The Florida Horzens come to Paris

July must be the time to travel as we also had a visit from my Uncle Jim and Aunt Deborah from Florida. Aunt Deborah, who teaches German at a high school in Orlando, was accepted into a program for German teachers in Leipzig, Germany. She spent three weeks there for the program and when it ended, Uncle Jim flew out to meet up with her for a bit of travel together. And we were lucky enough that they included 3 nights in Paris as part of their itinerary! They arrived on a Friday evening and we greeted them with, what I’m sure you can now guess, wine, cheese and a baguette. We had an enjoyable evening catching up as it had been quite some time since we had last seen each other.

Saturday morning we started with coffee and a croissant at a local cafe near our house on Rue Bretagne. Nate then headed out to do some grocery shopping and Uncle Jim, Aunt Deborah, me and Josephine all headed to Pere Lachaise cemetery (which Nate had already visited previously). We spent a couple of hours in this massive cemetery and with the help of a map were barely able to locate a few famous tombstones like Jim Morrison and Chopin. It was quite like a maze in there and it’s huge! Uncle Jim and Aunt Deborah had to get going as they had a walking tour later that afternoon which would take them up the Eiffel Tower allowing them to skip the, no joking, 3 hour line. They left for that and Josephine and I headed home for a nap.

That night we left Josephine at home with a babysitter and the four of us ventured out for an adults night out. We started with dinner and then went to one of our favorites, Canal St. Martin, with a couple bottles of wine. It was a warm evening and the canal was crowded with people who all had the same idea as ours. It was a perfect evening and before we knew it, it was time to head back (Josephine is quite the persistent wake up call in the morning).

Sunday got off to a slow start but of course included a trip to the local boulangerie for some croissants. We went to Sunday mass and then Uncle Jim and Aunt Deborah took off for some sightseeing on their own. We met up with them after Josephine’s nap at the Champ de Mars for a picnic. There was a little bit of rain that threatened our good time but we stuck it out and eventually it dissipated and we had a lovely afternoon/evening. The good news too is it wasn’t all that crowded. We headed back, grabbed some Happy Nouilles takeout for dinner and enjoyed one last evening together. Uncle Jim and Aunt Deborah were leaving the very next morning.

The time was quick but such fun. Thanks for coming to see us!

In Bruges!

Recently, I finally watched the movie "In Bruges" after hearing about this film for years, people telling me it's good, should see it, well - unfortunately it isn't.  Just my opinion I guess but didn't care for it much at all.  Except for the part where the guy jumps off the bell tower maybe.  Anyway, the reason for that random thought was that our latest adventure was to the actual town of Bruges!

In Bruges!

The inspiration for this little trip north to Belgium and the city of Bruges was a visit to Europe once again by our good friends Ron and Lindsay. (now known as La-La according to the Bean)  You may remember Ron and Lindsay from such trips as Orange, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Naxos, Santorini, and more!  Making their third trip they really wanted to hit Bruges and we were more than happy to join.

Ron & La-La

But first, what would a trip to Europe be without a few days in Paris?  What could be the problem with that?  Well, what about a temperature pushing 40 Celsius / 100 Fahrenheit?  That could be a problem.  And it was.  With a perfectly timed trip during a record heat wave, R&La-La got to experience the heat sans air conditioning.  With no screens on the windows and air conditioning at maybe 25% of locations, when the temperature rises in the summer it can be unbearable.  The air is humid, stuffy, no wind or breeze to speak of, concrete everywhere, and it all adds up to some misery both inside and out.  But you make the best of it, and one way to do it is to send R&La-La off for the day to the Champagne region for a day tour with our friend Rachel.  We have now sent an easy dozen different people to Rachel for her day tour as she takes such good care of everyone and all come back having had a great time.  Unfortunately she can't do anything to block out the sun like Mr. Burns did on that one episode of the Simpsons, but what can you do.

Tour of Bruges by boat

Also unfortunate was that right in the middle of this visit I had to take a night and go to Switzerland for work.  The silver lining in this was that I figured at least a hotel would have AC.  I was wrong. As a consolation prize there was a 6 inch diameter desk fan waiting.  Sweet.  Wish I had taken a picture.

Cruising on a canal

The night before I had to leave we did at least get the babysitter and go out on a couples date to a great restaurant called Le Chateaubriand.  As we don't get out nearly as much as we used to, it's always a treat especially with good friends.  It was bit hot however as of course the restaurant had no AC. R&La-La definitely got part of the European experience!

The work trip also meant I would be traveling separately and meeting back up with everyone In Bruges.  (see what I did there?)  Arriving that evening, everyone else had already been at the apartment for a few hours and fortunately already had furnished the place with happy hour supplies.  Among the many Airbnb apartments we have rented, this one was definitely near the top.  Really cool place, plenty big for the 5 of us and had a little roof top deck with a great view out over the neighborhood.  To celebrate our arrival that first night we got pizza and watched The Bachelorette.  I'm not the least bit embarrassed about it either.

Belgium Beer!

With a few days in Bruges we had some time to do a few different things in town.  First off, it is very cute with brick buildings, a few canals running through the town and all in all quite charming.  Certainly lived up to all that we had heard about the place.  A few of the main to-do's were to take the boat ride through the canals which we of course did.  This was a very interesting way to see parts of the town, old medieval bridges, and get Bean out on the water which she seemed to enjoy as she was looking around and taking it all in.  There is also a giant main square area with of course a church and tall bell tower which you can climb for 8 EUR and get tired according to the skipper of our fine vessel.

Also on the main square was a Bruges History museum which we decided to check out.  This may have actually been worse than the movie.  Instead of some actual history about the town, you watched some lame movie / story about a lost bird and a painting as you walked from room to room which were supposed to replicate what these rooms looked like in Bruges 500 years ago.  Pretty terrible really, but not every place is going to be a winner I suppose.  After some more wandering, lunch with delicious Belgium beer, happy hour with some more Belgium beer, and somewhat cooler temperatures, Bruges was a really nice place to visit.

Selfie from the roof top deck

With our time in Bruges coming to a close, R&La-La continued on farther north to Amsterdam for their last night of vacation before flying out of Amsterdam back to Portland the next day, while the Ross family rode the rails back south to Paris.  Another great visit by the Tycer's in the books, can't wait for next time!