Lots of ♥ from Haleigh

Click here to read the blog post my daughter wrote.  Haleigh is an inspiration to me, she was the only child living at home when I went through my breast cancer treatments, she saw it all and never complained even though it was the beginning of her Senior Year in High School and she had to deal with the VILLAIN everyday--my heart filled with  love and tears ran from my eyes when I read this.  Honestly, I had no idea she even remembered the date .... shame on me for thinking she was not as effected as she obviously was.  I am so grateful to the Lord for protecting her and keeping her safe during that time of our lives.

Paris 2011-European Smile Experiment- My Happy Place

It's really hard to believe a year has gone by since Eric and I took our fairytale trip to Paris--Now here we are back again.   We loved it, stayed at a very nice hotel--it was all part of the Euro-Pass package--Euro Pass not so great--Hotels-- 5 star plus and beautiful--and free

Frenchie is back

The Park, the panini's the fountains

Bikes, Crepes, the beautiful buildings

The gargoyles, Frenchie, My favorite bird man

Eiffel Tower, Seine River, pigeon lady

Pastries, parks and castles

Self Portraits-waiting for our bikes

Bike Rides in My Happy Place

We loved this tree

Last day in Paris, the hotel, the man selling Sorbet out of his truck

Fontainbleau France

The Castle--European Smile Experiment

Michael Jackson dancing in the streets

Our last meal in Paris -- Frenchie eats Mussels-Steak & Potatoes-Chocolate Mousse
Monya-french onion soup-Spaghetti -Flan with Caramel Sauce

The Macaroons-buildings-doors, and graffiti 

Our time in Paris was magical,  one day I told Eric I wanted to try an experiment -- I told him to smile at every single person that he sees and see what happens--he then told me that in Paris you need to say Bon Jour first then the smile--I said "nope, this is my experiment no talk just a smile"  I did it my way and he did it his way--Eric was correct, every person he said Bon Jour and smiled at, gave the same respect back to him--me not so good, I noticed eye contact was difficult, I struggled to get smiles in because they were so busy walking and looking at the ground rather than looking at who was walking towards them.  The picture  above with Eric and the lady on the bus makes me laugh I smiled over and over at her, not only did she not smile she frowned at me, but good ole Frenchie says Bon Jour and smiles and she is his best friend. One little girl looked at me and I smiled--she immediately looked at me with a weird half smile,  half "whatever" look and turned away--the only people who gave me any attention were Americans -- I am in no way saying that Americans are better or that they communicate better , it is just a difference in cultural backgrounds.  I actually found the Parisians to be extremely helpful and quite polite, I think we live in a world that we all need to be more excepting of each other. I remember doing this same experiment last year when I was going through cancer treatments and had to be at Mayo for a day--for the most part every person gave me a smile and at least a nod of the head in acknowledgment.

The day we took the bus out to my "happy place" to ride bikes was my favorite day ever--last year we did the same thing and I took that memory with me every time I had surgery or had to face an anxiety attack coming on--I feel at  HOME in that place--it was beautiful nothing had changed--my thoughts as I rode my bike through the beautiful  tree lined paths was that this is peaceful, no outside world to influence me, no noise but the birds and wind blowing in my face.  I saw no cell phones, no computers, no distractions--I was deep in thought and as Frenchie and I sat on a rock talking next to the lake I told him "please don't spend money on an expensive casket for me when I die, just cremate me put me in a Dixie cup, bring me here and spread my ashes"  he laughed but I was serious.  I love that place, this is the place where I am completely FREE, free from all life's worries, here there is no VILLAIN, no-one to disappoint me or hurt me, everywhere I look there are people holding hands, kissing, hugging, laughing--simply put they are enjoying LIFE.  On my shirt that day were the words C'est Bon -- Frenchie said it means "It's all Good"  perfect words for the day I had -- Life is Good --

Croatia-Montenegro-2011

I wish I could of been able to blog everyday on our trip, the cost of using the internet on the Ship was outrageous, Eric actually did buy us a plan because he knew how important it is to me to keep a journal of all we do, however, it would take over an hour to upload pictures or post anything that ended up costing us, even the email I sent to Blake he didn't get in time--so here I am blogging the experience all at once-better than nothing I guess--I always have a note pad with me and write down feelings and impressions as I get them anyway.
1st off we decided at the last minute to book this cruise-a few months ago Eric and I attended a fundraiser and he donated some money,  in return we were given a  1st class Euro-Rail pass--sounds exotic and fun huh?  Not so much for people our age--the pass includes being able to visit 5 or 6 countries all having to border eachother--we never took into thought that we would have to also lug our luggage through railway stations, up and down stairs and through cities with cobblestone roads--we both laughed and decided to make it an adventure never to forget--and in true form of all that I believe in--LEARN SOMETHING FROM IT--Never take more clothes than you need--one carry-on- easy to wheel around is perfect--

We were on a balcony suite this is our room and view at Sunset

Croatia is beautiful--lots of sunshine and beaches to see

We met this guy with Eric who was from the Dominican Republic, he
lives where Blake was just transferred from

The small streets and alley ways are beautiful

We rented the red car, loved all the local organic fruits
and veggies, and no we did not attend the Nudist Camp just thought
it was interesting--never seen this before

The cruise part of the trip was wonderful, we ported from Venice-then our 1st stop was Hvar Croatia-we have both always wanted to visit Croatia and this cruise gave us an opportunity to make 4 stops. In Hvar we explored by car-- a small little red beetle bug--it reminded me of my sister Sonya she loves these cars and has a cute little red one.  We had so much fun exploring a new country.

This is Split Croatia--

Our next stop was Split Croatia-it is the 2nd largest city in Croatia and it is on the Adriatic Sea.  We walked and explored the city by foot, it was beautiful and the beaches and water are so clean and clear.

The next day we ported in Kotor Montenegro, a country I really had never thought of visiting but I am sure glad we had the opportunity it was beautiful.  Eric and I had different ideas of what to do, so we first wend on a boat tour to see the back side of this beautiful country--I am not a fan of tours, but being with Eric I am a fan of so off we went--

The River Tour

I know Eric really didn't want to hike 1300 steps up
then 1300 down again--but I was so proud of him

The beautiful view from the top of the fortrest

We were hot and sweaty afterwards, but it felt so good
to get a good exercise in

Part of the river tour and the steps to start our hike

River Tour

Day 5, 6 & 7 we stopped at Dubrovonik Croatia, Korcula Croatia and Trieste Italy I combined all those pictures. Dubrovnik  has stone walls and breathtaking medieval monasteries and marble paved squares with beautiful fountains, and architechture.  Croatia is simply beautiful in all aspects of the word.

Eric bought this ring and pendant for me

Creme Brulee' my favorite

Eric ate all of these desserts one night on the cruise

just a picture from one of the staircases of the cruise ship

Trieste Italy

Trieste Italy

The cruise was so fun and we saw some incredible countries, we enjoyed every second of our time together.  Now  we are off to Paris for 4 days.

Venice 2011

famous gondola rides

my lunch today

locally grown--beautiful tomatoes

I love all the organic fruits and veggies

best pizza ever

biggest bottle of nutella I have ever seen at least a gallon

these masks are everywhere--apparently for carnival

sir eric the chef

I'm assuming this is laundry day

is there a better name for a train that gets people around?

Eric and I arrived in Venice a few days before the ship took off, we wanted to enjoy the city before we took off to sea--1st off I have to say it is one of the most romantic cities I have ever explored.   The gondola rides through the city were beautiful.  We shopped and enjoyed all the scenery of this beautiful city on water--there are no cars in Venice everyone gets around by boat, even the taxis are by boat.