Lyon's Festival of Lights

 We'd been racking up some hotel points over the last 3 years, so we decided to put those points to good use and stay in Lyon for a night during the Festival of Lights.  We booked our room months ahead of time and the hotels had already started to fill up!  We got a great room and here was our view. 

We took the train in on Thursday because we heard Thursday was a good night to go since there would be "less crowds".   Less crowds?!   There was an insane amount of people, everywhere.  It was crazy and so fun to be a part of.  This was one of my favorite light displays. 

The festival is in honor of the Virgin Mary.  It began in 1852 with people placing candles in their windows (which people still do) but now it has also become a collection of high tech light shows.  This exhibit above included dancing lights choreographed to music.

This street actually wasn't too crowed, yet.  The butterfly lights went on for blocks and blocks. The shops were all closed but there were vendors in the streets selling snacks and hot wine.  It was really something to see and experience and it took our minds off our relocation for just a little bit. 

We had the train car to ourselves on the ride back to Chambery.  It was a relaxing trip home but a sad trip too (not that you can tell by Max's face).  This was our last trip we'd take together while living in France.  It really started to sink in that we were leaving.  We were ready to go but we were really going to miss our little (and sometimes not so little) trips through Europe.  It had been an experience of a lifetime.  I saw and experienced more than I ever thought I would and I am extremely grateful for that.  And so comes the end to our three year adventure abroad.  Time for the next chapter in our lives.

Au Revior AVF Peeps

During our last couple of weeks in France, my friends at AVF threw me a little going away party at one the restaurants in town.  It was so sweet of them! I enjoyed meeting with them every week and I appreciated all their efforts to make me feel more at home in Chambery.  I will keep in touch with them for a long time to come. 

Grotte de Choranche with Matt!

I know, I am so far behind on my posts!  We are in the middle of our relocation and I feel like I finally have a minute to update the blog.  We were so happy to have our friend Matt visit us over the Thanksgiving holiday!  We decided to take a small trip up to the Grotte de Choranche, located at the bottom of the Presles cliffs (above). 

The stalactites in this cave are referred to as soda straws since (I believe) they are hollow inside.  (I don't have my little informative sheet in front of me right now.  I think it's somewhere in our sea shipment, so please, bear with me.)   

The soda straws grow at a rate of 2 cm per hundred years (I believe).  There are some staws up to 3 meters long (that part I really do remember).  They are very beautiful and extreamly delicate.  Due to the very narrow opening, this cave remained undiscovered until the end of the 19th century and the straws have remained largely intact. 

The temperature of the cave remains a cool 10 degree celcius (or 50 degress farenheit) despite the temperature outside.  There are small little blind amphibians that have lived in the cave since prehistoric times.  We couldn't really take pictures of them since they were so sensitive to light.  They were kind of ugly anyway. 

 Here's Max and Matt in the cave!  We had a lot of fun during Matt's visit and we're glad he had the chance to see where we lived.  We always felt so fortunate when we would get visitors; having Matt was no exception.  We were sad to to see him go since he would be our last visitor to our home in France. 

Cross Stitch Project Update

Check it out!  I just finshed row 4 of my cross stitch project.  I have one and a half more rows to go but hopefully they will go faster than the previous 4 rows!  I'm not going to be able to finish it all before we leave France, but I'm still happy to have this much done.  I plan to keep it up when we get back!

Tusim Bavarian Road Trip

Max's parents came over for a visit this fall, after their trip to Scotland! After a couple days in France, we took off with them on a road trip through Bavaria.

Our first stop was the town of Fussen in Germany. Our hotel wasn't the easiest one to find, given all the small, narrow streets and pedestrian ways, but we found it and a place to park the car. It was a cute town and just three miles away from the Ludwig castles.

The castle we came to see was the Neuschwanstein Castle (above). It's amazing! The castle construction began in 1869 and it was only one-third finished when King Ludwig died. Seven weeks after his death, the castle was opened to the curious public.

In the rear of this photo, to the right, is Mary's Bridge from which the previous photo of Neuschwanstein was taken. It offered amazing views of the castle and valley below. Even Marty couldn't let his fear of heights stop him from venturing out onto the bridge.

