Tour de France - Finale

And this may be the best part of our trip . . . our visit with the Walters (pronounced Val - tare).

When Randi was just 14 years old, we had a French exchange student visit us in the U.S. Her name is Emilie Walter. A few months later, Randi visited with Emilie's family in France. I believe it was a life-changing experience for all of us and we have kept in touch all these years. Emilie even returned to the U.S. for another visit with us a few years later.

And now, after more than 10 years, we finally got the chance to meet her wonderful parents - Jean-Paul and Anne Marie Walter. I knew they must be very nice people because Emilie is very special, but I had no idea they would be some of the nicest people we've ever met!

They took us out for dinner the first night of our visit.

Emilie, David (Emilie's husband), Jean-Paul, Anne Marie, Ross, Jim, and me.

The following morning, Emilie took us to the Marché de Noël in the historic town of Colmar.

And then we had lunch at Jean-Paul and Anne Marie's home where they have lived for over 35 years and raised their 3 children - Emilie and her 2 brothers, Dominique & Benoit. Jean-Paul and Anne Marie grew up in the same small town they still live in today.

Anne Marie cooked her specialty of pork and sauerkraut. Plus some wonderful (all homemade) desserts! It was all delicious and very special.

Ross, Emilie, Anne Marie, Benoit, Jean-Paul, and Jim

I took these pictures of their home for Randi so she might recall her visit many years ago.

And the eventual good-bye . . . until we meet again. Soon we hope - as we plan another visit when Randi, Josh and Frazier come to see us and we'll also get to meet the baby Emilie and David are expecting in May!

Yep, I'd say that was definitely the best part of our trip.

Mont Blanc and more!

Not the writing pen, but the mountain.

We left Paris and headed for the Alps! This mountain range runs through several countries. From Mont Blanc in France, to Italy, on to Switzerland. And all in one day!

I can't even describe the beauty of these mountains. Pictures simply cannot truly capture it. Thanks again to Ross for some of these pics :)

As we headed north, we stopped at the town of Lausanne on Lake Geneva (Switzerland). This lake is really BLUE and crystal clear.

More to come!

Tour de France - Post Trois

The Cathedrale de Notre Dame - Paris is grand in scale and very beautiful. Although it was open for visitors, the line was a mile long so maybe next time we can enter and see how really beautiful it is.

The River Seine . . .

And shopping!

This is the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. We walked up and down it during our visit and this picture is as we were leaving Paris. It has lots of ritzy stores and restaurants and the Christmas market is pictured here.

We did a little shopping at the Les Galeries Lafayette. This shopping mall is huge and I have no idea how many stores or floors, but it's definitely worth seeing!

Oh, and Winslow had fun in Paris too!

Next - the Alps!

Tot Ziens until March

Today is the day Ross heads back to the States and we are back in Hasselt after dropping him at the Brussels airport for what will be a very long day of flying and waiting.

Soon those 5000 miles will separate us once again :(

Our holiday was full of travel and time together that went by way too quickly. A big thanks to Jim for doing all that driving!

And thank you, Ross, for spending your Christmas and New Year's with us!

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar van Champagne

Happy New Year 2010!

We decided to celebrate New Year's Eve in the Champagne region of France since it was only about 3 hours away. After all, that's where authentic champagne is made - exclusively in the Champagne region of France!

The capital of this region is Reims. Thanks, Ross for some of these great pics!

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims is absolutely stunning.

Shopping!

Ross opening the first bottle of champagne!

Chias!

Sante'!