A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

So, come and experience the story of our journey through the viewing of over 2,000 photos!

(Plus a little commentary from yours truly and her super excited husband who has suddenly turned uncharacteristically expressive and talkative when asked about this trip!)

The backstory and the details:

Lots of people from work have been asking us about a photo viewing. We've decided to host a viewing party next Tuesday evening (7/28) from 5 - 6:30 pm at Simpsonville in the Training Room on the big screen.

If you are interested PLEASE either leave a comment or email either of us so that we know how many to expect. And, if you're reading this spread the word to any coworkers who may be interested.

We promise lots of fun photos, even fun-er stories and lots of laughs. I mean, hey, it was a Twyford Trip after all!

Home Sweet Home

HOME!

And we returned to lots of family, hugs, kisses, 2 happy dogs and a surprise from the little ones:

You can barely see it but it says "Welcome Home."

That's supposed to be Mickey on the right!

Jeg lag, my friends, has NEVER been so bad!

Where it all began. They served us well.

Truckin'

We spent our last couple of days in Paris, and of our trip, soaking up as much of the city as we possibly could. We returned to some of our favorite sites, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysees and we enjoyed time spent admiring the city from any one of the beautiful bridges that provided a stunning backdrop for conversation and reflection on our journey.

Last night, our last night, was bittersweet. I couldn’t help but be reminded of a song that I had heard years ago by the Grateful Dead entitled, “Truckin’” The lyrics, I feel, sum up our trip so well and go something like this,

“Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me,

Other times I can barely see.

Lately it occurs to me,

What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

Funny, I know, that I should be reminded of these lyrics but they fluttered through my head as seamlessly as though they’d been there all along. This trip has, in fact, felt long in spite of it’s short 3 week span, it’s been, at times, strange :), sometimes the light has shone on us and other times, well, it definitely hasn’t! But, through it all, we’ve emerged changed for the better and altered forever by an experience too rich for words.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner our last night in Paris at a steak house called “Hippopotamus.” I wasn’t familiar with this chain but it’s the #1 rated steak house in all of France. We dined in the comfort of a dimly lit room, great food and even more, the shared feelings of accomplishment, excitement, weariness, enlightenment, happiness and a bond of love deepened by the shared experience of a journey of such proportion. It was the perfect way to bid “Au Revoir” to the trip of a lifetime.

During dinner we exchanged favorite memories; many of which we had yet to uncover. And, I do believe that’s one of the best parts of any of life’s journeys such as this, the memories last forever and when you least expect it they present themselves and you relive the experience all over again.

Here are some of the excerpts from our conversation:

Favorite Memory (Mickey): Being reunited with our backpacks after losing them on our flight over, the gondola ride in Venice.

Favorite Memory (Devon): Seeing Paris for the first time, the gondola ride in Venice.

Worst Experience (Mickey): Missing the bus in Cinque Terre and the resulting train ride to Nice

Worst Experience (Devon): Discovering our backpacks were lost

Funniest Memory (Mickey): Playing in the med sea in Nice and being thrown around by the waves. We laughed so hard in spite of the rushing waves making their way into our open mouths! We couldn’t help ourselves! It was one of the best days ever!

Funniest Memory (Devon): Realizing I had slept in some random tent on some random cot in Venice.

Favorite City (Mickey): Venice, Cinque Terre, Paris

Favorite City (Devon): Paris

Favorite Experience (Mickey): Touring the ancient Roman ruins

Favorite Experience (Devon): Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle for the first time

Something you would have done differently (Mickey): Gotten to the airport earlier that first day,

Something you would have done differently (Devon): Ditto on the airport comment, wouldn’t have booked the first Paris hotel for 5 nights before at least checking it out in person.

Favorite hostel (Mickey): The hostel in Florence. It was nice, had a great vibe, a great pool and centrally located.

Favorite hostel (Devon): Same

Most looking forward to when getting home (Mickey): Fam/friends, dogs, own bed, driving, air conditioning, regular iced tea, free drink refills at restaurants, cell phone data connection

Most looking forward to when getting home (Devon): Fam/friends, dogs, home

Miss most about our trip (Mickey): Sense of adventure

Miss most about trip (Devon): No time constraints/track of time, no real deadlines or strict responsibilities

Won’t miss most about trip (Mickey): Lack of a/c, public transportation

Won’t miss most about trip (Devon): Lack of toilet seats, people not wearing deodorant, public transportation, fatigue

We’re on our way home now and we are almost as excited to get there as we were to begin this adventure. How in the world can 3 short weeks, spent seeing just a fraction of this big world, seem like such a vast expanse of time?

Notre Dame

During one of our last days in the City of Lights we visited the famous Notre Dame. You know, the one with the hunchback? (Victor Hugo is cringing right now :) )

The cathedral itself was stunning as was the area of Paris in which it was located; very lively with lots of shops and cafes. Maybe my favorite spot in the city.

Jardin du Luxembourg

No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to one of the most beautiful and serene parks known the world over: Luxembourg Gardens.

Luxembourg is the largest park in all of Paris and the palace of the same name is home to the French Senate. There are over 100 statues within the park, hundreds of apple and pear trees, some of the most beautiful landscaping I've ever seen and, last but certainly not least, plenty of awe inducing fountains. We knew we had to visit this place and we were NOT disappointed.

As we entered the gardens we knew that this place would be a sight to behold. The labyrinth of well manicured trees welcomed us and all of our travel stress and fatigue instantly melted away. I am sure that we could have meandered through the park for an entire day with time slipping by without notice. It is truly a place of serenity and beauty. A place to grab a baguette and some wine and live the Parisian "good life!"

We left the park around 9:15 pm to catch the metro to, where else, but the Eiffel Tower as we did every night to watch it sparkle at 10 pm on the dot.

The Twinkling Tower - Raw Footage

Forgive the sideways nature - it's raw

Paris After Dark

In my opinion, even more picturesque.