Day 1: "My feet hurt"
The trip started off with some adrenaline right off the bat. Up at five AM, we got ready and I was able to cook up some breakfast burritos to fuel the long day ahead. Hardy had still yet to pack which already was giving me bouts of anxiety because my bag was ready to go much earlier the day before. Anyways, we clean up and he tells me we have two minutes so I think perfect! That gives me just enough time for a little makeup since I never put on much to take more than that. Well by the time I had my coat on, ready to go and locking the door, we had four minutes till our train from Travers at 6:19 would leave for Neuchatel. Now it wasn't imperative to leave on this one because the next one at 6:49 would get us to Geneva in time, but only with 10 minutes to find our train to Paris. Some other important info for this story is that when walking from my home to the train station, it takes a total of 10 minutes, seven if I'm power walking. You can see that hearing Hardy say we had 4 minutes to get to the station meant Gabbi had to run with her very full backpack, other mini bag with wallet and other necessities, the tin of chocolate peanut butter balls her dear Aunt Kim sent her WHILE IN HER NEW 3 INCH HEEL BOOTS. What the @!*$ was I thinking? We hauled ass down the hill, (thank god there was no snow or we would definitely would have taken the later one and hoped the transfer wouldn't be complicated) and somehow someway caught the train just in time. As we walked down the train and I was hyperventilating, I frantically looked to see if my Aunt Noelle and Isaiah had made the train as well. They were staying in Couvet with my coach and had to catch the same train one stop before us. Well due to the morning we were already having, of course she was not on the train and I thought how poetic it was that I just ran down a really steep hill in heels to realize they hadn't even made the early train with us. Gabbi then proceeded to fume on the way to Neuchatel while Hardy in typical fashion sat quietly and calmly because otherwise it would only fuel my anxiety/rage further. Opposites attract has never been more true in this situation.
We arrived with just enough time to buy some croissants for Hardy (he has almost two every day) before the ride to Geneva and my emotions had enough time to calm into the mantra of "whatever happens happens". Hour and a half later, we make it to Geneva with plenty of time to find where our next platform is. Looking for the bathroom Hardy exclaims "there she is!" and sure enough there's Noodle (her name within the family, I used to be "little Noodle") walking towards us. First thing that comes out of her mouth, "Did you guys JUST get here?" She happened to take the train at 5:40 before us and had already been waiting for us ergo why she wasn't on our same train to Neuchatel. With that I was officially back to normal and as usual, felt silly for over reacting which isn't anything new for me. Fast forward and we make it on the TGV train to Gare de Lyon without fret. Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV), or high-velocity trains for english speakers, run almost 300 KM/H which is about 186 mph, much faster than my little dinky train in Val-de-Travers. We are crammed into a compartment with two sets of four seats accompanied by some strangers right next to two doors that separate the main train car from the vestibule where you can answer phone calls and find the restroom. This meant throughout the whole ride there, we were bombarded with constant doors opening and closing, sometimes with no people going through because our feet would somehow trigger the sensor. Some sort of sick karma was with me as well for after I took off my new boots because wearing shoes at this point was not an option, the guy who sat facing Hardy and I spilled extremely hot coffee on my foot. Wasn't sure how to feel because I now had a scalding toes and coffee stained socks but my new shoes were unscathed. I swear these damn shoes have some sort of hocus pocus attached to them. Four hours and we finally made it to the last train of the day but there were plenty more adventures to behold for the afternoon.
Gare de Lyon seemed to be a giant warehouse that instead of holding boxes had many train tracks with thousands of people scurrying from track to track. We made our way underground to find the metro and found our first experience of the Paris metro came with a very pungent smell of pee which I'm sure is much worse in the warm summer months. We found a ticket machine and decided to purchase a ticket that gave unlimited access on all public transit for five days. What was the frustrating part was the stupid machine just happened to not work for the stupid Americans, so with many failed attempts and a rather large line building behind us we abandoned our cause in search of real person who might be able to aid the transaction. With another period of waiting we finally were able to make contact. Because I only have so much French and the morning had taxed all of my patience, I asked "Parlez-vous l'anglais?" To my dismay she could only say a little, so with my broken French and her limited English I somehow managed to order the right tickets and we were one step closer to being done with all this madness. But not before both Noodle and Hardy got stuck in the metro gates and a woman had to tell me "Ticket! Ticket!" and I placed mine in and pushed us through, officially announcing to anyone watching that we were a bunch of tourists. With a connection to Gare de Nord then Colonel Fabien, we ended up northeast of the heart of Paris only to face our next obstacle, finding our rented apartment.
