soooo ... we took advantage of the long 4-day weekend and headed south to the french alps ... hadn't been there yet and heard how beautiful it is ... they were right! we stayed in the town of Chamonix ... a small skiing/hiking town in the valley beneath Mont Blanc ... the highest mountain in western Europe.





it was a nice little town ... pretty quiet this time of year ... between prime skiing & hiking seasons. on Friday morning we got up early and took a ride up the worlds highest cable car ... all the way to the top of the aiguille du midi (12,602 ft) ... amazing!





we checked out the views for a while and then boarded a little cable car (just the 2 of us) and rode it over to italy ... very cool ... just dangling over the mountains for about 45 mins



we didn't get to do as much hiking as we would have liked ... the snow line was still pretty low ... though we did get some in. the petit balcon sud trail followed the ridge line between Chamonix and Le Praz ... very nice



after some good hiking, the local specialty -- fondue -- tasted really good!



we also had a chance to visit the beautiful town of Annecy ... spent saturday checking it out ... i would love to go back





all in all, it was a great trip ... beautiful mountains, great weather, good food ... what more do you need? harm's family gets in on saturday ... can't wait! leaving for greece on the 13th ...will post pics from that trip then. hope everyone is well ... wishing you a peaceful memorial day. t

another week, another long weekend ... with things being so busy at work, a three day weekend has hit the spot! harm & i jumped in the car on friday nite and headed west into france ... about 4 hours later we arrived in Reims (rance ... rhymes with france ... no idea how they get that from reims) ... the capital of the Champagne region



the town is known for 2 things: its 13th century cathedral (yet another Notre Dame) and the local champagne houses. we took tours of Taittinger and Moet & Chandon on saturday afternoon ... a lot of fun ... both gave hour long tours of their cellars/caves ... we learned so much about champagne ... actually, we didn't really know anything about champagne until this weekend Taittinger wine caves ... dug by the Romans in 2nd & 3rd centuries







Moet & Chandon ... home of Dom Parignon and the origins of Champagne









on Sunday, we got back in the car and headed north of Paris to the town of Giverny. Claude Monet lived here in the late 19th century and soon the place became an artist comune. Monet's gardens and home are open to the public year-round ... they were truly beautiful this time of year ...











it was a great weekend ... the weather & traffic cooperated for the most part. the champagne was great ... got some to bring home for upcoming special occasions. the gardens were beautiful ... hope my mom gets a chance to see them some day!



although you always hear/read about how wonderful french cuisine is, harmony & i prefer to save our money ... our favorite french food are the cheap sandwiches we can find at the gas stations ... so good!



hope everyone is well .... happy may day! t