Why I love the North Shore

Just about every time we decide it is time for our family to get out of town, we end up in the same place - the North Shore in Minnesota. It may not be as exciting as heading for Florida, but it our idea of the perfect getaway. In fact, if we didn't have so many ties in Hilliard, we would probably think really hard about moving there. It is gorgeous. Reminds me of Ireland but with lots and lots of trees. Even the weeds, made up mostly of blue Lupins, are pretty. Jason spent a good portion of his childhood in Beaver Bay and Silver Bay and knows the area well. Unlike Hilliard, it hasn't changed much in the last 20 years. Beaver Bay, with a population of 175, is the epitome of a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and crime is virtually unheard of. Even as an overprotective mother, I feel perfectly comfortable sending my kiddos outside to play while we finish up at a restaurant. Being the land of 1000 lakes, there is never a shortage of activity. Fishing and hiking in the warmer months, fishing and snowmobiling in the colder ones. Swimming if you are tough enough to handle the frigid water. When you get bored with nature, there is Lutzen and the Alpine Slide or skiing, the Split Rock Lighthouse, and the best pie you've ever had at Betty's Pies. As expected, we had a great trip this past week and were sad to leave. That's ok, we will be back soon!

Whirlwind Paris trip - Sunday (Louvre)

First off, a clarification from Saturday. Jason said I should explain my observation that street vendors are confused about the word "bling". When we were at the Eiffel Tower waiting in line, there were very pushy street vendors walking around with their goods yelling "un euro!" They had big metal rings with cheap Eiffel Tower statues strung on them and were shaking them like a tambourine. Every now and then you'd get the vendor with the upgraded fare. These ones would walk right up to you and ask in a very heavy French accent "Do you want some bling bling?" When you looked down in their hands they would be holding a miniature Eiffel Tower that lit up. I guess in France, bling is something with a light.

Sunday our itinerary included the Louvre. That was all. We knew it could easily be an all day affair so we didn't plan anything else. Being able to see it from our hotel, we didn't need a map so off we went.

On our way we stopped in a cafe for breakfast. We finally had our pastries. They had a sort of breakfast deal with a plate of pastries, a glass of juice, and a cappuccino. Mmmmmm....my favorite was the flaky pastry with chocolate inside.

We moseyed on over to the Louvre. Jason was in front, I was straggling behind taking photos. On our way we encountered a wedding party taking photos. Now that would be a memorable place for wedding photos! We slowly made our way to the entrance and got in line. After getting my camera bag checked we descended into the famous pyramid to buy our tickets.

Now, I had fully expected to not be able to photograph any of the art inside. I had even considered leaving my camera back in the room thinking they wouldn't allow cameras inside. Boy was I wrong. They had signs posted saying no flash photography, but I saw an awful lot of bright lights going off and the staff didn't seem bothered by it. I wanted to run around like a crazy person yelling "Stop! You are ruining the precious art!"

Our plan was to make a b-line for the Mona Lisa. Because, if you tell anyone that you have been to the Louvre, you know their first question is going to be "did you see the Mona Lisa?" After that we figured we'd spend some time looking at the paintings around her and see where that got us.

Upon entering the gallery, I immediately noticed how close you are to the art. There is a little rope in front of each painting, but it is about 12" from the wall so you could easily just walk up and touch the canvas. Now, maybe an alarm would go off if you did that, but still, I was shocked they didn't have a more secure way of keeping people's grubby hands off the priceless art.

I was also surprised at the number of statues positioned right in the middle of the walkway. No little ropes around these. People were leaning on them for photos, and the dirt around the edges showed how many people had taken advantage of their close proximity. It seemed very strange - this would never fly in the U.S.

We wound our way to the Mona Lisa and got in the mass of people trying to get close enough for a photo. Mona was much better protected than everything else we had seen. The rope was much further back from the wall, and there was a huge glass encasement covering her. There was also someone stationed there to watch the crowd for any shenanigans.

After spending an appropriate amount of time looking at the Mona Lisa, we took in the rest of the French and Italian paintings on the same floor. This was quite an undertaking. Even with us not being art connoisseurs, it was several hours before we were done in that section. After a while all the paintings started to look the same.

I requested to see the Egyptian artifacts next. Here is where we got a bit lost. In case you aren't aware, the Louvre is HUGE. A giant "U" shape, with all kinds of nooks and crannies. Sometimes, to continue on the same floor you have to go up or down stairs. What I'm trying to say is, it is darned easy to get lost in the Louvre.

We walked and walked, down halls and then back the same halls, and finally found our bearings. In the meantime we saw a lot of the Objects d'Art section which was pretty interesting.

We saw palace walls, statues galore, and of course mummies. It was amazing, but as with the rest of the museum it was hard to tell exactly what we were looking at since all of the signage was in French. We got the gist though and eventually made our way through the whole exhibit (I think).

