Saying Goodbye

As I sit here alone in my apartment for the last night in a city I've come to love and a culture I feel I've become a part of, the tears are flowing with no end is sight. David is having one last hockey hurraw with some of the guys from his team and I've just returned home from a dinner with our dear friends Robert and Corinne, to whom I've had to say an emotional farwell.

I'm not sure how to process the fact that Paris is no longer my home, when all I feel is how I've changed in so many ways such that in some ways, its all I know. I'm scared to find out how I will feel when the things that used to be normal for me, will feel foreign and yet, are supposed to be who I am because they are where I've come from. I know that the girl that came over here for an experience is staying behind and in her place is a different person with different thoughts, views, personality traits, likes, dislikes, habits, visions, dreams, aspirations, wants, and needs that make sense in the world she knows at this moment. I have no idea how she will fit in to a world she used to know.

Finding a way to express the emotions that are leaving me feeling raw and weak seems like such an impossible goal. David and I set out to try an adventure that involved just the two of us. We wanted to get away from all that we knew and put ourselves in a world where only we mattered and were there to rely on. We wanted something that would bring us together and draw our focus to each other to get a head start on our new marriage before children came along. But what we found when we arrived in this wonderful dream was so very different. Things turned out to include more then just ourselves. Our lives have not been focused on each other but instead have included some amazing people who have enhanced our experience and made our journey the incredible journey it has been. We've learned more about ourselves and about each other by having more then just us in the picture. The friends we've made and people we've met, in many ways, have become a second family to us and the pain I feel in having to say goodbye is something I had not realized would become a reality.

We've changed, David and I, for having an experience like this one. And as much as rewards like these come with some very difficult consequences, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I feel like I was meant to live an extrodinary life. Like ordinary things weren't meant for me. Too many times I have not fit into a normal world and the only people who ever have been able to, and ever will be able to understand and relate to me, are those other people who are not meant for an ordinary life either. Its been a hard and painful reality at times, but I've come to understand it now and can accept it with a resolute peace. Its no longer a hardship to bear, this difference. It has become a comforting freedom that I'm embracing more and more. I feel that this move was anything but ordinary and while the dream of this, before it happenned, only included the amazing things hoped for, the unkown sacrafices that came up along the way have all been worth it. And I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't trade certainty for uncertainty, comfort for the absence of comfort, and normality for the strange. I am more sure now then ever before that sacrafices are necessary for a life of extraordinary. And it takes courage give up the things that bring us the most security when we pursue our dreams. I know that many people would only ever dream the dream and never take the risks required to live it, and I know now that I can never be one of those people again. We've changed, David and I, and while the time that lay in wait for us will have its moments of sadness, despair and longing, we will continue on in our dreams and forge on to the next moment of extraordinary.

Thank you to everyone who has made my time here what it was. This doesn't only include the people who live in France as my truest of confidantes needed not be here to get me through this journey. I love you all.

Love Mindy

Top of Tour Eiffel

Mindy is all smiles as she prepares to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Almost every tourist that comes to Paris makes their way up the great iron tower that looms over the city. We decided that we would make our way up as well and so, on our last day in Paris, we hiked up Tour Eiffel. The view was astounding and at the same time bitter-sweet for Mindy and I as we not only saw famous places from the top, but also memories of great experiences we have had in Paris. We celebrated the trip with a glass of champagne, took a final look around, and then, as the saying goes "what goes up, must come down".

The pace is good and Mindy is motoring up the stairs.

Halway up and we are still all smiles.

How much further to the top already.

Princess Mindy gets her reward. A room with a view and a glass of champagne.

Looking out to the souteast one can see the Champs de Mars directly in front, Les Invalides off to the left, and Tour Montparnasse in the distance.

Cheers from the top of Tour Eiffel!

Amsterdam: Tale of Two Cities

Crisscrossed with amazing canals, Amsterdam has to be considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

We decided that our visit to the Netherlands would include a stop in the both famous and infamous city of Amsterdam. Known equally for its canals and red light district, Amsterdam is truly two cities in the same place. Since neither of us had ever visited it, we thought it was worth making the trip.

