Italy

Okay, so its been a while since we blogged so sue me! Here are the pictures from Italy. What a trip!

We started out in Venice and fell in love with the place. It is literally a post card picture around every corner. We took the oligitory gondola ride with the kids and saw some incredible museums. The famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, the Vitruvian Man (sp.?) was on display. Apparently they only take it out every ten years or so. Emma was again unimpressed (the Mona Lisa did nothing for her) she thought it was too small.

Next we travelled to Rome. Beautiful churches, the Vatican, the Collosseum, it was all incredible. We had the good fortune of hooking up with a priest we knew from home and got a compressed tour of the sights and an overall great evening. Enjoy the photos.

http://s681.photobucket.com/albums/vv173/constabledanbucket1/Italy%202009/

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This set of photos concludes the boat trip on the Seine and includes our trip to the Louvre (or "Loof" as Emma called it) as well as our evening trip to see L'Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower.

To anyone considering a trip to Paris, I highly reccomend the boat trip. There are a number of companies who provide this service. We did ours in the afternoon but would have liked to have had the time to try an evening cruise as well.

The Louvre was, as you can imagine, both amazing and daunting. It is sooooo huge and a bit much to try and cover in one day, especially with an eight and ten year old in tow. We got to see the Grand Gallery, which is home to the Mona Lisa, the French Painters, a lot of Greek and Roman statues, and the Egyptian antiquities, including a real mummy!

The Arc had 284 steps to the top. How do I know that? Because Lori, Ian and I climbed every one of them! The view was incredible as was the sense of accomplishment at climbing the thing. We only made it to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, not that I'm complaining, it was quite high enough. Enjoy!

http://s681.photobucket.com/albums/vv173/constabledanbucket1/Paris%20May%202009%20Part%203/

Paris Part 2

Sunday was another wonderful day. The most incredible thing about this trip was that everyday seemed to be better than the one that preceeded it. Sunday was truly extraordinary however. We started off by hopping on the metro and attending the Gregorian Mass at Notre Dame. The intro on the pipe organ was spectacular and the music throughout exquisite. If the intention of the church was to draw the mass goer towards the Almighty, it suceeded on every level.

Our next stop, after lunch at a sidewalk cafe of course, was Ste. Chapelle. It was originally built by the French king, St. Louis, to house the Crown of Thorns and a remnant of the original cross. It has now been secularized (the relics are now housed at Notre Dame) and remains quite a site. The king's chapel has some of the most beautiful stained glass windows ever seen.

From Ste. Chapelle we moved on to the Concergerie. It was part of the palace that served as a prison during the reign of terror. Marie Antoinette spent two months there prior to being beheaded on the Place de la Concorde. Ouch!

After that we decided to rest our feet a bit and took a boat tour on the Seine. This tour highlighted the major tourist attractions in Paris and afforded us our first close up view of the Eiffel Tower, the kids were thrilled. All in all quite a day!

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Paris Part 1

We arrived in France on Friday afternoon. Our loft apartment can best be described as delightfully French. We went out for dinner and Emma experienced escargot first hand, brave child. Our first sightseeing expedition was to the Opera house, "The Palais Garnier". A beautiful building. We went onto see the Madeiline Church as well as St. Augustin's. We also took a walk through the Tuilerie Garden's past the Louvre. It was love at first sight.

http://s681.photobucket.com/albums/vv173/constabledanbucket1/Paris%205-2009%20Part%201/

Disneyland Paris 2009

Well after a considerable delay here are the pics from our Disney trip. While not quite Orlando we had a ball. Space mountain 2 rocked and the Tower of Terror was just as scary. The first two days were nasty weather wise but as it turned out this was a good thing because as soon as the sun came out the lines became intolerable! For the record the ride of the trip was Crushes Coaster, totally! Check out the pics!

http://s681.photobucket.com/albums/vv173/constabledanbucket1/Disney%20Paris%202009/

Later!

She's a calf!!!

We had some excitement around here about 3 weeks ago. One of Mr. Dave's cows gave birth unexpectedly. I say that because when he bought them, they were supposed to be...how shall I say it? Untouched. Well much to every ones surprise, out came the calf!!! Dave and Mary let Emma name her and now we are the proud aunt and uncle of Annabelle. This concludes the sad state of affairs in the Ouellette household when livestock are the main focus of the blog. Very sad.


