When in Rome....

Rome is our second stop in Italy and the first one where we opted to stay in a hotel.  It was quite difficult finding an apartment and not much easier finding a hotel that would allow 4 occupants in a room.  Apparently 2 occupants per hotel room is the standard in Rome, but the expense of having 2 rooms was crazy.  Finally we found a hotel with a family suite:

http://www.hotelpantheon.com/

There is a lot to do and see in Rome and we have 6 days to visit the Pantheon; the Colosseum; the Vatican; the Trevi Fountain.  We booked an afternoon in gladiator school, which includes the rental of clothing and weapons.  I have never experienced rented gladiator clothing, it should be an olfactory experience.

Peugeot

Just a quick post.  We leased a vehicle in France.  The lease buy-back program through Peugeot is pretty amazing.  In France there is a 20% VAT on the purchase of new vehicles.  If the manufacturer leases the vehicle to a tourist first [for at least 21 days] they can sell it after that lease period without the tax.  Accordingly, we get a brand new vehicle for a very reasonable price.  We chose the Peugeot Partner:

It is manual, which is exciting!!  Peugeot provides insurance and roadside maintenance throughout Europe during the lease period.  The only stressful prospect is driving in Europe.

Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy

The fourth stop on our european tour is Barberino Val d'Elsa, Italy, which is a medieval hamlet 30 minutes south of Florence.  Once again we thought that staying on the out-skirts of a large city would be ideal.  The apartment is owned by an american women who authored an Italian cookbook focused on the Tuscany region.  We are hoping to arrange a cooking lesson with her while we are at her apartment.  Here is the view from the master bedroom:

We are planning day trips to Florence and an overnight trip to Venice [which is a 3 hour drive].  Pisa is just over an hour away from our apartment, which will also be a day trip:

You know what would be hilarious?  A picture with the kids pretending to hold up the leaning tower.  I cannot believe that no one has thought about doing this before </sarcasm>

Italy is relatively new territory for us and we have two stops in this wonderful country [next stop, Rome].

Sit vis vobiscum.

Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

The third stop on our vacation is a small town between Nice and Monaco.  It is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port on the Mediterranean Sea.  As some of you know, Cristin and I spent 2 weeks in Nice on our 10th wedding anniversary in 2006.  We loved the area, but thought we would try a different village with a sandy beach [the beach in Nice is smooth pebbles].

We rented an apartment from a very nice women from San Francisco who had a fairly in depth rental process, including a telephone interview.  It was great speaking with her and she imparted a lot of information about the area.  The apartment was built in 1700 and remodeled in 2006 [after 306 years a place can start looking dated].  Here is a picture from the front window:

We thought that we would spend some time in Nice; take a boat taxi along to Cote d'Azur to Monaco and visit the Jacque Cousteau Oceanographic Museum; and take the kids to St. Paul de Vence [a walled medieval village known for its art galleries]:

We also have a favourite vegetarian restaurant in Nice that is run by a relative of Luciano Pavarotti.  The fare is very italian and very cheesy.  The menu is set and is 5 separate courses.  We are quite excited to go back to La Zucca Magica.

http://www.lazuccamagica.com/

We will also be spending some quality time on the beach.  We informed Quinncy that most of the sunbathers in France tend to wear much less clothing then we are accustomed to in Canada.  Needless to say, Villefranche-sur-Mer has become his most anticipated destination.

Sit vis vobiscum.

Girona, Spain

Girona is the next destination on our trip.  Girona is about an hour outside of Barcelona.  We wanted to be close to Barcelona, yet far enough away to escape and relax after a busy day.  Another consideration was the fact that we are leasing a vehicle and I do not want to drive in Barcelona.  As you can see, Girona is very picturesque:

We rented an apartment in the old quarter of Girona in a building that used to be a monastery.  In fact, there is a medieval cave in the apartment:

We understand that there are some cool bike tours around and through Girona:

http://www.gironabiketours.com/index.html

Hopefully Ella will be competent enough on a bike by then.  Otherwise, I will have to try and arrange a tandem bike.

Cristin is the only one of us that has already visited Barcelona, so she has some insight on places to visit.  Personally, I have been waiting to visit the Sagrada Familia since Art History class at Red Deer College:

We will likely have some beach time and museum trips.  Cristin would really like to travel to Bilbao to the Guggenheim Museum, which would be amazing.  Unfortunately, it is a 6 hour drive from Girona [the domestic flights appear to be really cheap and might be an option]:

Once again, if anyone has any suggestions on things to see and places to visit, please let us know.

Sit vis vobiscum.

Paris, France

The first destination on our trip is Paris, France.  We rented a one bedroom apartment close to the Pompidou Centre.

We rented from a very nice Parisian named Isabelle, who manages properties throughout France.  Her website is:

http://www.apartment-in-france.com/

Cristin and I have spent some time in Paris in 1993 [with our friends Jason and Shauna Frizzell] and we went back on our 10th wedding anniversary in 2006.  We are well versed with the art galleries, museums and other relatively non-kid friendly venues.  We will try to limit our time spent in museums in order to insure that the kids are not burned out in the first week of our trip.

Quinncy and I recently watched a program on the Discovery Channel that discussed how Napoleon III retained the services of Haussmann in 1853 to remodel and renovate the city of Paris.  It was a fascinating show:

http://www.yourdiscovery.com/history/we_built_this_city/growth/index.shtml

Part of the program focused on the use of limestone in the construction and the resulting catacombs that exist under the city.  There is a walking tour through the catacombs that will definitely be part of our Parisian experience:

http://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Skip-the-Line-Catacombs-of-Paris-Small-Group-Walking-Tour/d479-3731CATACOMBS?pref=02&aid=g4529

Of course we will visit the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and Versaille.  We also hope to take a day trip to Dieppe, France.  Are we missing anything?

Sit vis vobiscum.

Inception

On Friday July 1, 2011 at 11:30 the Raven-Jackson family will board a flight to Paris and embark on a seven week journey to Europe.  We decided to create a blog in order to record our excursion and keep our family/friends updated on our travels.

In the 25 weeks leading up to our departure we will endeavor to document, as best as possible, our preparation and planning process.  While documenting this process might seem mundane [even for internet standards], we are hoping that we will be able to benefit from any suggestions from our friends that are seasoned travelers about places to visit and experiences to undertake.  For instance, we were recently at a charity event and a friend had just visited Rome with his children.  He advised that the most memorable part of the trip was an afternoon they spent in gladiator school:

http://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Roman-Gladiator-School-Learn-How-to-Become-a-Gladiator/d511-2466GLAD

For some reason the prospect of learning how to effectively beat each other with wooden swords seemed to resonate with our family.

In the next week I will post an itinerary of where we intend on staying during our trip, which should facilitate any recommendations you might have.  We want this trip to be fun, educational, and a memorable experience for ourselves and for our children.  Any assistance you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Sit vis vobiscum.