We were already an hour and a half later then expected so the people we rented from had contacted us, worrying whether we had made it or not. We found the street not problem, but had forgotten to write the address down and with no internet had no way of contacting them or looking up the information. (Sidenote: drivers and pedestrians here DGAF or in other words, every man for himself. Jaywalking, no lines separating lanes and people backing up on one way streets with heavy traffic seem to be the norm here.) Noodle found the info after some investigation while we all huddled in the cold together. Building 22 on the fifth floor. Just so happens that on this street, there is a building marked 22 TWICE. One door leads to the correct flight of stairs while one does not. I think you can guess which one we found first. Not realizing the real one was about a 100 feet down the way, we lugged all our luggage up the first flight of stairs, knocked on some doors with no answers and conceded we had not found the right spot. The next door over we tried again, but this time I went up myself with no bags to hopefully find our renters and sure enough the search was over! The apartment was small but cute, and had just enough space for the four of us which was a welcome sight after everything that went down. The trials of our day meant we arrived with not much daylight so we headed to a cafe nearby on the next metro stop over before making one stop to see the one thing I was most excited to see, the Eiffel tower!
Our dinner was accompanied by rather large beers because we deserved them and it's vacation and do you really need an excuse to drink a beer? (save for Isaiah of course) Noodle had been here previously and said she ate the best omelette ever so we were hoping for some good food to go with our beverages. Unfortunately, my first experience with french food was not great and my steak was pretty bloody and average to say the least. What was fun was Isaiah decided he wanted to try escargot so we tried a truly french dish and I was quite surprised the texture didn't completely make me want to puke. They pretty much tasted like whatever you cook them in which in this case was lots of butter and garlic. I'd say less chewy than clams which I appreciated immensely.
After dinner, we took the metro to where are all the magic is. The walk from the station to the tower is filled with tons of people, crazy drivers, and men coming up to you yelling "5 for 1 euro!" with their numerous Eiffel merchandise. Along the way, there were also mini souvenir and crepe/waffle stands which tempted me already because I am a sucker for useless trinkets. What kept me moving was the fact during the whole walk there, I could see the incredible view of the famous Paris landmark every step of the way, beckoning us closer and closer. Upon arrival, I was completely transfixed on the sight. I have waited almost all my life for this moment and it was finally here. As some of you have seen, I took many many pictures from as many angles as I could find. One just cannot do it justice. As we walked closer to see it underneath, we came upon a sort of giant inflatable bubble, snow globe perhaps, filled with Christmas trees. Holidays are in full swing and the tourism attraction factor is everywhere. After I was finally able to pull myself to look away, we wandered through one of many Christmas markets that was next to a rather shabby but cute ice rink where many kids were attempting to skate on. The shops included souvenirs, chocolates, artisans products and more! After the long day, Isaiah was not totally on board to come along, but the idea of ice skating for the first time ever brightened his spirits right up. What was even cooler was every hour, the Eiffel tower has thousands of lights that flicker on and off and I was even more in awe than before. Not the best ice for a first timer but I was able to get him to try a few laps and we soon were back to exploring the area.
Our frozen fingers and not so full tummies led us to some delicious street food and hot cocoa before deciding it was time to head home for the night. On our way back towards the metro though, we made a quick stop to a pond next to the tower that supposedly is home to a giant koi fish Noodle had seen her last visit. Unfortunately it was too dark to see in the water, but we did happen to see some ducklings on the shore next to it...or so we thought. As we got closer Noodle stops dead in her tracks and asks, "Wait, are those rats?!" Sure enough we had found Rataouille and his brother chilling by the water and Noodle was moving very quickly in the other direction. I probably could have stayed out all night had my feet not been so incredibly furious with me due to my choice of footwear, but a girl has to look fabulous in Paris.
