Gregory has recently resurrected my interest in 16th century aristocracy.) To see "The Tower" where Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and Sir Walter Raleigh were executed would be very interesting....morbid, but interesting.

Gaufre

One of the first things I did when we got home, was look for a "real" Belgian waffle recipe. (I'll never be able order waffles from IHOP again!) The lady that posted this one had to translate it from Flemish, so I'm hoping this is a good one!

Authentic Belgian Waffles

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, melted,plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1-Separate the 4 eggs, adding the yolks to the sugar and setting the whites aside for later use.

2-Add the flour and butter to the yolk and sugar mixture, first by stirring and then by working the mixture into a uniform dough with your hands.

3-Beat the egg whites until they are fluffy: when you lift the beater from the whites, soft peaks should form and then fall back, not holding much shape.

4-Crumble the dough and drop the pieces into the egg whites.

5-Stir by mashing the pieces of dough into the whites with a spoon, then stirring until a uniform consistency is achieved.

6-Heat up a waffle iron.

7-When it is hot (but not too hot), drop the batter onto the iron in the desired serving size.

Yields 12 waffles roughly 4-5 inches in diameter from this recipe.

No better way to spend our time sight-seeing in Belgium than with a Gaufre in hand!

Belgium

Wow! People, if you ever want to be overwhelmed by the beauty of medieval architecture head to Brussels. The Grand Place is the most amazing square you'll ever see! The buildings are gigantic and each is so distinct, disparate and .....well, over-the-top! We spent the entire day just exploring the square and it's surrounding side streets, we didn't even begin to see any other part of the country! Each street seems to be it's own sovereign state. One is full of cafes and shop that sell nothing but seafood, another nothing but Greek food, still another with only Asian food etc.... Of course, each has it's own chocolate boutique, waffle artisan and lace shoppe. (And let me just say, that if I die today, I won't mind. Having tasted the most divine chocolate in my lifetime, I am now complete!) The streets are so tiny, they're practically alley's and each is full to bursting with cafe tables and chairs. This place is dripping with charm, from the Grand Place square, to the Royal Gardens. (Well maybe not the famous statute located at the junction of Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. It seems that everyone else was charmed by the Manneken Pis while I was totally annoyed. Probably because I have my own live version of it at home!) Despite that little guy, I loved this place and am so glad Dustin suggested we drop by!

The Grand Place

Chocolate anyone?

This is the place for lace!

Check out this little restaurant.
(you have to step down into it from the street)
Us at the Royal Gardens.

France: part Deux

Day #3 brought us to the little town of Caen where we rented a car and drove to Normandy. Since I can't read a map to save my life, I got to drive while Dustin navigated. I haven't driven a stick-shift since I was in high school, so the first few minutes were a little worriesome, but it was a blast. Can you picture it? Me, driving through the French countryside? Too cool!

My Sweet Peugot

Our first stop was the American war cemetery in the small village of Coleville-Sur-Mer. Over 9,000 American soldiers involved in the D-Day invasion and subsequent liberation of Europe are buried here. The cemetery is beautiful, and it overlooks the eastern end of Omaha Beach where United States troops came ashore in June 1944. There is a reverence and tangible emotion there that you feel the minute you arrive. It was a surprisingly affecting place to be and even without a connection there, I was moved. After our visit to the cemetery, we traveled a few miles down the road to Point du Hoc. This is another famous battlefield from D-Day. After landing from the English Channel, U.S. Army Rangers scaled 100 foot high cliffs, under heavy enemy fire, and captured this area from Nazi forces, stopping them from using it to shell the troops landing on nearby beaches. The fighting at Point du Hoc was extremely fierce, and the landscape remains essentially unchanged since the battle. The entire area is still riddled with bomb craters, German bunkers and gun emplacements. This place was much less hallowed and encouraged exploring. We had a chance to climb into bunkers and craters and get a physical feel for what happened there. The final stop on our D-Day tour was the village of Vierville-Sur-Mer which overlooks the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach where the heaviest fighting of the invasion occurred. If you watch the first hour of Saving Private Ryan, you'll get a feel for what happened there. After doing some exploring in the surrounding coastal villages, and enjoying all of the old world architecture, we drove back into Caen, and rode the train back to Paris.

American War Cemetery @ Colleville-Sur-Mer

Flags Of The Allies In The War Cemetery Visitors Center

Point du Hoc Overlooking The English Channel

Omaha Beach With A Nazi Bunker In The Background

The Small Chapel in Vierville-Sur-Mer

Chateux du Mont

(isn't this exactly what you picture the French countryside to have?)

Parlez-vous francais?

No? Well, neither can I, but that didn't stop Dustin and I from grabbing our backpacks (yes, I said backpacks) and heading to France. Since I was a little girl, it's been a dream of mine to visit the "City of Love". How fitting that my love should take me there!

Day #1: THE LOUVRE, THE SEINE AND NOTRE DAME

Neither of us could sleep on the 11 hour flight, so Dustin and I went directly from the airport and straight to bed. After a quick nap, we ran to the Louvre. Unfortunately, we got there late and didn't have ample time to see all the amazing artifacts to behold there. (I have to see the Mona Lisa in my lifetime don't I? We definitely have to go back!) So, we decided to attend Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame instead.

I've got a million gorgeous pictures that don't even come close
to showing the beauty of this place!

Can you see the gargoyles hanging off the left side?

Me and the river Seine.
(That's the Eiffel tower in the background.)

Day #2: THE EIFFEL TOWER, ARCH DE TRIUMPH AND THE RODIN MUSEUM

The remarkable "Pensuer"

Since this is a family blog, you won't be seeing my pictures of "The Kiss", but let me just say, "It was exquisite!"

Of course, we had to go back to the Eiffel Tower in the evening to see it in all it's glory.
At 9:00 pm, they start the light show. (Thousands of sparkling lights to dazzle you!)