Were's Back!

Hi All! We are finally back stateside from our London-Paris Vacation! Wow! A one week vacation sure flies by! London was REALLY rainy, but that's what the tube, Museums, and umbrellas are for! Other than the rain, the weather was cool enough for open windows at night, but warm enough not to worry about jackets during the day! Here are some daily highlights.

(Mind the Gap) - Here we are, running around the subway system in London, or the Tube as the locals call it (The subway is an underground walkway to cross streets). The tube is a lot larger than we thought, a huge labyrinth crisscrossing multiple levels underneath London. An interesting reminder that repeats on the loudspeakers at most tube stops is "Mind the Gap", meaning watch the step between the car and the tube floor. And even after the first day, its pretty irritating! Still its pretty amazing that last year only saw 46 injures due to the "gap" for the year, considering hundreds of thousands of people use it daily!

(Stair Master) - This vacation was yet another good workout for us! Climb to the top of: Arc de Triomphe = 236 steps, Notre Dame Cathedral = 422 steps, Eiffel Tower (Levels 1-2) = 800! If it weren't for the large amount of food that we tried would have actually lost weight on this trip! Still, the views from the top were seriously worth it, like this one on top of Notre Dame (See the Gargoyle on the left of the shot) !


(Dodging Cars at Night) - WOW, what an adventure! You want some element of danger along with a tour of Paris? Courtesy of Fat Tire Bike Tours , we got to bike around the streets of Paris, dodging local traffic, ignoring ALL traffic signals, and getting an education in French swear words from some P.O'ed motorists!! Blasting through downtown Paris, seeing the night life flash by at street level was awesome! We stopped briefly at the Lourve at night where we snapped this synchronized shot! With all 10 cameras lined up with timers on, we sprinted back to our spots where we got this shot (Brandon, our guide is in the center)! He made me the "Assman", where for a Heineken, my job was to block traffic from sneaking up to the group, and make sure that we don't lose anyone during the ride... Hmm..The things I'll do for a beer... :)

(Open Bottles? Pas de problème !) - Unlike the most countries, the French are more relaxed about drinking in public places... Clinking glasses in a picnic at the Champ du Mars, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in the evening, or a wine lunch in Luxembourg gardens, No problem! Other than stares from other tourists, wondering why THEY didn't think about bringing alchohol too, the locals basically didn't even bat an eyelid! Heck at the Eiffel tower, there was a guy that didn't even bother to bring glasses; he just drank his wine wino-style straight from the bottle !



Stay tuned for some videos of the trip...