Summer Vacation - The Beach

As we were leaving for the summer trip Kathy was really sick - like stay-in-bed for four days sick, so she got off to a rough start. I don't think she was completely recovered till a week later.

On the way down to the south of France we stopped in Beaune for the night. The next day we stopped in Vienne for lunch and to check out the impressive remains of the Roman temple there.

Jack and Jesse at the temple in Vienne

That night we stayed in Avignon. It turned out that there was a large festival going on so we didn't have the chance to see much of the city due to the crowds and the limited parking. We did go check out a large Roman aqueduct nearby called Pont du Gard.

Taking a break from the heat with Pont du Gard in the background

After that we headed to Cannes to enjoy the beach for awhile. The weather was very hot and sunny, perfect for just hanging at the beach. The boys loved it. We also rented a small sail boat - the first day the renter said only 3 could go so I just took Jack, the next day a different place let us take all 4 so we all got to go together. It was a fun way to cruise up and down the coast and admire the clear blue water of the Med.

Kathy loved the local fashions--check out the chainmail!

Some great faces

On the way out of Cannes we tried to stop at the house of Renoir the painter. Unfortunately this site (like many places) closes for a couple hours in the middle of the day for lunch. We did get to rest a minute and enjoy the grounds before heading on to Genoa. The drive along the coast had some impressive views.

We went to Genoa to visit Gina, a family friend of Kathy's. Gina and her boyfriend treated us to drinks at a spectacular waterfront location with crashing waves and a great dinner at a small family restaurant high in the mountains above Genoa.

Kathy and Gina

We also stopped by Borlasca, the town where Kathy's grandmother's family was originally from.

Inscription on the church step showing the relatives from US that donated for the church
Our distant cousins Natalino and Luciana

Inside the church

After that we drove north towards the mountains...

Visitors

We had several visitors in July. Kathy's mom Marilyn (aka Nana) was the first. She had the chance to go bike riding with all of us. Jack had just learned to ride by himself a few weeks before that.

Jack's third bike ride.

Our ride in the countryside.

We also made a day trip over to the Natural History Museum in Brussels

And we drove to a large playground and outdoor museum near Genk.

The playground equipment here in Belgium can be pretty impressive.

The outdoor museum had several examples of crafts. The boys got to try their hand at pottery.

Windmill at the outdoor museum

The next to arrive was two friends of ours from Baltimore, Tony and Colleen. We had a good time showing them around the area, including a nice bike ride through the local woods.

Tony Kathy and Colleen in front of our house.

Our next visitors were Kathy's sister Theresa (aka TT) and her family, Mark, Maddie, and Joey. The weekend they arrived happened to coincide with the big reenactment at Waterloo so we went to check it out. Unfortunately the weather turned cold and rainy that day so it wasn't quite as fun as it would have been. The mock battles and uniforms were still pretty impressive though.

A scene from the battle

We had seats on the mound (butte) which had a decent view of the battle but was a 45 degree slope of slippery wet grass. You really had to dig in your feet to keep from sliding down the hill. As you can see Madeline in particular was having a great time.

A couple days later Mark left for a conference in London and Nana, TT, Madeline and Joey all left to check out Paris. When they got back from Paris Nana left for the states and TT, Wes and the kids all drove up to London to meet Mark. Kathy was stuck in Leuven making sure the Loyola students made it on their flight home.

We drove the car into a train for trip through the chunnel. This is the view as we drove into the train. It only took about 30 minutes to get across. Our first stop in England was Bodiam castle. This time we had the time to go inside and check it out.

TT and the kids in front of Bodiam castle.

At the top of the castle (Joey was missing in action for this shot)

After Bodiam we drove north and parked the car then took a short train ride to our hotel where we met Mark. We had a good location just a few minutes walk to the tower bridge. We did all the usual tourist locations:

TT and the kids in front of Tower Bridge

The boys and I rode the double-decker tour bus.

We visited the British Museum

Watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace

Visited the Tower of London on a really hot day - ice cream treats helped.

Rode in the London Eye. Jesse had a massive problem in his pants about a minute after this picture was taken. Probably due to the large greasy hamburger he downed at lunch. I have a vivid memory of cleaning his pants in the sink of the WC near the London Eye - having kids can be lots of fun at times.

Waiting for our boat ride home after the London Eye.

We found a dinner spot with a view to watch the tower bridge open.