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From Neuschwanstein Castle, we could see Hohenschwangau Castle (above), the boyhood home of King Ludwig. Both castles are beautifully situated in the mountains.  Our next stop was Salzburg, Austria! 

Salzburg was charming, that's the best word I can use to describe it. We went on a Rick Steve's self guided walk through town which took all morning and we saw some pretty cool sights, including a gigantic panoramic painting of the city, as seen from the fortress, done in the 1820's. 

The walk also took us through St. Peter's Cemetery. According to our guide book, gravesites in Austria are rented not owned and the bill is sent out every 10 years. If it doesn't get paid by your relative, your remains get moved. This cemetery was the inspiration for the one in The Sound of Music film.

The Salzburg Cathedral (above) is also beautiful. There is a statue of Mary in front of the cathedral and when you stand in just the right spot at the front of the square, it looks as if the two angels on the cathedral facade are placing a crown on her head.

We also visited Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich. It was actually worse than I thought, if that's possible. The only comfort I could take was knowing that there were some survivors and that the German people were not going to let what happened be forgotten; every German student is required to visit a concentration camp as part of their education. During my first visit to Normandy, I walked around with a lump in throat, but here, my stomach just flopped. It was a lot to take in.

 On a lighter note, our trip to Munich wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Hofbrauhaus!  It was huge, it was loud, it was awesome. 

While in Munich we also saw the Residenz Museum, home to the Bavarian royal family. This statue is in the palace's Shell Grotto. The palace was destroyed in WWII, but the people of Bavaria gathered shells to help reconstruct the grotto. The royal family portraits were also hastily cut away from their frames to hide and protect them during allied bombings. They've since been stitched back into their frames.

We also walked through and had lunch at Munich's open-air market, Viktualienmarkt. I actually ate calf lung soup there! I had no idea what I was ordering until some nice lady filled me in. Markets will be one of the things I will miss most about Europe. It's just not the same in the US. Anyway, we had a great trip and sadly, this maybe one of the last we take while we're living in France. Crazy!  We've got at least one more small trip planned before our move.  Stay tuned! 

Abbey of Hautecombe

Max and I took a drive up to the Abbey of Hautcombe one lazy, sunny Saturday.  It is located on the banks of Lake Bourget, just north of Chambery.  We had not seen the abbey yet, and didn't want to leave Chambery without visiting it since is a part of Savoie history.  Here's a photos of the abbey from a mountain side overlook. 

Anna and Matt's Visit

Guess who came to visit us?!  Max's sister, Anna, and her husband, Matt, came over for a week long visit.  Here is a picture of both of them in Annecy.  It was just about a year ago that we were in Maryland for their wedding!  Where did the time go? 

Besides the day trip to Annecy, we also took them on a trip down to Carcassonne, France for a couple of days.  Max and I were ready for a little road trip and we still had not seen the walled Medieval city of Carcassonne.  We were happy to be traveling with some company too. 

We spent a day wandering through the narrow streets inside the city walls, shopping, and enjoying the weather.  Luckily we started out early because the place became packed with tourists (like us) later in the day.  It was a really neat place to see. 

We ventured out at night to see the city walls lit up after dark.  It was a very worth while excursion. 

On the way back to Chambery from Carcassonne, we stopped by our favorite wine producer in the Rhone Valley for a little bit of wine tasting.  We had taken my cousin and her husband there last year and we were looking forward to going back.  We bought just a few bottles of wine (wink) and had some of them to celebrate the great trip we all had together.  Cheers!

(Over) Halfway Done!

I started my cross stitch project almost 2 years ago. I had planned to finish it before we moved back to the US, but I'm not so sure that's going to happen.  It has been quite the project!  (I think I might have bitten off more than I can chew.)  It's keeping me busy and I plan to keep on going!  I'd like to have another row done before February.  I'll keep you posted! 

Max's Birthday!

Max had his 30th birthday here in Chambery! This was a first. This was his third birthday he's celebrated since we moved to France and this is the only one we've celebrated while actually in Chambery. He's standing in the kitchen blowing out his candles because there were too many and the wax was melting fast!   Here's to many more.

