Paris

 The gp's drove us into Paris so we could meet up with the family we will be house sitting for.  Consequently we ended up spending the night in a hotel so we could take the family out to dinner and have a tour of the house, meet the cat...

 This is the cute couple we are house sitting for...they took us to a cool restaurant on the Seine river...people were water skiing out there...despite the fact it is not the cleanest water!

 J ordered this and we found it rather funny...hmmm so did Anthony Bourdain 30 years ago from his book Kitchen Confidential I'm reading right now!  The french family did not get it at ALL and the dad had to whisper Merde under his breath to his wide eyed daughters.

 THis is one of there daughters Janne...she looks just like Guiada De Laurentis...we even looked her up to show her the resemblance.

 This is the charming park outside the apartments door...and there is a beautiful walled in garden with these beauties that is a part of the apartment lay out!!  I'll post more pics of this space later.

 WE met up with J and M from Chicago, great friends of Sara and Bens...we had a blast roaming around our new little neighborhood...it's not in Paris, just outside, so it really feels like the OP of Paris.

Versaille...a peaceful afternoon

Our day in Versaille started in the market where we split up and bought cheese, bread, fruit and olives to bring into the gardens of Versaille for lunch.

                  Versaille is massive, but the gardens are free and of course fit for a king and queen.

          We rented bikes and found the price rather reasonable...finally Abigail got to ride a bike!!!

 THis is the back of Marie Antoinettes farm house...looks like it comes straight out of a story book.

                       Later in the hot afternoon the kids and gp's went boating on the grand canal.

 You can see the palace from here...it was crazy crowded...wish we had had another day to explore more of the garden areas that you actually pay to get in to see.

The French Countryside

The tour de France had just gone through these towns we were driving around in before they headed to Paris.  It's a perfect spot for biking and lots of motorcycling as well.  Farm land mostly with beautiful wheat fields.  When is the last time you have seen a wheat field?

 THe town of Rambouillet was decked out for the bikers...here is a restaurant window painted with the map of the tour.

 After lunch we headed to the forest park to do a little hiking...you can see how thrilled J was of this.

 There was a cool walk above the trees the kids did with pops and brad.  The weather was perfect....so much better than London!!

London to Paris...and then off to the country all in a Day!!

This is a view of the inside of the Eurostar...the train that takes you from London to paris is 2.5 hours at 160mph...so cool and amazing.

We met up with the g parents and headed by metro to the Champs Elysse to catch the last laps of the Tour De France...we had our first proper french lunch as well...wine included of course.

J's first of many croque monsieur!  Always served with a large salad much to his dismay!

It was thrilling to be there...the bikes literally sped by at the speed of light!  Very cool vibe in the crowd too...below is a pic of the eurostar!

We left the excitement of Paris and headed for the french countryside...45 min. outside.  The gp's rented a cute hodge podgey house in the middle of nowheres ville...the kids actually chose it back in the spring!  We had a cool house and sleeping cottage to ourselves with a spacious back yard area.

 THis is the little chateau just down the street where we had to park our car at night.

 The place even had an old pin ball machine and an awesome record collection!  Have you ever used Air b n b to rent a vacation home or apartment?  We found it kinda hit or miss.  But worth a try because the prices are good and you really experience an out of the way area.

                      The wine is cheap...at Aldi!!  Like $2-3 dollars cheap!!!  And good!!  REally good!