It is still surprising how many people here speak English. At most of the shops and places to eat, the staff there are either fluent or speak enough to easily communicate with customers almost to a point I wonder if it is a requirement. Especially if you work somewhere with heavy tourist traffic. Only one person so far we had trouble communicating with was the woman at the metro ticket office but she was soon replaced after us with a guy who I heard speaking English quite easily with the next customer. (Just our luck I suppose)
Day 2 Christmas Eve:
Due to a long day of traveling and no sleep the night before, we slept in a bit before an American petit-dejuner and we were off! Hardy had researched a park near where we were staying so we made our way on Christmas Eve with just enough clouds to keep the sun away. As I was enjoying the scenery, Hardy was just a few paces ahead of me when I stopped immediately. Here's what I saw, see if you can spot the culprit.
Our next thing to visit would be next to the famous Notre Dame because we wanted to visit shops we thought would be closed on Christmas Day. The walk over was pleasant even though my feet were still cross from the previous day's shenanigans. We found the Seine river and decided to take a selfie of course when a woman came up and asked if we wanted her to take our picture. We politely declined but immediately after Hardy looked at me with a grin and I knew we were thinking the exact same thing. We figured we could outrun her if she tried to jack our camera but we weren't in the mood for a high speed chase. In no time we could see one of Paris' many famous landmarks in the distance and the pictures started to accumulate immensely. Before we made it closer though we came upon a lone souvenir stand near a bridge selling locks and keys. I of course became really excited because that bridge happened to be one of a few that are now the famous love lock bridges you see pictures about. 5 euros well spent if I do say so myself.
The blue and white one that has the Cubs emblem on it. Go Cubbies! (yes I know they suck, but so do the Bears. No band-wagoners in the Parker fam)
such a good sport
obviously the Hunch Back wore jeans and had a tail
classic jumping pic with the Xmas tree donated from the Russian Government. Mother Russia!
It took 700 years from start to finish to build this place. 1163-1860, some serious dedication.
What I could resist was avoiding the whole "look I'm holding the Eiffel Tower picture"
love these knuckleheads
Senate Building
A very happy, exhausted and cold American.
If you happened to see the giant spider thing in the bottom right corner then you have found what nearly gave me a heart attack. Upon closer inspection, it was only graffiti which only slightly eased my discomfort. With some fear induced energy, we made it to our first destination, Park des Buttes-Chaumont. Here you can tell this place is more suited for locals getting their daily exercise by running, walking, or what can only be described as a much slower version of Zumba for some cute old ladies. From the ridge, there is an expansive view where you can see a large building in the distance which I think is the Palais Royal but I could just be making that up. On a clearer day, the Eiffel Tower can be seen but alas it was very PNW weather so we left to see what else we could find.
I have yet to really iterate how expensive Switzerland is. Everyone tells me to never buy anything here and go to France to find deals so I was hoping to find some good shopping in Paris. Hardy proceeded to find an area called the "Warehouse district" which sounded promising for me to blow some cash. Unfortunately this turned out to be just a bunch of shops selling really cheap jewelry that would break if the wind blew on them. The real gem that we found was the statue just outside of the metro stop that depicted the French Revolution.
just Aslan and I kicking it leo style
One of my favorite things about traveling is learning the history of the area. My first trip to Europe (dawgs abroad) came with the knowledge and expertise of a UW professor who was the leading expert in all things Rome. I was enthralled with all the stories and facts he was able to provide us during our trip and I would have loved to be granted the same experience with many of the monuments and parks we found in Paris. What also made this area special was the a little bakery Hardy stopped at to get a croissant and espresso from. Croissants are one of his favorite things to eat and he's been trying to perfect his own methods of making them. We happened to find the best one we both had ever eaten and I regret that we didn't buy a dozen of them because they were flaky little puffs of heaven.
Down the road there was another little park (Square du Temple) with a gorgeous pond and families again playing together. We saw a dad and son playing ping pong together and this would be a theme I would see throughout the trip. I saw many dads and kids walking together and enjoying their time with each other. It may be just me being more observant since I'm a tourist but I feel I don't see dad/child pairs having outings as often as I witnessed here which was kind of interesting to think about. It was fun to explore this non-touristy area and for a long while we explored the back streets, shops, and stumbled upon this history museum with a big beautiful courtyard. They really love their courtyards in France. So many places to just stroll and enjoy your surroundings.
Here's another one in Place des Vosges.
I know this place must be beautiful in the other seasons when the trees are full
King Louis XVIIThe blue and white one that has the Cubs emblem on it. Go Cubbies! (yes I know they suck, but so do the Bears. No band-wagoners in the Parker fam)
Because I have so much more to talk about, here are bunch of pictures we took which really do all the talking.
such a good sportobviously the Hunch Back wore jeans and had a tailclassic jumping pic with the Xmas tree donated from the Russian Government. Mother Russia!It took 700 years from start to finish to build this place. 1163-1860, some serious dedication.
