A Relaxing Day in our Neighborhood--Montmartre

We spent today relaxing at "home" and walking in the neighborhood.

Happy Father's Day!

Awww, the nice cool breeze requires a blanket for a nap.

A good rest.

Our front door from the outside. 

And, our front door from the inside looking back out at the street.

Looking down the stairs directly outside of our apartment door.

Looking directly into the apartment. First door on the left is the bathroom, second door on the left is the bedroom, straight ahead is a big closet, to the right is the way to the family room.

Looking at the back of the front door. 
Nice cabinets and place to throw our keys and stuff.

Bathroom with a towel warmer (and a remote).

Living room.

More to the right in the living room.

Looking up to Isaiah's area.

Isaiah reading his Minecraft book.

The rest of Isaiah's area.

Isaiah's view of the living room and out the front of the apartment.

Looking back to the kitchen from the living room.

Back left of the kitchen.

Back right of the kitchen.

Looking out to the living room from the kitchen.

Just strolling through the neighborhood. 

More of the hood...

Can you guess what this is?

Grabbing some McDonald's.

Caption this one for us! 

Help these poor souls! Just joking! 

Walking back to our apartment. 

Watching the artist.

Almost home!

London to Paris

We had our traditional English breakfast before making our way to Paris. 

We took the Hoppa bus to the Underground to the Eurostar to the taxi 

and made it to our apartment in Paris without incident. 

Our trip from London to Paris was fantastic. 

Just hanging out in London.

Grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, beans.

Sausages, black pudding (pig's blood), bacon.

Just to prove we are still managing our luggage on the Underground.

Asleep on the Underground--the Piccadilly Line 

from London St. Pancras International 

to Paris Gare Du Nord.

Hanging out at Starbucks at the St. Pancras Train Station.

We took the Eurostar under the English Channel (from London to Paris). 

You probably already are aware that it's known as the Chunnel Train. 

Not quite as fast as our bullet trains in China, but we did hit 195-200 mph.

Isaiah made some friends with some 8th graders from Texas. The boy on the left (front) is from South Africa. We had a delightful visit with him about our travels in South Africa last summer. He makes biltong and malva pudding. Yum! 

He was impressed that we make malva pudding for Thanksgiving dinners.

My geometry students from last year will be happy to know that

 they taught Isaiah how to play Texas Hold 'Em and Bull Sh**. Of course they were using multiple currencies: Pounds, Euros, Dollars.

It was wonderful for Isaiah to connect with him about past travels to his home country. 

We made it Paris Gare Du Nord.

No problems grabbing a taxi and making it to our apartment. I will take photos of it later. First things, first. Isaiah and Dax got settled in and I made way to the grocery store. It is so handy to have a little grocery market no more than 10 yards away around the corner.  I managed fine and actually remembered what things we like from this place. 

Sorry for the bad lighting--a few grocery items to hold us for a day or so.

This is our bedroom window. The cool breeze that passes through the apartment is amazing.

 I love these windows!

This is looking out our bedroom window.

This is looking out from our front living room area. 

Isaiah is still asleep (thankfully) and it's 10 a.m. He did make it to bed before midnight last night! That is progress. Looking forward to a great day here in Paris today.

A Full Day in London

We began our day with a morning swim while Dad did some work.

We made it to St. Pancras Train Station.

Taking the Underground to the Tower of London.

Of course, we have to have the habitual ice cream cone each time we walk a few miles.

The Tower of London

Isaiah actually remembered this piece of weather equipment from 5th grade with Mrs. Hoggard--so we HAD to have a picture of it! 

The Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge and our boat on the Thames

Views from our boat, the Sapele. We rode the London Eye last year.

Just another view from our boat.

Found a great restaurant for dinner.

Isaiah's entertainment while waiting for dinner.

It was so good! By the way, we do not like having to pay 

to use the restroom

 to wash our hands before we eat.

Dax and his delicious tiramisu. 

Just heading to the Underground to catch our ride.

 He is a bit tired. We are on our way back--late night. We have a cool picture that he won't let me post. Maybe I can talk him into it before the summer is over. :)

Our Route to London

All packed and ready for Jim (our neighbor/airport transfer).

Let's do this!

  

Hanging out in the airport (Kansas City). Terminal C has no Starbuck's, no working wifi, and no paper towels or air dryers in the restrooms (at Gate 62). We are so ready to leave. 

One flight down (Kansas City to Toronto). No time between flights--barely made the connection to Heathrow. Note, Dax is not anywhere near us. Why? Because United Airlines screwed up again. We will certainly be in contact with them soon. A bit tired in this photo. 

Oh, look who came to visit us! I love this silly man. 

He watched the Lego movie, ate two suppers (since he missed his regular lunch and supper) and then slept 3 hours. I got in 40 minutes, Dax didn't sleep a wink. 

Still going after 3 hours of sleep in 24 hours. He grabbed all of our luggage. It's always a good thing when all of our luggage makes it to the correct country.

Eating at our usual airport stop before heading to the hotel. AMT Coffee/Cafe.

Ham and cheddar panini, chocolate croissant, raspberry/apple juice, and coffee.

Oh yes, we are still experiencing our usual family silliness.

Hoppa Bus

Love these two guys. Great interaction and pillow fights.

After our showers to rid ourselves of travel germs and a 6 hour nap--we scored our traditional Herbies Pizza. Oh yeah, baby! The double-decker special.

It's That Time Again

We are so happy that you plan to "get lost with us" again this summer. We are pretty doggone lucky to be able to "tie-into" some of Dax's travel for work. Counting our blessings, always! When school is out, Isaiah and I are going to go visit my parents while Dax is still on assignment. We will hook back up with him in Kansas City before leaving together the 2nd week of June. Stay tuned for updates!