Yes ---- The Police Are Rollerblading

The past few days in Paris have been enjoyable: good food, great wine, walking tours of the city, and cooler weather. We have spent time at a number of the major museums and overall all Parisians have been very friendly. Additionally, the city is not as busy as London. I guess all of the tourists headed to London this summer.

One of the small pieces of home that is missed in Europe is a cold drink. Last night we found a store selling water that was partially frozen. A divine finding when the temperature at midnight is still 75 degrees.

We have been living the European style life of eating late and hanging around drinking wine until past mid-night. A good life.

More pictures to come shortly.

And yes, the Police do Rollerblade.


  

Out of order pictures

A view of Cambridge from the top of the church.

  

Ripped Off

Today is the last day that I am paying tourist prices. I purchased a can of Minute Maid OJ today in Paris at a super touristy location for $4.00 USD. Enough of this crap, but hey I was super thirsty. The guy at the store even said "hello - 3 Euros - Thank you". I could have been in Vegas looking at Paris and not know the difference.

After today it's over - no more feeding the stupid tourist industry.

I resolved my mind by picking up fresh bread, a massive wedge of Brie & a bottle of Bordeaux for $10 USD. Life is good in the Latin Quarter.

The Chunnel to Paris

Today we arrived in Paris via the chunnel. It's a strange feeling traveling in a tunnel under the English Channel.

After a short walk from our hotel in the Latin Quarter we ended up at Notre Dame. We enjoyed the warm evening and walked along a festival setup on the banks of the Seine before enjoying dinner at a Bistro tucked behind the Louvre. The food was enjoyable but we are saving the exquisite fare for the next two nights.

Our hotel has Wifi and AC - we are in heaven. Expect to hear more tomorrow from Paris.


  

Mutton

  

Mutton & Beer

I have been indulging in 2 English classics over the past few days:

1. Mutton - a leg of lamb from an old sheep that is braised for hours until it's tender. We should try to convince Kevin in Jackson to make some of this stuff.

2. Beer - they have the best beer in the world. Think Guiness.

We are preparing to leave England tomorrow for Paris and I will miss both Mutton and Beer, but I am happy to say that I will be traveling through Ireland in mid-August which is another place with good beer and mutton.

Home Turf

Spent the day wandering around Cambridge. Most readers are not aware but I lived in Cambridge from age 3 months - 1 year. Many folks say I walk like a Brit. Great to check out the old turf and wander through the Gothic buildings.

When I last visited the town I actually took a bus ride to our old house. I passed on this trip today because I didn't remember the house so I figured it was just another plain old English house.

Houses

We are placing our house in Seattle on the market and working through the closing process on a separate property in Jacskon. It is quite stressful and has ended up requiring a lot of time to manage the processes.

If you know anyone in Seattle who is looking to purchase a house in the next 1 month please have them send me an email. We are selling a cool bungalow built in the early 1900’s located in Ballard. The house has been refinished and the original craftsman details have remained.

The house that we are planning to purchase in Jackson is located on the villiage road in Wilson. For those of you who don’t know the area – this is the road to the ski area.

The house is a log cabin and the original section was built in the 1890’s. During the 20’s the cabin was moved from Moose, WY to Wilson, WY and 2 additions have created a modern footprint.

747 to the West End

7:00pm PST Saturday - 300 people boarded a 747 in Seattle in anticipation of a 9 hour flight to London. Charlotte and Bradley were onboard for the duration of the flight and largly ignored the fellow passengers and slept for most of the trip.

Arriving in downtown the weather was cloudy and warm which made the city fell like home. Apparently the heat wave letup for one day and we slept well enough on the plane to spend the afternoon exploring. The itinerary ended up covering the usual west end tourist areas.

After a few hours of walking we hit our fist pub, the Lamb and Flag, for a proper pint. The place was built in the 1600’s but the Gunness was cold and fresh.

Currently the city is overrun with tourists. I can’t believe how many people, young and old, were wandering around the city chatting in every imaginable language. It reminded me of walking through Vegas or Disney world. Hopefully today (Monday) we can manage to avoid the crowds.

Pictures to come tomorrow.

On the move...

Yes it's true - we are on the move once again.

Today is Saturday and I am about to jump on a British Airways plane bound for London. Charlotte and I will be spending the next 3 weeks traveling through Europe. The quick plan:

- 3-4 days in London
- 3-4 days in Paris
- 10 days in Italy
- 7 days in Ireland

The sad news stems from the fact that we are leaving Seattle. After 4 exciting years we have decided to move back to Jackson. We are currently in the process of selling our house in Seattle, purchasing a house in JH, and I have been locking down my transition plan at work for my extended vacation. It made for a hectic week.

I will be using this blog to document the next 1-2 months of our life as we work through the big move. Who knew that Europe was on the way to Jackson?

Time to finish packing - more to come.