Strasbourg, France

First off, I am so behind in blogging. I have about three posts from other places we have visited, but I just haven't had a chance to write about them yet. We are getting out and seeing so much, and I am so excited to to share it all with you. I have created a separate page where I will be listing links to all of our travels. If you are curious, you can see it on the left. Obviously, it's a little bare right now, but I cannot wait to fill it up!

Secondly, I HAVE PHOTOSHOP again! I broke down and got the newest version for this new laptop. So hopefully I can present you all with some much better (aka prettier) photos of our journeys.

Ok. Strasbourg. As in, FRANCE YOU GUYS. France! My mom came down for the weekend, and we all desperately needed to get out of the hotel. We are only an hour and a half from the Germany/France border, and Strasbourg is not much farther, so we got up early and headed out. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, with so many surprises. It's a nice combination of French & German influence. There is a gorgeous little river that runs around the town center, which led us to some beautiful scenery and a great little restaurant where we grabbed lunch. There was shopping. There was wine. There even champagne, and later there was ice cream. It was a great and a great introduction to France.

The highlight of the trip to Strasbourg is the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg. An unbelievably spectacular Cathedral whose construction began almost 1,000 years ago, and took over 400 years to complete, it it obviously the highlight of any trip to Strasbourg. The detail is immaculate and the overall experience is incredibly breathtaking. Just outside the Cathedral was a small area where kids were playing in the small water fountains. It took no time for my kids to be stripped down, running through the water spray, and all I could think about when I was looking at our scenery was how are we here? How is this just another Saturday for us?

Can we just talk about how breathtaking that is? Those are my kids, at the base of that Cathedral. Like it's no big deal. This has probably been one of the coolest things we have done yet since being here, and we could have easily explored more of the city before we headed back. I truly was in love; the French culture speaks to my soul more than any other. And let's be honest -- the language is just a tad easier than German (thank you, high school French classes for not making me feel like a total goob!) and overall, a little prettier to listen to (no hard feelings for my German-speaking friends!) But overall, I can't wait to go back, and it's giving me the craving to go explore as much as France as possible while we are here.

Next to the Cathedral was the Palace Rohan, an equally gorgeous (although not quite as elaborate) landmark in the city. We weren't able to walk through (not that we tried) but it made for a nice backdrop as well. The homes along the river were adorable and full of history, and we were all itching to get inside ANY of them to check them out, while dreaming of what it would have been like to live there. It wasn't the most kid-friendly experience, but both boys did wonderful while also managing to nap in the stroller (heaven!) and the water play was definitely a great end to a dreamy day. I can't wait to go back and explore the area more! And eat more food. And drink more champagne ...