The Hauses: July 2007

We returned from France at 5:00 p.m. on July 1, and four hours later, Brian's twin brother, Eric, his wife, Kristen, their boys,

Lucas and Tanner and their niece, Angela, arrived from California for a five day visit. We had not seen them since Thanksgiving, so it we were happy to have them for the Fourth of July holiday.

On Monday,July 2nd everyone (except Sherry, who was at work)

had lunch, and then Kristen's mom and stepdad (Dwight and Gail), who were also in town visiting, came over and the whole family, including Brian, walked around Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, and then took a trip out to the Boston Harbor Islands. The nephews really enjoyed the chance to run around and have fun outdoors.

Later, Sherry met up with the rest of the crew and the whole

family went on a Duck Tour, which is a tour of the city and Charles River in an amphibious vehicle. It was a lot of fun. The biggest highlight was when we were out on the Charles and the tour guide/driver let Lucas drive the boat! He loved being the captain, and was grinning from ear to ear

afterwards, so proud of himself. So cute. July 2nd was also Kristen's birthday (Happy Birthday, Kristen!) but we were all too jetlagged and exhausted to do the cake and ice cream bit in addition to our rather festive day, so we decided to do that part on the 4th of July, and make Kristen's birthday last all week.

On Tuesday, the day before Independence Day, the rest of the family visited the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution. Sherry was able to leave work a bit early, and met up with everyone for lunch at one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Tavern on the Water. Then, the boys (all four of them) took naps,

while Sherry, Kristen and Angela headed to Newbury Street for some girl time and shopping, and dessert at the Armani Cafe. Later, the ladies stayed home with Lucas and Tanner while Brian and Eric went to watch the Red Sox game at Cask & Flagon.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July. We went down to the Esplanade for a bit to enjoy the

festivitivies of the largest Independence Day celebration in the country, and the weather was beautiful. Later, Dwight and Gail, our friends Sherry and Jens, and Kristen's aunt and uncle all came over to help celebrate Independence Day with a barbecue. We were all enjoying the weather and the back deck off our kitchen when it started raining off and on. We alternated between the deck and the living room. For dessert, we celebrated Kristen's birthday with a cake and ice cream. Then, at 10:00

p.m., just in time for the fireworks display, for which we have a lovely view from our roof deck, the rain started pouring. It was too bad, both for viewing the fireworks, and to think of all the time and money that had gone into such a fabulous fireworks display, only to have the viewing conditions be so sub-par. We headed up to the roof deck anyway, though, and still managed to enjoy the fireworks a bit.

Thursday, Eric, Kristen, Angela and the boys headed to the Cape for the day, and we worked. Eric and Kristen had a special date night when they drove back into the city that night to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the Boston Garden. They drove back to the Cape that night. The next day, they (and the boys and Angela) went to Nantucket, where they had a great time (despite Independence Day weekend crowds) and came back to our place on Friday evening. Angela watched the boys while we enjoyed an adult night with Eric and Kristen, having dinner at Metropolis, a restaurant in the South End that we frequent, and Finale, our favorite dessert spot.

They all left early on Saturday morning, and we missed them instantly-- especially the big warm hugs and happy sloppy kisses from Lucas and Tanner. We love you guys and cannot wait to see you again! For more pictures from their visit (many of which were kindly sent by Dwight and Gail), click here.

We have not updated the blog much in the past several weeks, in part because we were traveling. On our wedding night, five years ago, on June 29, 2002, we promised each other that we would always get away for our anniversary, even for a night, to celebrate and reflect on our marriage. We have kept that promise. Our anniversary has become a solid vacation date that we protect, even in Brian's residency. (We request it six months in advance). This year, we spent our fifth anniversary week in Monaco, the French Riviera and Paris. It was a very special trip for us, absolutely magical, and we will never forget it. We found the French, on the whole to be a warm, friendly, welcoming and genteel people. We fell in love with this country, and its people, and we cannot wait to return. Our trip report is below. If you're interested in seeing the obscene number of pictures we took on our trip, you can go directly to all 674 of them by clicking here for the link to our photo album.

