Van Essen Adventures

The Louvre - Paris, France

Friday, April 17, 2009 - We (Jeremy, Ellen and Kimber) headed to Paris via the ICE train. We were embarking on an adventure without the kids! Once we figured out the Metro system we were on our way to our first stop -The Louvre. This museum is HUGE - what else can I say....

From our Metro stop we found a little news stand that was selling the Paris Museum Pass - which gets you into over 60 museums and monuments in and around Paris. Best part is that you can get right in to most places and avoid long lines. We each got a pass which was good for 2 days. We were very happy with the pass - especially on Saturday when it was rainy and the museums were crowded....no lines for us! Now were ready to take on the Louvre.

Pictures of the Louvre courtyard from inside one of the wings....did I mention this place is HUGE.

Jeremy and I standing in front of the glass pyramid entrance. And then in the Louvre - under the glass pyramid.

Kimber and Ellen in the Louvre - it was awesome! We did a TON of walking...but at this point our feet were not hurting...we had only just begun! Jer in the Louvre - he was reading up on some painting from our guidebook....classic picture.

Below - some of our favorite exhibits...

Ellen standing by Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Jer by a black stone pillar which bears the code of the Babylonian King Hammurabi, and dates from about 1700 BC. Now that is OLD!

The Winged Bulls exhibit dating from 8th century BC

Pillar from the palace of King Darius. The description picture shows that there were several of these gigantic pillars holding up the ceiling of the palace. From the description you can see that the pillars were much taller -that must have been quite the palace!

Venus de Milo - Greek statue

While viewing the Venus de Milo - Jeremy was going to read up this famous statue. He had the guidebook out and Ellen was standing next to him giving him her own artistic impression. I took a picture of them...then another...as I found it quite funny...apparently so did they!

Switzerland

On our way home from Italy we drove through Switzerland. We went through plenty of tunnels on our way to and from Italy - but the tunnel at San Gottardo was by far the longest - 17 kilometers! We enjoyed driving through the mountains (or under them) as it was a beautiful day. We stopped off in Lucern for a few hours. We had been here before with my brother Kyle in March of 2008.

1st order of business was to find a Starbucks (we knew there was one in Lucern). After being in Italy for 3 days, Jeremy was ready for just a normal cup of coffee - no espresso, no cappuccino - just a cup of coffee....he found what he was looking for! It was a beautiful morning as I stated earlier - so we sat outside by the water and enjoyed breakfast/brunch at Starbucks!

We then took a little stroll over the bridge, Ellen got a few souvenirs, and we continued our stroll along the lake front. We found a bench and sat down to just enjoy the view. The kids played in the stones by our feet. We relaxed - it was great!

We very much enjoyed our trip -but we were also very glad to get back home. There is just something nice about your own bed....and your own toilet!

Milan

Sunday evening - April 12, 2009

We were staying in Milan overnight, but we knew that if we went to the hotel we wouldn't want to leave again -so instead we headed straight to the Duomo. The Duomo is amazing! It is the most beautiful church (on the outside) we have seen yet in Europe. I think this is due to its color - it is made from pink and white marble. It is just magnificent! We didn't make it there in time to get in, or to go up on the roof and see over Milan...but that was okay...we can't do everything...but we sure try.

We also went into the Galleria - which is a glass-domed building off the main square...full of shopping and people watching....I must admit I felt a bit casual in fashionable Milan!

The stores were closed but we did plenty of window shopping. We found more Prada - so had to take another picture in front of the store!

And Shane in front of the statue of Leonardo da Vinci - A picture with a statue is just about as good as actually seeing The Last Supper ....right??

Kid Favorite - ICECREAM!

More from the Cinque Terre

A few more pictures from our lovely time at the Cinque Terre...

Silas with his treasured pink soccer ball.

Enjoying lunch and sharing a bottle of Cinque Terre wine.

Jeremy and Sydney

I had to post both of these pictures below...Ellen was fortunate enough to take SEVERAL pictures of our family while traveling with us. In the first one I was trying to get Silas to look up and put my hand out (with the pink ball) just as she took the photo...perfectly blocking out my face! Everyone else is smiling quite nicely....so we tried again (and actually again and again) but I only posted these 2! Thanks for all the picture taking Ellen!!!!

A few more scenic pictures from the Cinque Terre

You need to purchase a hiking pass in order to use the trails that connect the towns. We were only staying one day -and decided hanging out on the beach was more enjoyable for us (and the kids) then hiking. We did wander up the path as far as we could. I'm sure the views along the trails connecting the quaint towns are very scenic...we soaked in as much as we could!

Time on the Beach - Cinque Terre

We spent the afternoon on the beach. We had a very relaxing time - the weather was perfect, sunny and warm! The water was very COLD...but that didn't seem to bother the kids at all. They started out with their pants rolled up - then rolled up more - but soon they were wet...oh well. They were having such a great time.

Jeremy and Kimber, Jer relaxing on the beach....

The beach we were at wasn't sandy - it consisted of different shapes and sizes of little rocks/pebbles. The kids (and us adults too) had fun picking out stones and searching for pieces of sea-glass or teeny-tiny seashells.

Just having fun!

We bought Silas a little soccer ball - he had such a blast kicking that ball around...and he liked filling his bottle up with rocks...but he was a bit scared of the waves as they came rolling in.