However before I really start on the city, I have to tell you about probably one of the most unique and nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. If you are travelling to Amsterdam, make a reservation at the Citizen M Hotel. A king size bed, wall mounted plasma television, waterfall showers, it is very luxurious. One small catch however. The rooms are the size of a broom closet. Fear not though as the design is incredible. We had a lot of fun staying here and I would for sure recommend it.

The entire room at the Citizen M Hotel. The circle on the floor on the left of the picture is the toilet which has a sliding glass door. In the right-center is the shower, also with a sliding glass door.

Anyway, on to the city. The bright side of Amsterdam offers tree-lined canals where houseboats are parked next to water-front restaurants serving a delectable variety of foods and beverages popular in Holland (see Heineken beer). We strolled through a market, toured the Anne Frank House, and enjoyed inspecting the exterior of the houses we passed. The city had a very relaxed feel to it (no, not in the pot-smoking relaxed way) that a lot of other cities seem to lack. Maybe it's due to the lack of cars in the city as everyone rides their bike everywhere. Whatever the reason, we enjoyed it.

At the top of the bike parking lot.

Beautiful buildings along one of the many canals

Everything is a little bit smaller in Amsterdam when it comes to buildings, including the doorways!

And even the houses. Number 7 Singel is listed in the tour books as the narrowest house in the world with a front facade boasting a width of only 1.3 meters.

Breakfast on Sunday was at the Pancake Bakery. Delicious!

And then there is the other side of Amsterdam. Legalized marijuana and prostitution in the infamous Red Light district of the city probably draws just as many tourists to this beautiful city as all of its museums, canals, and restaurants. Due to the laws and controls in the city however, Amsterdam is still clean and classy in this part of the city. It was interesting to see this part of the city although after seeing the basics, we were ready to make our way to other areas of the city.

One of the many "coffee" shops that doesn't quite specialize in the Starbucks blend.

Where else in the world would this museum be located?

The Red Light district at night.

We even found a Canadian connection to one of the "coffee" shops. Of course, that link would be to Vancouver, BC ;-)

Having to chose between the two sides of Amsterdam, this picture below pretty much shows the one that we prefered.

Best Chocolate in the World

Gabrielle and Mindy study the "chocolate" map which shows the location of every Chocolaterie in Bruges. It didn't take us long to be headed in the right direction.

French chocolate is good and Swiss choclate is great. However for the true connoisseur, Belgium chocolate has no rival. And during our foray into this northern neighbour of France, we were determined to find the best that Belgium had to offer. As Gabrielle, Mindy's cousin's daughter, had joined us again for a visit, I was outvoted on the idea of potentially putting a limit on how much chocolate show be consumed.

We chose to visit the city of Bruges as we had heard of its famous architecture, canals, and of course food. The city did not let us down as we wandered around the town's center where impressive buildings, churches, and squares seemed to blend together seemlessly.

Dinner was in one of the open air squares as we sampled a local raspberry beer with pasta dishes all around (note to Gabrielle's parents, legal age for a beer is 16 in Belgium and we limited her to 250 ml ;-). Of course our dessert had previously been consumed as we had made our way around to a few chocolateries (see below for more)

One of the many Chocolateries that we found. Each had its own style, offerings, and tastes.

Got the goods and ready to partake

The Market is the central square in Bruges and is surrounded by amazingly beautiful buildings and churches.

Mindy and I outside the Basilica of the Sacred Blood

Crossing one of the many canals in the city. Although not quite crisscrossed as Amsterdam, the canals of Bruges still give the city a certain charm.

Cheers! One more phenomenal day of travel in the books!

Vimy Ridge

The happy couple in front of the monument at Vimy Ridge

If there is one thing that every Canadian who travels to France should see, it is Vimy Ridge. The site of one of the largest offensives against the Germans in the First World War, Vimy Ridge is now a monument to remember the efforts made by the Canadian troops in the first battle where all four divisions fought together. Although the battle was critical to the success of the alied troops, it also served to unify a young Canadian nation who had previously always been in the shadow of Britain.