Prague, Czech Republic

So, if you're counting, this is our 4th trip in 3 months! It's not like we're trying to cram everything in this summer...ok, maybe we are. We were really looking forward to our trip to Prague.  Here is Prague Castle overlooking this gorgeous post communist city.

We started our trip with a visit through the Jewish Quarter. The quarter consists of 7 sights spread out over a three block area. We saw 6 of the sights which included 4 synagogues, the cemetery, and the Ceremonial Hall (above). The cemetery was an especially moving sight, but no photos were allowed unless you paid a fee. Over 12,000 Jews were buried within this small walled area between 1439 and 1787 as this was the only place they were allowed to be buried in the city. The caskets were stacked on top of each other and when there was no more room, more dirt was added so more caskets could be stacked and buried. The cemetery is like a small plateau with crooked tombstones crammed everywhere. It was a sight to see.

We spent a lot of time walking around and through the Old Town Square. It was surprising how much of the city we were able to get on foot. I imagined we’d have to use some kind of public transportation during our trip but we were actually able to walk from one end of the “tourist trail” to the other in about 20-30 minutes since the mains sights are in a fairly compact area. Above is the Old Town Hall.

On the Old Town Hall Tower is this astronomical clock. Yes, it seems as complicated to me now as it must have to people 500 years ago. Roughly every hour death rings a bell, the 12 apostles appear, and a rooster crows. It's short but cute and very touristy. 

 Charles Bridge (above) has long been a landmark of Prague. The 500 some yard Gothic bridge is decorated with 30 Baroque style statues, one of the more popular is the statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Legend says he was thrown into the Vltava river from this bridge after being murdered for not revealing the queens' secrets to the king. Poor John.

We headed over to the Castle Quarter via the Little Quarter and into St. Vitus Cathedral. Inside is this beautiful Art Nouveau style stained-glass window by the Czech artist Alfons Mucha. In the back of the cathedral is the silver tomb of poor St. John of Nepomuk. The whole thing was impressive.

The city's architecture is beautiful. Prague was mostly spared from the bombings that damaged so many other European cities during the World Wars. The buildings are well preserved and stand in their original form. Above is Tyn Church in the Old Town Square, under some minor construction. 

We happened to visit the city during a weekend food festival. All of the Old Town Square smelled like a barbeque. It was fantastic. The food in Prague was great. The beer was cheaper than water in some places!  More recently Prague has become a top tourist destination and we can definitely see why.

Brussels & Bruges, Belgium

The French summer holidays have begun!  Max had Thursday and Friday off work this first week in June so we took off on our trip to Belgium which we've had planned for awhile.  Belgium was very cool, especially Brussels which felt like a mix of Paris and Amsterdam.  Above is the Town Hall in the Grand Place, were we started our trip. 


Grand Place is the main square in old town Brussels.  It has been the town's market square for 1000 years.  We were lucky enough to have stayed only a couple of blocks away.  This was one of those rare instances were we stayed down town, in the middle of things.  It was worth it.  

Between our hotel on the Grand Place was this great friterie (frie place).  Fries in Belgium are a treat and a tradition.  Their fries are cooked twice, which makes them extra crispy.  We enjoyed lots of them (as you can see), along with waffels, chocolate, and beer (for Max). 

Speaking of chocolate, there were chocolate shops everywhere.  It was awesome.  We'd go and pick out six or seven pieces and make our personal little create your-own assortment.  I'm staring at the box we bought for ourselves as I'm writing this blog.  It's hard not to dive into it while Max is at work.  We're trying to take turns picking out our pieces...

Our tour through Brussels took us past the city's famous Manneken-pis Statue.  He's a tiny little guy, mischevious too.   It's hard not to crack a smile when you see it. 

We decided to take a day trip over to Bruges to see what it was all about.  The city, on the western side of the coutry is only an hour away from Brussels.  Here, they speak more Flemish than French.  It was a cute city, with a lot more toursits than Brussels.  Here is the picturesque Bell Tower (above). 