With some sightseeing and corny tourist pictures, it was time to visit a famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. An all English book shop that saw familiar faces such as Earnest Hemingway and other famous writers for many years. There are two separate shops, one for serious book collectors looking for first editions and the other a sort of library with wall to wall books with just enough space to walk through and browse cozily next to other people. We both decided this meant we had to buy a book from here because why the hell not? Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside the shop but if you're ever in Paris I recommended a visit here. It has a lot of character and every type of book you can imagine. The upstairs includes a reading area with a fat white cat that adorns the bookmarks they give out with your purchase. In true fashion of our personalities, I bought the 200th anniversary edition of Fairytales from the Brothers Grimm while Hardy bought a book from some guy who won a Nobel Prize and is about how to make decisions, Thinking Fast and Slow. We're nothing if not predictable.
A quick chat with the French speaking Londoner who helped us with our new treasures led us to a little French bistro we were hoping would give us the taste of French cuisine everyone gushes so much about. Though it was better than our first experience, we still didn't have the wow factor we were looking for. Hardy has officially ruined me when it comes to eating food because I used to eat just about anything and think "yea this tastes good so it's good enough." Nope not anymore, I am now a full fledged food snob who has to analyze everything I eat. The staff who worked their though were very nice and spoke English which debunked the other stereotype that all French people hate English speaking Americans.
The rest of the evening was spent sloshing through drizzly rain, and a quick stop to the Louvre trying to find Noodle but to no avail. I was really excited to see this at night because my favorite part of the movie "The DaVinci Code" is when Tom Hanks kneels next to the pyramid at night. Not quite the same thing with all the tourists taking the signature picture where you place your hand just where it looks like you are holding it up from away but still pretty cool all the same.
When we decided we weren't going to meet up with the fam, we ended up at a cafe looking for wifi to try and contact Jo and Taylor who happened to be in Paris as well. We were able to connect and planned to meet under the Eiffel Tower where they happened to be staying very near to. Now, I have realized with my time overseas and having other friends doing the same that I don't realize how much I miss someone till I see them again. Last year, I saw Kelcey Dunaway randomly at the Zoo Lights at Point Defiance and was so overcome with surprise and excitement I started crying because I realized then and there how much I missed her. She had been in Switzerland for the past five months as I just had finished my senior year at UW and had too many emotions to really have any self control. So when I saw JO finally after four long months I couldn't let go. It's amazing how close the bond between teammates is, and I think they are particularly strong within the UW program because I truly love all of those girls with all my heart. I don't think we let go of each other for a minute which is a big thing because even though I'm a hugger, Jenna really uses her supply only for special occasions. Hardy got to see his best friend and it really couldn't get any better than that. The next two hours were spent catching up (Hardy and Taylor solely talking volleyball big surprise) and being way too loud at a little cafe with not so great food again until it was time to go home. At this point we had walked up to 6 miles (9 kilometers). Hardy and I began our trek back to the metro but not before a perfect ending to our long day. The clock striking midnight, the Eiffel Tower sparkling magnificently, and the loud cheers from everyone around because it was officially Christmas!!! Is this real life?
Day 3: Joyeux Noel!!
Setting an alarm was futile because we were so exhausted still so after hitting the snooze button numerous times, it was finally time to see what Pere Noel delivered to us. Noodle brought stockings for everyone and in the morning we had more chocolate from a stand that I had managed not to buy anything from the first night there, cute Espana trinkets, sangria and my very own Christmas ornament to commemorate my time in Paris. With different things to see, we all separated ways again. Hardy and I first visited Sacre Coeur which is a church that sits on top of a hill with an incredible view of paris. To the right you can see Tour Eiffel and a large part of the city. Due to our status of old bones and tired muscles, we veered towards the gondola ride instead of the massive stairs.