Our backs (not our tummies) eventually told us it was time to leave. I think we ended up being there about 5 hours, walking up and down countless stairs. What an experience.

The remainder of our day was spent visiting the area around our hotel and eating our last helpings of French cuisine. We opted for dinner and drinks in our hotel that night, which was the perfect way to end our trip to Paris. Very cozy and yummy.

Here are the last of my Parisian observations in no particular order:
1. The Louvre would be a very interesting place to visit sans art. The ceilings are amazing.
2. There has been a lot of pillaging since the beginning of civilization, and the result is the Louvre.
3. If you want to reach out and touch priceless art, you need to head to the Louvre.
4. French onion soup is still called french onion soup in France. Not just onion soup.
5. It is a tad creepy to spend a day looking at sarcophagi and tombs that once housed dead folks.
6. The Mona Lisa is much smaller than you might expect.
7. Italian paintings usually include either a severed head or what we would consider a private part. Sometimes both!
8. "No flash photography" is merely a suggestion, not a rule.
9. French waiters enjoy forcing their customers to order in French, even if they can speak perfectly good English.
10. While Paris is an amazing place to visit, it feels really good to step into an American airport where everyone is speaking English.

Oooh la la - Photos from Paris (part 2)

Whirlwind Paris trip - Saturday (Eiffel Tower)

Saturday morning we got a late start. I slept 12 hours and could have easily slept several more. The lack of sleep and 5 hour time change had hit me pretty hard. Once I was up I felt great though, so off we went.

Our first priority was food. We found a cafe nearby and sat outside. We had a beautiful brunch, and I had a fancy coffee that put Starbucks to shame. Really. It was that good. I think they put crack in the whipped cream or something like that.

After eating we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower. The weather was beautiful, so we chose walking over the metro. It ended up being a bit farther away than we expected though, so our stroll took about 90 minutes. No problem, there was a lot to see on the way!

As I was fiddling with the settings on my camera, Jason heard what he thought was running water. We looked over the ledge and saw a guy peeing in the corner. Nice. The best part? He was about 10 feet from a public bathroom.

A little further down the road we were waiting at the crosswalk for the light to change. A delivery bike came screaming by the opposite way. The sound of screeching tires followed. The first several cars missed him, but the last one got him. He hit the front of the car and sushi went flying all over the road. He clearly didn't see the error of his ways, because he immediately began screaming at the driver. I was going to take a picture but another car blocked my view and I didn't want to be too obvious.

We were almost to the Eiffel Tower when a man exclaimed "Look! A gold ring!" We turned around and saw him picking what looked like a men's wedding band off the ground. He excitedly showed it to Jason and I and then said he wanted to give it to us because it wouldn't fit him. We told him he should keep it since he found it. He insisted. We insisted. He insisted again and said since he was giving the ring to us maybe we could spare some money so he could buy lunch. That is when we caught onto him.

We rounded the corner and were standing under the Eiffel Tower. Wow. What an amazing sight! We walked around and took some pictures (of course) and then got in line. It was a pretty long wait but totally worth it. The city is much bigger than I realized, a sea of buildings as far as I could see. Eventually our tummies told us it was time to leave, so down we went.

This time we searched for a cafe with crepes. Because you are supposed to eat crepes in Paris, right? Jason had a chocolate one and I had one with cheese and mushrooms. I wish I had gotten the chocolate too. But that's ok, I ended up with part of the chocolate one anyhow.

My observations from Saturday:
1. Street vendors in Paris are confused about the word "bling".
2. I am unable to walk more than 5 steps without taking a photo when I am somewhere cool. (This is actually Jason's observation.)
3. Motorcycle parking in Paris can be any flat surface. Anywhere on the sidewalk is just fine.
4. Scam artists in Paris are a bit more creative than I'm used to.
5. Parisian chocolate mousse is truly spectacular.
6. The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower are pretty darned far apart.
7. It is customary to yell at someone in Paris when they hit you because of your mistake.
8. It is wise to do a good bit of research before traveling to a foreign country so you know what in the heck you are looking at. This helps reduce the number of times you say "Oh cool! What is that?"
9. Ancient artifacts are perfectly normal and expected in busy intersections in Paris.
10. Tips are included when dining in Paris. No need to add extra.

Oooh la la - Photos from Paris

Tomorrow I'll wrap up our trip with memories from the Louvre.

Whirlwind Paris trip - Friday (arrival day)

A few weeks ago Jason found out he needed to go to Paris one week and Munich the next, which amounts to a free weekend in either Paris or Munich. This provided the perfect opportunity for me to take advantage of his constant travel. All I needed was a plane ticket. Jason was able to buy the price down to almost nothing with his scads of airline miles, so it was settled. I was going to Paris.