Jesse had recovered enough to have some pasta.

TT and I needed a drink after our adventures with the kids.

Jesse holding up some modern art near the tower bridge

The last night after dinner we let the kids go crazy on these flat table-like fountains near our hotel. I think that was the most fun Jesse had on the whole trip.

When we got back in Leuven we took it easy for a few days then Mark met us again and we all went for weekend in Amsterdam.

The boys in front of the Iamsterdam sign. I think that's Joey's gangster look.

After Amsterdam we made a short drive from Leuven (Mark and I rode bikes) to watch the Tour de France pass through. The main entertainment was watching all the sponsor cars, helicopters, and police motorcycles zip by. The actual racers went by in just a few seconds.

The next day all of our visitors were gone and had a few days rest before we started on our big summer holiday.

England

We found out about a couple weeks ago that the boys had three days off from school for a teachers' training day and Ascension Day (i.e., the day Jesus ascended into heaven). The prospect of entertaining the boys at home for five days had us searching the internet for possible trips. We decided it would be nice to visit a country that spoke English, for a change.

So Thursday morning we drove the 2 hours to Dunkirk and drove our car onto the ferry for the ride to Dover.

The boys enjoyed the ride over. The boat even had a play area for kids.

Just as we pulled into Dover Jack's loose tooth finally came out (his first one)

Our first stop was Canterbury.

Our first stop was Canterbury. Kathy's working on a book about modern adaptations of Chaucer so she wanted to check out the tourist items based on his Canterbury Tales. It was also a nice stop and close to Dover. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express near the city. It seemed luxurious and cheap compared to the hotels we were used to in the rest of Europe. It even came with a full breakfast included. We felt like we were back in the US.

The next morning we stopped at Bodiam Castle. It was one of the most picturesque castles we've been to. Unfortunately, the boys weren't in a picture taking mood so we didn't get too many group shots. It was also interesting to see a modern (1940's) pill box just in front of the castle. Apparently it was placed there to guard a nearby bridge in the event of a Nazi invasion during the war.

Bodiam Castle

1940's pill box in front of Bodiam Castle

Our next stop was the city of Battle. This was the location of the Battle of Hastings (1066 Norman invasion).

The boys trying on the soldier gear in the gift shop

A good climbing tree at the battlefield

We had some lunch in Battle then made the 2 hour drive to Stonehenge

Stonehenge!

Jack and Jesse have now played soccer at Stonehenge and Circus Maximus - where next? - maybe the pyramids.

After Stonehenge we stopped close by at Old Sarum. Old Sarum was a hill fort thought to be built around 500 BC then used by everyone from the Romans to medieval kings. The hill fort is still pretty impressive and has the ruins of a church and castle. It's also right below the flight line of the local airport, and gives a great view of the surrounding county from the top.

It's hard to get the scale of this place from our pictures so I took an overhead view from Google Maps. This 'hill fort' was much larger than I expected. The old castle is in the middle with its own secondary moat and you can see the outline for the church in the upper left.

This is an idea of the size of the moat that surrounded the entire hill

Vintage aircraft we saw taking off from the local airport

We also spotted this crop circle from the top of Old Sarum. The whole crop circle phenomenon started pretty close to here.

The next day our first stop was Portchester Castle. This castle was started by the Romans around 300 AD. The old roman walls are still in very good shape. In the middle ages a keep was added in one corner. The castle is located at the north end of Portsmouth harbor. The top of the keep gave a great view of the city and the surrounding area.

Portchester Castle

View from the top of the keep

From there we drove about 2 hours back towards Dover to visit Dover castle. The castle was interesting because they have tried to recreate the interior furniture and even had actors playing the parts of the king (Henry II), knights, and ladies. We also took a tour of the secret underground tunnels used during the Second World War as a command center and hospital.

Jack and Jesse next to an old Roman light house on the grounds of Dover Castle.

Interior of the Dover Castle keep with all the furnishings.

At the top of the tower looking out on the English Channel

The next morning we caught the 10am ferry back to Dunkirk. Our ferry ride was smooth and on time but then we hit the holiday traffic in Belgium returning south from the coast. The stop and go traffic doubled our 2 hour drive home, but we made it back in time for dinner.

We really enjoyed our long weekend in England. In many ways it was like taking a trip back to the States, with free ketchup and tap water. As the Brits like to say it was Brilliant!

Cheers.