Ashton Visits

Andrew's friend, Ashton, came to visit for a couple of weeks, so we spent one weekend in Paris and one weekend in London. We picked the kids up from the airport in Paris and drove right to the Eiffel Tower. The five of us spread out a blanket and had a picnic. We let the kids get in line and climb/ride up while we spent the afternoon on the blanket with a couple of bottles of wine. Now THAT'S Paris! We usually are in a hurry and rushing from one thing to the next. This was a great afternoon.



Perfect weather and a bottle, or two of wine:


We rode the Batobus (a water taxi) down the river Seine (pronounced "sane") to Notre Dame Cathedral. In all our trips, we hadn't been down the river. It was nice, but the Metro is so much faster.



Katie at the Notre Dame stop. I think you can almost make out the hunchback up in the bell tower.


Next it was on to the Invalids, King Louis the 16th's hospital built in the 1600's for all his injured troops. Katie got her cannon picture, although she was not overly thrilled at the world's foremost military museum. W went to the Louvre and hit the highlights--the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, mummies, etc.


The next weekend, we rode the Eurostar under the English Channel through the Chunnel to London. We went to the London Eye, Madam Tussuad's, ate fish and chips, drank ale and bitters, visited the London Museum, The Museum of Natural History, the London Dungeon, Harrods Department Store, and rode the Tube. It was an all around great trip. Our hotel, the Premier Inn near King's Cross Station/St. Pancras, was awesome.

Jena, married Henry the 8th apparently, then was irritated when Jeff sang "I'm 'Enery the 8th I am, 'Enery the 8th I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door...." ALL DAY!



Katie had a hot date with Prince William:



Saddam and Jeff caught up on old times. It's hard to believe they were once enemies. They had ice cream and cotton candy and rode the Tea Cups until they had tummy aches. Good times.



Just when we were having such a good time, Hitler showed up, yelling and carrying on. Andrew stepped in and they fought for 12 rounds. The fight ended with this last punch. Andrew got up, just like Rocky, with seconds to spare. Europe doesn't know how close this one was:


Afterward, we saw the sights from the classic Big Red Bus tours.



All in all, two action packed weekends, with great weather, and good memories.