6/22-6/23: Nice and Monaco

We flew directly to Paris on Friday night, 6/22, changed flights in Paris, and arrived in Nice on the afternoon of Saturday, 6/23. We rented a convertible in Nice, and checked out the town, the Promenade de Anglais (basically the promenade along the beach, which is full of little restaurants and bars) and the port. Meanwhile, we waited for Brian's luggage to arrive from Paris, where it was stuck, two flights later. (Seriously, why does the lost luggage thing happen to us every time? At least Air France was able to track the bag and tell us when it would be in.) Waiting would have been much more annoying if

we hadn't been in Nice, which was fun, and beautiful. Anyway, we were several hours late as we got on the road to Monaco, our first destination, and we were absolutely exhausted. We had planned to use the time we spent waiting on Brian's luggage to nap before having a nice evening out, but that was not to be.

The road to Monte Carlo, Monaco is very pretty, and we enjoyed immensely the sweeping cliffside sea views from our convertible. When we arrived in Monte Carlo, we were excited to see that it was to be a bustling Saturday evening. There were a lot of yachts in the port and sports cars cruisin' the scene. For those who don't know, the principality of Monaco is a playground for Europe's rich, many of whom live there to escape taxes. Hence, it is chock full of yachts and luxury sports cars. Unfortunately, our massive yacht was was in the repair shop, and Jacques had taken our Ferrari to have it waxed, so we just had to get around in our rental car; what a bummer. :) We checked into our hotel, and were happy and surprised to have been upgraded to a junior suite. We relaxed a bit, and dressed for an evening out. Dressing in Monte Carlo is a sport entirely its own-- very dressy. We had fun getting dressed up, and felt a little 007 about the whole thing.

After dinner, we went to the Grand Casino, where we ordered martinis (again, we were in the spirit of Bond at the time), and headed to a table. We figured Brian would play a hand or two and we would leave, just to say we did it. Brian ended up winning over 600 Euros that night, and the next night won over 300 more Euros in Cannes, so we came out of the whole Monaco/Riviera gambling experience about $1300-1400 US ahead. Everyone kept telling us that "no one wins" in the

Grand Casino, so we were pretty happy to prove them wrong! We were in the Grand Casino until almost 3 a.m., and then went to a nightclub and had a drink and danced. Monte Carlo parties all night long. We would tell you the insane amount that a couple drinks cost there, but then, as Bond would say, we'd have to kill you. We had a great time dancing and people-watching in the international crowd. By the time we finally got to sleep, we'd been awake about 40 hours (since Friday morning in Boston), so we were zombies.

6/24: Monaco and Cannes

On Sunday morning, we woke up and spent a good portion of the

day enjoying the rooftop pool at our hotel. Eventually, we got on the road to Cannes, our next stop.

We first stopped to see the Palace and the Cathedral in Monaco, and were struck by the fantastic views from the Palace and its beautiful gardens. On the way to Cannes, we

again marveled at the beautiful views of the Mediterranean and just enjoyed being together in the car.

In the evening, we checked into our hotel, which we liked very much. We had a nice view of the pool and sea from our room's French doors. We were still jetlagged, so we had a relaxed dinner at a tiny little pizza place on a cute little street full of small trendy restaurants, and went back to the hotel.

6/25: Cannes

Monday was our beach bum day of the trip. We spent most of the day camped out at the beach at our hotel, and we loved unwinding

in such a great place. We went out on a boat for a bit and Brian did a little waterskiing, but the sea was pretty choppy, so it wasn't the best waterskiing experience.

In the evening, we had a nice dinner outdoors at our hotel's restaurant.

6/26: St. Tropez

On Tuesday, we drove to St. Tropez for

the day. The drive between Cannes and St. Tropez is indescribably beautiful.

Stunning. The drive still stands out for both of us as a highlight of our trip. St. Tropez is a lovely little harbor town of winding streets, very old buildings and lots of charm. Oh, and a lot of yachts. Yachts galore. Who knew there were so many people with giant yachts?

had a great time exploring. We had a little picnic on a small beach for lunch, checked out some of the little streets and shops, and later had a nice little evening bite to eat at a restaurant on the harbor. We did not get back to Cannes until very late.

