My Heart Is Full

We had a GREAT time in England & France

In Annecy they had a parade for us

This castle ruins was really cool

Scotland didn't let us down one bit

London

Someday we'll go again & next time we'll know more about what we will do in advance. This was such an awesome trip and we saw so many amazing things.

Next time we go we will have a lot more things planned out in advance. 

We'll do a lot more research (we did tons!!) into the things we want to see and places we want to go. 

In the past I've always had a plan, with a map & predetermined points of interest. This time it wasn't always like that. We knew our phones wouldn't work perfectly but hadn't planned on NO phones unless we were getting free wifi. I hadn't planned on so many people, since last time I was there it was shitty weather and this time it was FABULOUS most of the time.

Next time we'll have a hotel room in a central location & take day trips from there. Not another trip where we're driving most of each day to get to our next destination.

We stayed at a hostel in London, the White Ferry House, above a pub;

they had 9 males & females in our room, there were 8 rooms all together with only 2 bathrooms w/5 stalls in each. That's 10 toilet/shower/sink tiny rooms for 72 people to use. You couldn't get dressed in your room because there were people of the opposite sex in all the rooms and the bathrooms had an hour long waiting line and there were no toilets that weren't in the tiny shower rooms.

Next night was in France at an Airbnb in Montpellier.

It was hell getting into the room because of no phone service but nice people spent an hour helping us. The room was small & had a fold out double size futon. Check out @ 10am and no time to enjoy the cute little outside garden.

The 2nd night in France was another Airbnb studio with another fold out bed. Much cuter than the first place, this one was in Cannet, the old town just above Cannes. So beautiful, with tiny streets that everyone whipped through in their cars. parking was scarce, motorcycles & scooters everywhere.

This window looked out over the tiny alley, into & through the neighbors yard. It took us about 2 hours to find this place & another hour to park.

This is the stuff I wanted Lan to see & he loved it.

Tourettes-sur-loop village. 

This place was AMAZING. People still live there & work in the small buildings & run shops. 

 On Saturday we were in Annecy, where they had a freaking parade for us!!!!

The Return From the Alpine Pastures.

First there was delicious food, sausages & scalloped potatoes cooked in HUGE flying pans.

Then the parade.

We went to the Museum of the French Revolution

Back I n the olden times, Lans ancestors were 'ROYALTY' in France but were on the wrong side of the people & suring the revolution they had to leave France for America in the dark of night.

This chateau used to be a castle so while visiting it I made up stories of what Lans great-g-g-g-g grandparents would have been doing while there.

On Sunday we went to Chamonix, rode the gondola up to the top.

We spent 3 hours up there, 12,602 feet in elevation. Can't say enough about this place, LOVED IT.

Glass floors with nothing below you for 1,000 feet

When we were leaving the Alpenglow on the French Alps was oh, so gorgeous.

Then we headed back south Monday; this is the Carcassonne Castle.

We got there too late in the day to go inside but the church was still open & it was beautiful

We also enjoyed a vry nice dinner in one of the squares, I had blackened escargot in a tomato sauce. YUM.

Tuesday we were flying back to London but not till 2:30 so we had several hours in the morning to explore. Decided on a castle ruins 2+ hours northwest of the airport.

Stopped for a pee break along the way and found this gem. An old swimming hole with this OLD bridge over it. You can see where the old bridge was added to to make it fit present day cars.

Château de Peyrepertuse

next post will be all about the UK portion of our trip.

Count Down

About 38 hours left before the big adventure begins.

4 Days

Our vacation begins in 4 days.

4 days from now, Sunday, I'll be doing last minute things like giving the dogs belly rubs, ruffing up the kitties, making sure I have EVERYTHING I might possibly need on our trip. We catch the airport shuttle 5 miles down the road at 9:50am, arrive at airport at 11 and our flight leaves at 1:45pm.

We will arrive in London's Gatwick airport Monday morning at 7am and we'll be in London about 36 hours. 

Tuesday afternoon we fly out of Stanstead airport to Carcassonne, France, landing at 5:30pm. We have 2 nights prepaid in the south, then wherever we end up until we fly out again on the 15th.

On Wednesday the 16th, we fly from Heathrow airport north to Gateshead, where we will meet up with Michelle & Guy for a week.

On Tuesday 22nd, we fly once again, from Gateshead back to Heathrow. We'll have a 10 hour window to sightsee, then spending the night at BLOC hotel inside Gatwick airport.

Wednesday October 23 we fly back home and arrive in Seattle at 11:45am. We'll have a couple additional bags by then so will have to gather them, then catch the shuttle back to Purdy. That's going to be a LONG day.

Vaca is Coming

I have a lot of things to do to prepare for our trip. I've already packed & repacked, I've still got to do it more. I need to know what I'll be wearing on the plane & for sure what all I'll be taking.

Took this the other day.

SIR ELTON JOHN

SIR ELTON JOHN

He's been my one true teen heart throb my entire life 

and last night I was delighted to see him again, my third time, in concert.

Tacoma Dome, 

September 17, 2019

Seats 211 HH 5 & 6

(we were sitting straight across from the stage, a long way but it was perfect)

FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD TOUR

This street sign was outside, pretty cool.

Inside on the way to our seats

This one is pretty cool, Lan took it

Near the end

I absolutely LOVE the man

Counting Down

The days are flying by & I can't believe its only 26 days until we fly out of Seattle to London.

I went ahead and reserved the Renault Clio for France. It's totally gutless and slow and small. Its costing us $224.23 for the week.

Lan really wants to go see the Catacombs in Paris. Seems pretty morbid to me. 

I was reading online & people are all its so cool & I'm like 

THOSE ARE DEAD PEOPLE.

There is nothing cool about all the 6 million dead people being removed from their graves being cool.

Some woman has a traveling to France FB page & she highly suggests that people go see the Catacombs & have her friend be your guide. He charges $100 for the tour. Or you can stand in line for a bit & purchase tickets with an audio guide for $38.

Back i n April I injured my shoulder at work. Went to doctor & was told just let it heal on its own, if its not better in a month come back.  A month later I called to make another appointment but was told they didn't have an L&I doctor to see me so I had to wait. Finally got the appointment, she told me I'd need to see another doctor & they finally called to make the appointment but I was landing the boat & couldn't get it made. Then forogt to call back. Later that week I got a letter from there to call, then the next letter I opened was from L&I saying they had closed my case. PITA. I wrote, included letter from my doc that I needed another appointment. Low & behold, I got a call from L&I and they reopened my case. Today I've been able to set up an appointment for October 1st. I hope I can get help for the shoulder pain I've been experiencing while sleeping. It hurts no matter which side I lay on. I'm going to ask for an MRI.

Trippin'

In 27 days we'll be at the airport, 

waiting to catch our flight to England.