We took our time in touring the monument before making our way to the visitors center for the "Tunnels and Trenches" tour. The guides are all Canadian university students and we had a great time chatting with them about thier experiences in France compared to ours. They did a great job at presenting some very interesting information. This was my second visit to Vimy as I had visited 15 years ago with my parents and my brother and I must admit that even after seeing previously, Vimy Ridge was still very impressive.

In front of the flag on the approach to the trenches

Going down the stairs to the underground communication tunnels

Sleeping quarters in the communications tunnels. Yes, those beds have chicken wire on them.

On the eve of the assualt, Canadian troops filled the trenches and the tunnels to prepare for going over the top

"Machine Gun" Mindy mans a gun turrent in the trenches

In addition to the monument, visitors center, and tunnels and trenches tour, there are also a few cemetaries. Unlike the one we viewed in Normandy from the Second World War, where every soldier was identified, a large number of these graves read simply "Known Unto God"

Vanderlee Visit

Amy and Kathleen Vanderlee paid a visit to the city of light and discovered it could also be the city of the walking.

Aside from Gabrielle, Mindy's cousin who is doing an exchange in the south of France, we have not had any visitors from our part of the world this year as a variety of circumstances have prevented some people from making the trip overseas (mostly upcoming weddings). So when we heard that Amy and Kathleen, family friends from Calgary, were doing a little European tour and would be visiting Paris, we were really excited to show them around.

Mindy had to teach, so I took the ladies from Calgary on a little walking tour of some of Paris' lesser know but equally impressive attractions. We started at Montmartre where we checked out Sacre Coeur before making our way down Avenue de Clichy to the Moulin Rouge. We then turned south and marched past Saint Lazaire train station on our way to Les Grands Magazines on Boulevard Haussmann. A quick stop at the Opera followed by some cold drinks outside of the tourist zone (which means we paid 6 euros for 3 drinks instead of 6 euros each) and we were ready to keep going. From Opera we went down to Place Vendome where Amy's jaw dropped at the site of all the luxury stores.

By this time it was getting a little bit late so we headed back to the Latin Quarter where we met up with Mindy for a fantastic french dinner. We introduced the ladies to Raclette and Tartiflette, and although it wasn't of the same quality as what we sampled in the Alps, it was still pretty good. We ended the evening with some fantastic conversation before we said goodbye.

During a fantastic dinner, we had a great conversation with Amy and Kathleen.

Connemara Penincula

Kylemore Abby sits majestically in the middle of the Connemara Penincula

As we moved north from the Burren and into the Connemara Penincula, the Irish landscape became much more lush as we left the limestone rock behind. The goal was to hike to the top of Connemara National Park, however the weather decided not to cooperate and we had the opportunity to experience a nice little Irish rain storm. Rather than get soaked, we headed for the town of Clifden to check into our B&B and see if we could find a nice little pub.

Connemara National Park hidden in the rain

And of course there were some sheep wandering the road

Entering the town of Clifden

The Hillside Lodge is a fantastic little B&B with excellent service and beautiful rooms

We checked into the Hillside Lodge, which is located just outside the town and then headed into town for dinner. We had another fantastic meal accompanied by a little bit of Guiness before spending a quite night in the Connemara country side.

Our room at the Hillside Lodge. If you are ever travelling in the Connemara region, give Ruth a call at the Hillside Lodge. You will not be disapointed.

The view out to the Atlantic from the Hillside Lodge

Sampling the Guiness.

Mindy was tempted to try and order a Bud Light, but decided the smart thing to do was stick with the local specialty

The next morning we woke up early to check out Clifden castle before breakfast. The castle was built about 250 years ago, however it has not been maintained and is starting to crumble. It was still pretty neat to check out.

Mindy at the entrance to the castle road

Clifden Castle

The princess surveyed the property and decided that she would stick with the new castle being built back in Canada for her.

After breakfast, we headed to our final destination of our Irish adventure as we returned to Connemara National Park to take in the hike that we missed the day before. The scenery was once again stunning and we had the trail to ourselves. It was a great way to end what had been a fabulous trip.

The entrance to Connemara National Park

Going up the hill in Connemara

Mindy is now ready to jump into our next adventure