6/27: Arrival in Paris, the Eiffel Tower and the Monmarte District

We flew to Paris on Wednesday morning, and arrived a bit early to our hotel. Our room was not

yet ready, so the manager kindly treated us to whatever we liked in the hotel restaurant. We had croissants, tea (Sherry) and a glass of wine (Brian), as we had not yet had breakfast. It was lovely.

When we got to our room, the first thing we saw was a nice table with sparkling wine, a beautiful cheese plate, yummy French breads and a large artistic fruit basket. With it was a heartfelt card from Brian's brother and his family (Eric, Kristen, Lucas and Tanner), congratulating us on our anniversary and wishing us a good trip. It was such a nice way to start our time in Paris, and so thoughtful; we will never forget it. Our room was pretty, with french doors that opened to overlook a courtyard with a waterfall/fountain. The sound of the water actually lulled us to sleep (we were still pretty tired from the sun and wind, and the lack of sleep, from the day before). We took a little nap, then woke up, had some of our delicious wine, cheese and fruit and headed off to . . . where else? The Eiffel Tower.

The weather in Paris was not as nice as it had been on the Riviera, and as we debated whether to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower since it was a bit chilly, it started sprinkling. We killed some time taking a ton of pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower, trying to get the lighting right, no tourists, etc. It's kind of hilarious how many we took. At least no one can complain we didn't get a good one-- see photo link above. As the rain subsided, we went to the top. It was cold up there, but the breathtaking view was worth it!

We should note here that, before leaving Boston, we had decided to take advantage of the family francophile, Sherry's sister, Stacy, and asked her to tell us what to see, since she has traveled there so many times. She created a detailed four-day itinerary for us, organized by neighborhood, complete with places to stop and eat, historical facts about what we were seeing, admission prices, directions, and even safety precautions. We were so touched, as it was so clear that she had spent a ton of time

making sure we had a great time in Paris. We were also so happy to see Paris through Stacy's eyes (as she so loves the city), that we followed her directions almost religiously, which was pretty funny. (Sherry: "Should we get the audio guide here? What does Stacy say?" Brian: "Stacy says we have to get it here, so we have to get it." Later: Brian: "What is this monument?" Sherry: "Stacy says it's 'where Marie Antoinette got her head . . . you know.'" Brian (laughing): "Oh...huh. What else does she say?"). We had bought Paris books, but we didn't really use or need them. Stacy should have her own book; our printed pages were pretty tattered at the end of our trip!

For dinner, we headed to Montmartre District, a pretty part of town where Stacy had recommended an inexpensive little fondue restaurant for us to try. The place was tiny, full of international young people, had good fondue, was not "touristy," and was a lot of fun. They served wine in baby bottles, which was pretty funny. We loved it. Afterward, we went down the street for a beer, and then headed back to our hotel.

6/28: The Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomph, and . . . Crazy Horse

Thursday, we woke up late and walked to the Louvre, walking through the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden),

enjoying the sculptures and fountains. Anyone who knows how much we love the Met in New York can only imagine our reaction to the Louvre. It's amazing. We saw the Mona Lisa and all the other things Stacy told us to see (hee hee), but we couldn't stop lamenting about the little amount of time we had to explore. When (not if) we return to Paris next, we have decided that we are going to focus our sightseeing on seeing more of the museums next. We want to spend more time at the Louvre, and also want to visit the Musee d'Orsay and the Picasso Museum next time!

After visiting the Louvre, we walked down through the Place de la Concorde, the main square in Paris,

where the Luxor Obelisk (a gift from Egypt) stands, and where all the royalty/aristocrats got their heads . . . you know . . . back during the Revolution. From there, we headed up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, stopping along the way for un cafe. We then checked out the view from the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Cathedral) in the Montmartre and the amazing view of the city from there.

That night, we went to a trendy restaurant called L'Avenue, which had been recommended by our concierge. From what we could tell, we were the only non-Parisians there. The food was delicious, and the service was amazing. It was a really fun place. Afterwards, well . . . there's a place in France where the naked ladies dance, and, um, we went there. We went to the Crazy Horse (a caberet like the Moulin Rouge, but more risque). It was fun to do once, but we probably wouldn't go again. Anyway . . .