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Now for Christmas!!!

During Christmas in Ireland you don't go to the mall to see Santa (there aren't any malls near here) you go to the Ailiwee Caves! The caves are a natural phenomena that draw people mainly during the summer months. Santa utilizes the downtime during autumn to visit with children and give them an early gift. As you can see from the photos there are rides, face painting and free mulled wine for the parents (YUM!). We also included pictures from Christmas morning. Again late as anything but we hope you enjoy them.


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Thanksgiving update? Wow am I behind!

We have discovered facebook. Why do I mention that here? Because we have been ignoring the blog as a result. It is suffering from neglect. I therefore will treat you all to the pics from our visitor from last Thanksgiving. It was a nice time and with spring approaching (it is actually here in Ireland but I won't rub it in) we are expecting a new round of visitors as well as Emma's first Communion. March 31st I will have been here one year. I still can't wrap my head around that one. Time is flying! We have done so much since arriving but there is still so much left to do. Anyway enjoy the pictures and feel free to comment (or visit!). More photos on photobucket!!!

http://s681.photobucket.com/albums/vv173/constabledanbucket1/Autumn%20Visitors/

More London Photos!!!

I really hope this works!!!!

http://photobucket.com/ouelletteirishbucket

Enjoy!

Snow!!!

Hello All!

We woke up this morning to a blanket of snow. I must admit I felt the urge to go down to the garage and start the snowblower. The only thng that prevented me from doing so was the fact that we possess neither. It was quite pretty but it is already 90% melted as I write this. Toto, wer'e not in NH anymore.....

London Photos

Well they are finally here. Enjoy!!

London with Pete and Lee

Pete and Lee Anne came out to see us in November for 10 days. We explored Ireland and London. London was way cool!!! We stayed at the world's skeeviest hotel I am pretty sure that Mike's dorm room was nicer than the Airways Hotel. Sometimes it is just not worth it to save a buck. Lee Anne slept on her towels!

We went to Buckingham palace, Madame Tussaud's wax museum, The Imperial War museum, The Queen's gallery, (Paintings by Reuben, priceless furniture and jewels) Covent Garden, The Lyceum Theater for The Lion King show, A huge toy store named Hamley's with 5 floors of toys, Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey.

Ian and Emma had a great time with their first taxi ride and tube(subway) ride. They were thrilled to have time to spend with Auntie Lee and Uncle Pete. We all agreed that Westminster Abbey was the best thing we saw. We went inside and the architecture is amazing. It is so neat to walk around and see where Kings and Queens were crowned.

Pictures to come soon.

I know this is out of order but before going to Lourdes we flew into Biarritz, France and spent two beautiful days there. Being in culinary exile here in Ireland (did we mention the food here was nothing to write home about? That's why we haven't written home about it.) France was a dream come true. The coffee, the croissant, the baguettes... , you get the point. The beaches in Biarritz are spectacular. Apparently it is a magnet for surfers. We thought since we had rented a car we would take a drive either to San Sebastien in Spain or through the Pyrenees. We enjoyed Biarritz so much we stayed there the whole time. Our hotel had a rooftop pool which was a bit too cold for us but which the kids were thrilled with.

We took the kids to two museums, one was definitely worth the trip the other not so much. The former was Le Musee de la Mer. It was a delightful aquarium with many fish. a seal tank and a shark tank. Lori did her best to take one of the seals home with her. Unfortunately we couldn't get him through customs! The latter was Planet Musee du Chocolat. Purporting to be a museum of chocolate making (what could be wrong with that?) it turned out to be the worlds most expensive "free" cup of hot chocolate on the way to a mediocre chocolate shop. Oh well, at least the hot chocolate was good.

On one of our several walks the kids decided to "put their feet in the ocean" not having their bathing suits with them. You can guess how that turned out. Let's just say its a long walk back to the hotel in wet pants. This is a place we are going to try and check out this summer when the weather is warmer and swimming in the ocean will be a more planned affair. Au Revoir!

Slideshow at:

http://s530.photobucket.com/albums/dd344/irishlori2/Biarritz/?albumview=slideshow

Lourdes

What can one say about Lourdes? It is a strange combination of quiet reverence and Hampton beach kitch. The commercialism all but screams at you when you drive into town.