I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised this place was swarming on Christmas Day so trying to explore inside really only meant we saw everything from the entrance than left because we managed to get there right as mass was ending. The area surrounding the bottom of this landmark is filled with souvenir shops and restaurants catered specifically for tourists and with that we left because there was much more to see in the hours to come. A common thing we encountered this trip was being very close to finding metro stops but not actually finding them before walking aimlessly until we gave up, found wifi, google mapped our location and eventually finding to the right area. We were hoping to find JO and Taylor again but it's difficult to sync up the right time and place with no means of communication unless you find a Starbucks nearby. We made our way to the Louvre again and it was really flipping cool to see the night and day difference. What was even better was by the time we got there, the weather was incredible and we had beautiful blue skies so I took a million more pictures. We also had a little too much fun with the statues at the Tuileries Garden.
This is the entrance to the park that is in between the Louvre and Champ de Elysee. 
"Hardy take a picture!" apparently means to look like you're in pain
That's better
Even though you can see it from the ferris wheel, the Arc de Triomphe was a much longer walk than we wanted to endure so we hopped on the metro to find our last must-see landmark. Upon arriving, we were bombarded with street noise, crowds and questions on how to get under the Arc. It is surrounded by a giant roundabout that has NO LANES FOR TRAFFIC which is terrifying in itself. We saw some brave souls frogger across the street and decided that was our only option. So the stupid Americans almost got hit by a scooter but we made it relatively unscathed.
What I didn't know about this place is that it's a memorial to all the soldiers from wars fought by France. Soldiers are buried directly beneath it's cover, and many names are carved on the inside. Thinking of my French descent I thought I might be able to find DeCroix on the walls because that was my great-grandmother's maiden name and it might be a common within the country. As I scour the walls all of sudden Hardy exclaims, "Hey look it's me!"
Guess I should have expected this but I was still a tad jealous. While we were making our rounds, horns started blaring and we heard shouting coming from the cars circling the arc. A wedding party had presumably just finished their ceremony and were making quite a bit of racket, one particular individual screaming from his car, "yea mother @#%$^!!" Quite entertaining but all I could think was, wedding in Paris means beaucoup bucks. Once we decided we were done exploring the next challenge was to get back over to the main walking area. We walked to the far side of the arc and low and behold a stairwell to a tunnel appeared! Following the masses, we walked underground coming upon historical pictures of the arc from it's creation to present day and came back to almost the exact spot where we appeared from the metro. I will repeat again, stupid Americans. With a few more hours of daylight, I really wanted ANOTHER picture of the Eiffel tower in a different setting so we made a stop to an area that had an absolutely incredible view of it with the Seine river in front. What was even cooler was as we approached a viewing area, we saw the same married couple from earlier taking their wedding pictures here. I can only imagine how those turned out. (Unbelievably beautiful is the first thing that pops in my head.) And yes I'm a creeper for wanting them in the picture to indicate how pretty those pictures would be.
With all the big sights checked off our list, we had time to see Napoleon's Tomb which has another fantastic view I couldn't resist.
What I could resist was avoiding the whole "look I'm holding the Eiffel Tower picture"
We made another effort to try another French cafe and came up with Le Wilson. After deciding it looked less busy than other places and had my mother's maiden name in the title we took the plunge. The waitress spoke English but not too happy about it and this so far was the better food we had eaten out but still not great with Hardy getting the wrong thing for one. Can't say we didn't try!
With night approaching, we grabbed a waffle with Nutella and chantilly (whipped cream) for the road from a street vendor and it was absolutely the best thing we'd eaten all day. Street vendors and bakeries seem to be the only way to go here. The sunset picture was a great way to cap off our evening before heading home for some Christmas fun with Noodle and Isaiah.
Card games with fun hats, lots of wine, and an italian dinner helped end our immensely fun but long day. When I sat down to think about it, both Hardy and I both agreed that it didn't feel like Christmas day but the days leading up to it. This was my first one without my family and it really clicked how being family and with all those who you love are what really make the holidays special. At the beginning of my journey this past August, I was upset because my holiday break wasn't long enough to really warrant an expensive flight back home to see everyone. I am extremely fortunate to say I was in Paris obviously but it is weird to say Christmas has come and gone because I wasn't home. Moments like this finally make you understand why in all those movies, it is so imperative for the main character to make it home by Christmas day. Thankfully I had a few of my loved ones which really made this holiday one to remember.
love these knuckleheads
Day 4 Last day:
With us over trying to find a place to eat by accident, we did some research of cafes that had good reviews near the shops we planned to visit for our last day. Better safe than sorry was our motto and found "Breakfast in America". Everyone spoke English, I knew everything on the menu, and to cap it off the food was muy bueno!! Happy Americans left that establishment ready for some adventure. This day was dedicated to finding souvenirs and buying meat, cheese and macaroons from well known shops we researched about. Of course we could not find any of these things in the beginning and instead came across a French university and the Pantheon. Fun fact: Voltaire and Madam Curie were buried in the latter and we would have entered but it costs money and we were trying to be cheapo shmeapo when it came to landmarks.