Arriving at the gate, I immediately knew I wouldn't be getting any sleep on the plane. I was surprised to see a couple waiting with their 5 young children. Five children, all about 5 years old and younger with the youngest being an infant. I really felt for these folks. To me, traveling with 5 young children to Europe wouldn't be fun. It would be stressful. And migraine inducing. The baby cried for almost the entire 8 hour flight. Now that's what I call stamina. I wasn't annoyed, just shocked that the mother wasn't having convulsions by the time we arrived. I would have been!

I got to Paris at 7:00 am, or 2:00 am EST. Exhausted, I found my way to the taxis. This was the part I was nervous about. My French vocabulary is comprised of about 5 words, so I was a little stressed about finding my way to Jason's office. I pointed at the address to the cab driver, and off we went. Forty-five minutes later we pulled up to a hotel. Hmmmm....this didn't look like an office building. I showed him the address again and he drove around the circle to a door that had a 14 above it. I still wasn't convinced (there were about 50 street signs nearby and it was hard to tell which one we were on) but 14 was the right address so I crossed my fingers and hoped he was right.

After paying a small fortune I walked up to the door and pulled. The door was locked. I looked closer. No BlueCoat signs anywhere. I started to panic. I walked up the street a bit, then walked back and saw a girl unlocking the door. I followed a few people inside and asked if this was the right building for BlueCoat. They stared at me like I had 3 heads. I started to panic some more. I walked up to the desk and asked. She didn't speak English but she seemed to understand my question. She gave me a visitor's badge and from what I could understand she told me to go to the third floor.

I got to the third floor and still didn't see any signs. I started trying doors and they were all locked. Panic started to set in again. I finally found one that was open. I went inside and some guy came and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was looking for BlueCoat and he said something that sounded more or less like "well you are in the wrong place idiot". Back out in the hall a guy walked up to me and asked if my name was Becky. Apparently Jason had been running all over the building looking for me and we had missed each other. I happily followed Yogi to the BlueCoat office (which was locked and had no sign by the way).

I am embarrassed to say I spent the next several hours reading and dozing off in a cubicle. After my fiasco of trying to find my way around, I just felt more comfortable staying put until Jason was done with his meetings. Besides, I was totally exhausted from the long flight and lack of sleep, and we were in a business area so there wasn't much to do nearby anyhow.

On our taxi ride to the hotel I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. That is about all I saw because I had my eyes closed half the time. I think our taxi driver was insane.

We made it to the hotel in one piece and I showered off the patina I had developed on the airplane. Then we wandered around the streets near the hotel. We did some window shopping and finally settled on a cafe for dinner. It was a winner. We sat outside and had a very nice leisurely meal complete with great wine and great dessert. Now this is what I was hoping for from Paris!

That's about it from day 1. We found our way back to the room and I was asleep almost instantly. Here are some of my observations from the first day:

1. It is really hard to communicate with people who don't speak your language (obviously).
2. Motorcycles should never be permitted to split lanes in moving traffic. Yikes. That's some scary stuff.
3. If you live in Paris apparently you are required to smoke.
4. You are also required to drink wine with (almost) every meal.
5. Food in Paris is "da bomb".
6. Paris is the place to be if you are in the market for a Rolex (or "Rolley" if you are cool). You can't throw a dead cat without hitting a shop that sells them.
7. My van would be obscenely large driving down the streets of Paris.
8. Commercials in Europe are much funnier than they are in the US.
9. When a waiter tells you he is going to bring you a "gift" (another glass of wine) you should still expect to see it on the bill.
10. It is very strange to hear a large tough-looking man speaking a delicate sounding language like French.

Stay tuned! To be continued tomorrow with lots of pictures...

Snowmobile fun

We made an emergency trip up to northern Minnesota last week for Jason's grandpa's funeral. In between the hard parts, we made some time to enjoy the huge pile of snow they have already. Jason's dad has an old snowmobile so we thought we would help ourselves and take it for a spin. It was bitterly cold (2 degrees without the windchill factored in) so we had to keep going inside to warm up. The kids all loved riding with Jason, but Conrad and Jacob were the most jazzed. Jason got the sled out next. We couldn't convince Chloe that it would be fun so just the 3 boys went. Rylan was excited, but once they got going he was terrified. Apparently the lack of a windshield makes a huge difference in the amount of snow and bitter cold you get in your face! The big boys thought it was a sweet ride, and would have happily ridden all afternoon if we hadn't been so hungry for lunch.

Papa Fuzz's house

Rylan got the first ride

Jacob's turn

Conrad next

Chloe was apprehensive but ended up enjoying the ride

Them folks up north really know how to enjoy the snow