We got there at 9:10 which meant that we could not get breakfast at any of the hotels as they have a strict 7:30 to 9:00 breakfast schedule. Weird. Our hotel was right down the road from Father Ray's and we left word at the desk for him to call us when he got back. We set off to the sanctuary of Lourdes. It is very strange when you cross the gates and leave the craziness behind. The grounds are beautiful and very peaceful. We visited the Grotto where St. Bernadette saw Mary. You wait in line for a turn to walk in the cave and see the spring that Mary instructed Bernadette to dig for. We were so impressed with the quiet of the crowd as everyone waited their turn. Ian and Emma were so respectful during the long wait. There was also a school trip behind us and all of the children were silent. We walked through the Grotto and experienced such a sense of peace. We washed at the water as Mary asked all pilgrims . It truly reaffirms your faith.

The rest of the day was spent exploring several museums and the basilicas. 1 day is just not enough time to visit all the places we wanted to. We met up with Father Ray and Father Paul for dinner. It was so nice to see faces from home and hear familiar accents. We had a wonderful nice long visit with them. It felt like being at home with family. Emma and especially Ian were thrilled to chat Father Ray and Father Paul's ear off. We learned that Father Ray, like Ian is a very picky eater and that Father Paul does not approve of swearing. (Ian had told him that Pepere swears all the time) Emma's addition to the evening entertainment was to ask if anyone knew what the holiest animal was. (A chip....monk...!!!!) Very cute.

We went to the candle light processional a little late because we were chatting with Father Ray. It was very hard to see because we were way in the back. Much to our surprise, we were directed up front to the steps in front of the Rosary Basilica where we could see everyone praying the Rosary. What an incredible honor. I am not sure why we were chosen, but we were humbled and grateful.

Our final activity of the night was Mass at 11:00 pm in the Grotto. (In Italian.) We were flying out the next day and wouldn't have a chance to go to Mass. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted. Poor Emma fell asleep on my feet on the cold cement ground. Mass was beautiful.

Check out the slideshow of pictures at:

http://s530.photobucket.com/albums/dd344/irishlori2/?albumview=slideshow

Cork

Today was actually a beautiful sunny day here in Ireland. It didn't rain. Not even once!! We drove to Cork which is one of the largest cities here. The city has tons of places to shop and many cute places to eat. We finally had a decent meal at a restaurant. It wasn't pub food, shocking..!!! It may come as a surprise that the food quality here leaves something to be desired. We were happy to find the exception. (Name of the rest. was Scoozi's) The kids were thrilled to order dessert from the grown up's menu. Considering that the dessert that came with their meal is ice cream and jello. In the same bowl. Yuck. Gordon Ramsay has nothing to worry about. As you can see from the pictures, they were satisfied with their choices.

Our intent was to have lunch in Cork and go on to Cobh (pronounced cove). This is the last port of call for the Titanic. It is also where the victims of the Lusitania are buried. It has a great museum that Ian and Emma were looking forward to seeing. Not so much. We couldn't find it. We tried. We failed. Maybe Cobh, like the Titanic, is somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. So we drove 2 hours for lunch. But it was a good lunch.

Dog sitting

We are watching a dog for some friends of ours who are traveling. He is a ginormous 8 year old rottweiler named Rambo. He is the most laid back dog ever. We have discovered that Rambo has an active period during the day. It lasts about 3 minutes so you have to be careful to catch it. The rest of the time is spent sleeping on whatever surface he can stuff his body on. He is not supposed to go on the furniture, but you can see how well that turned out. Would you move that?

He is also the only dog I know that purrs. When you pat his head, he makes this noise that sounds like he is about to tear your head off. His mom Paula has assured me that this means he is happy and not about to kill you. So far...so good.

Rambo has discovered that he is the long lost member of the cow herd in our backyard. Normally, the girls are skittish and take off when we are around but they were fascinated by Rambo. They followed him when he was outside and gave him kisses. Perhaps he looked like a calf? He is about the same size!

We also discovered that Rambo and the pony CANNOT stand each other. They circle each other warily looking for an opening to nip at each other. Dunkin the donkey just watches them and honks at the top of his lungs egging them on. It is very noisy here on the funny farm.