Next we, once again, accidentally came across a park and this was one of my favorite parts of the trip concerning things we saw without purposefully looking for them. Jardin du Luxembourg is an expansive area with a, surprise surprise, huge courtyard. This one was particularly cool because it was surrounded with statues of former queens, female saints and other female royalty from French history. Here also lies a huge fountain in front of what I thought might be a Senate building. Hidden away among the trees to the right of this area was another beautiful but much smaller fountain with more statues and koi fish swimming in the deep end.
La Fountaine de Medicis
Kind of cool to think if we hadn't been lost looking for our shops, we may not have found this place. Everything happens for a reason I suppose. With that fun experience, we continued on and were able to find wifi (thanks to Starbucks) and located everything we looked for and spent just about the rest of our budget on delicious croissants, salami, smelly cheese, and the best macaroons that I'm sure exist. They were from an apparently famous shop called Ladurée which I read was the guy who created the first one. They were expensive (24 for 50 euros no thank you) so we bought eight in different flavors to be eaten at a later time.
The remainder of our day included getting lost again looking for a cooking store and we weren't patient enough to keep searching. All that was left to do was meet Noodle and Isaiah for our last dinner of the trip together. We hit a fondue place near Sacre Coeur that has quite the reputation for a unique eating experience. Basically, Hardy and I had to climb over our table with the help of our host to sit down, we drank wine out of baby bottles, and sat elbow to elbow with each other and strangers. Quite an evening to remember.
Jus d'orange for the youngin of course.
Our night ended with a view of the Arc de Triomphe lit up at night, accompanied by rain and a walk through Champs de Elysee and the Christmas market there.
Day 5: Adventure isn't over yet
Now if you're tired of reading my play-by-play commentating, I can't help but gush about every detail of this trip because the stories don't stop just because we crossed the French border back to Suisse territory. Noodle and Isaiah were up and gone by three AM with their morning flight back to Madrid so we were off together in the morning without anyone else to confirm we didn't forget anything. Out the door by seven AM, we made it to our train with no stress and had more comfortable accommodations than the ride over. We also ate the two of the macaroons to see what all the fuss is about. THEY ARE SO FREAKING DELICIOUS I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE WHOLE STORE. The flavors taste like the real thing but with a cookie/creamy/fluffy texture. We've eaten them all by now and I want to go back just for those.
Now our original plan upon arrival was to explore Geneva because I had yet to see the sights. Our exhaustion paired with extra baggage of gifts, souvenirs, food and the rain (with snow on the ground) derailed those plans quickly. Instead we decided lunch then a train home was the better option. Long story short about our meal in a few bullet points
- Cafe de Paris was the name of the place.
- Quick peek online said it was a little more expensive but we were hoping that meant good food.
- Got lost (again)
- Made it...only to find out they have one item on the menu.
- STEAK
- That means really expensive even for Suisse standards
- Group next to us ordered basically raw steak that was still mooing.
- Food comes out on plate (heavy on the rare side) and set on fondue warmer set.
- We proceed to cook said steak at the amusement of our neighbors and staff
- DELICIOUS
- 113 franc lunch for two
Some big differences that were immediately noticeable as we walked briefly through Geneva was how much more we were able to relax there compared to Paris. Our trip was very fun, but you are on constant alert for fear of pick pockets and all of the noise that comes with a big city. I felt so much better once we made it back home because it was so quiet and I felt like I could breathe freely again. The only downfall was the somewhat cold walk home (yes the very same one I ran downhill on with my new shoes) with our numerous bags and angry feet.
So happy it snowed can't you tell?
As I finally bring this post to a close, it is now two days later since I started because it was a butt-load of information to sift through and I still left out a lot of stories. This week truly has been something I have been dreaming since I can remember. My number one bucket list item has been checked off and I was there on Christmas no less. I hope you all are having a fantastic holiday and a Happy New Year!! Signing off now while snowed in here at the Shire. There is double the amount of snow on that table from when this was taken.
Sincerely,
A very happy, exhausted and cold American.
