Travelling Around

Since returning to France in early April, we went into Paris for a weekend, spent 3 days in Brugge, and travelled through southern Portugal and Spain for 10 days.








Luxembourg gardens the day before Easter. We had dinner with our friend, Catherine, that evening, then went to a Gregorian Mass on Easter Sunday.


Brugge




In Brugge, a very pretty small town with canals and winding streets in northern Belgium


Portugal





Overlooking Sintra, a very historic town with Moorish influences, perched on the side of a mountain to the west of Lisbon

At a cafe in Sintra Sintra



As we left Sintra, we headed west to Cabo de Roca, the western-most point in Portugal and in Europe

Next, we headed south toward the Algarve coast. This is a great restaurant in southern Portugal, nestled on a cove on the beach. You picked your own fresh fish from their catch of the day, and it was then prepared for you. Great Sangria made with sparkling white wine, too.


A beach on the Algarve coast near our hotel in southern Portugal. The beaches were very pretty, but the area was quite overdeveloped generally, with no discernible planning or control.


Spain

Our favorite beach near our hotel in southern Spain on the Atlantic coast, near Conil de la Frontera

On the deck of our hotel room in Spain

We took a drive east to the Mediterranean Sea and the Rock of Gibraltar (in the background)

We had lunch in this lovely hillside town, Vejer de la Frontera, in southern Spain



Back to Portugal

On our way back to the Lisbon airport, we spent two nights in Evora, Portugal. Very beautiful city full of things to see. We had a great dinner of local wine, a tomato soup with bread and sausage, wild pig with potatoes, vegetables, and salad, dessert, and port wine, for $30 euros. We thought is must have been a mistake.

After dinner in Evora.

Back in France April 2009

We arrived back in Soucy on April 6. I was still rehabbing from my torn ACL (skiing in late March), so we started bike riding slowly and I wore a knee brace. But we quickly got back in gear and were doing 25 to 40 mile rides by April 20. By mid to late April the spring colors in the countryside were lush and vibrant, especially the mustard and the winter wheat crop. Milton's garden was full of blooming tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths when we arrived.

Winter in Tahoe

Granddaughter Presley's first ski lesson -

Winter view from our deck

Sledding across the street from our house with my sister Mary and brother Paul in mid-February

With Jamari in front of our house, after a February storm

New Year's Eve at Northstar - we were joined by Susie and Bob and family, and Paul and Susie and family. A day of skiing and snow fun, then appetizers and games, Northstar fireworks, and finally a late New Year's Eve dinner followed by a couple of rounds of Murder in the Dark made it easier to stay up until midnight.

World's cutest grandchildren, at Northstar

After the gifts -

Back in the US

We arrived back in the US just in time for Thanksgiving. After spending a few days at Jake and Anne’s and dinner with family, we headed to Yuba City for a traditional Thanksgiving there. Next, it was on to Tahoe and settling in to our home base for the four months to come.

We had our family Christmas at Northstar, with all the kids in attendance except Joel (he was sick).