We toured the Church of Our Lady, one of the few places to house a Michelangelo sculpture outside of Italy.  The chruch and the sculpture are a testament to the wealth Bruges had accumulated during it's peak. 

While in Bruges, we took a bike ride out of the city, through the country side, to the next town over.  It as a great way to get out of the crowds and to see more if the country.  How else are you supposed to see windmills?  Beligum was a fun, laid back place to visit.  I'm glad we had the opprotunity to experience it. 

Scottish Highlands

Where do I start? We took over 500 pictures during our trip to Scotland and Ireland, most of them in the Highlands. This could be a really long post but I'll try to pare it down. After a day of travel, made longer by a glitch in the Lufthansa check-in system, we made it to Perth, Scotland. Since we arrived much later than planned, we ditched our plans to see Stirling Castle and drove up to Urquhart Castle (above) instead the next day. 

I'm so happy things worked out as they did! Urquhart Castle was incredible.  The castle, mostly in ruins now, lies on the banks of Loch Ness and overlooks the mountains beyond.  There's something about the castle's history, coupled with the intrique of Loch Ness, that made the experience exceptional in my mind. 

We were so lucky to have dodged the rain that day.  It rained on the way to Urquhart Castle, then it stopped while we were there.  As we left the castle it started to rain again.  We were headed to Loch Morlich (above) in the Cairngorms National Park.  I really really wanted to hike around the lake but it was pouring down rain.  We pulled into the parking area near the lake and just before we were about to give up on the hike, the rain stopped and it stayed sunny for the rest of the afternooon. 

This is why I wanted to do the this hike!  The views were stunning and it was so peaceful and quiet there.  It's not often during our trips that we take hikes like this, usually because we stay in large cities and / or don't have the time.  After some pre-trip planning, we knew we wanted to see the Highlands and the scenery it had to offer by car or by foot. 

Another good reason to visit the Highlands; the Speyside distilleries!  There is a large concentration of Scotch distilleries along the Spey River.  We started out by taking a tour of The Glenlivet distillery.  We then drove over to see the Aberlour distillery after having just sampled some of it the night before.  We didn't have time for their 2 hour tour and 6 tastings but I think it would have been neat to do if we had more time. 

We'd bought 2 Scotch glasses at The Glenlivet and 2 at Aberlour and thought that 2 more would complete the set so we made our way over to the nearby Glenfiddich distillery.  As we drove, we passed by this massive copperage!  These barrels are empty but it just goes to show how many are needed to keep this area in supply.  (We learned at The Glenlivet that their barrels come from United States, after they have been used to age bourbon and / or sherry.) 

Its remarkable that for as popular as some of these Scotches are (Glenfiddich is the number one selling Scotch in the world, The Glenlivet it number two) to see that these distillieries are located in the middle of nowhere.  


That afternoon, we headed down to Balmoral Castle.  The landscape was still gorgeous.   This stone, inscribed with the phrase "take a moment to behold as still skies or storms unfold" says it all.


 The road, however, became a little crazy.  The lanes narrowed until a two way road became just wide enough for one car.  There were alcoves on the side of the road about every 150 yards designed to let a car pull over to make way for on coming traffic.  There were hills, curves, and turns, and if that wasn't bad enough, at one point the farmers stopped fencing in their livestock.  We had to watch out for sheep in the road, which fortunately we only encountered once.

We were happy to arrive at Balmoral Castle. The castle has been a home to the Royal Family since 1848. It is only open from for 4 months a year since it is still used as a Royal residence. The Queen actually went there after the wedding of William and Kate. What a place to get away from everything! It it located on 150 acres of Highlands with 2000 deer roaming the property. 

We ended our trip in the Highlands in the town of Pitlochry at a great bed and breakfast, complete with it's own bar!  We enjoyed all 3 of the bed and breakfasts we had stayed out, especially the breakfast part!  We had the full Scottish breakfast each morning, which included eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pudding, beans, even waffles and pancakes.  From now on, we'd be on our own for breakfast.  ::Sigh::  Goodbye Higlands, we'll miss you!  On to Ireland now...