6/29: Isle de la Cite, the Conciergie, The Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville the Marais District, and Our Anniversary Dinner

On our anniversary, we had a great day just walking around the city and leisurely visiting several sights.

We explored the Isle de la Cite (the central island area where Paris began), visiting the Conciergie (the old prison where Marie Antoinette and crew were held), the Notre Dame, and the Hotel de Ville, and then strolled through the Marais district. We loved this little neighborhood. We really liked the park/square Place des Vosges,

Paris' oldest square, still with its original buildings. We stopped at a cafe for a glass of wine, capuccino and a beautiful plats au fromages (cheese plate). It was a very relaxing day.

That evening, we took the cash that we still had left from Brian's winnings, and treated ourselves to an anniversary dinner at an amazing Parisian restaurant.

It was a night we will never forget. It was romantic, the food was delicious, and the service was beyond stellar.

6/30: Versailles, Latin Quarter, Sorbonne, Jardin du Luxembourg, and Cruise on the Seine

In the early afternoon on our last day in Paris, we took a half-day trip on the RER train to

Versailles. We later found out that going to Versailles on a Saturday in the summer is a recipe for crowds. The line was very long, and every room was very crowded. Still, we at least checked out the Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War I. Then we escaped to the gardens, and were enchanted. Wow. The gardens seem to go on forever with "mazes" among them, fountains galore, bike paths, and the Grand Canal, where visitors can rent boats to take around. Classical music is piped in everywhere, and it is just a lovely experience, especially in the summer. We bought lunch and sat on the banks of the canal, basking in the afternoon.

Eventually, we pulled ourselves away, and headed back to Paris. We checked out the Latin
Quarter, the Sorbonne, and the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris' largest public park. It was beautiful, and we stayed late into the evening.

On our last night in Paris, we took an evening cruise on the Seine. Unlike the day cruises, which looked crowded and touristy, our evening cruise was relatively empty, and

was incredibly romantic. Paris on a Saturday night in the summer is viewed in an entirely different light via the Seine. Everywhere we went, people were gathered on the banks of the Seine-- young people sharing beer or a bottle of wine and a lot of laughs, crowds gathered on the banks in the Latin Quarter for a Latin dancing festival, watching couples twirl and twist in unison, wedding parties in their rented (or not rented) yachts, people in crowded river-side restaurants, parties for whatever occasion, groups gathered for film showings. And lights shining on some of the city's greatest architecture in the summer night. And the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the background. We loved the City of Lights from the moment we stepped foot in it, but our last night in Paris, and that romantic boat ride, sealed the deal.

It was after midnight when, having realized we had not eaten dinner yet, we asked our concierge for another recommendation. We mentioned that we had wanted to try out one of the city's famed jazz clubs, but were on our last night in Paris, and were tired. He sent us to a terrific little jazz club, right by our hotel, that was still serving (very good) dinner. It was full of Parisians and no tourists at all. The music was great, and we had so much fun. We really did not want to leave, because we couldn't bear for our trip to end!

7/1: Going Home

On July 1, we flew home. Our return flight was not direct from Paris, which we were not too happy about until we had the pleasure of visiting the Amsterdam airport. It's a really nice airport. Anyway, what was very odd was that we were there at the EXACT same time as Sherry's brother, Brad, was there, also on a layover. He didn't know, and neither did we. Sherry's mom, Pat, put two and two together, and tried to reach both us and Brad to let us know (so we could perhaps meet up), but she was unsuccessful, and we each passed through without meeting. :(

When we arrived in Boston, at 5 p.m. (or 11 p.m. Paris time), we had four hours to rest until Brian's brother and his family arrived for the week from California! We'll post about that next!

Again, you want to see all the pics from the trip, here's the link to our photo album.

The Hauses

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Liz and Jose

Saturday, July 21, 2007

4th of July Week Visit from Eric, Kristen and Family

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Our Fifth Anniversary In Monaco, the French Riviera and Paris

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Happy Birthday, Mom!

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Slideshow of the Month: Getting Ready for Baby, March-May 2009

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