One of my favorite experiences in Paris last year was a private walking tour (The Sweet Side of Paris), so I decided to schedule another tour for this visit.  These small tours are a great way to see the city and learn new things.  My mom, John, Wendy, and I decided to do the Treasures of the Marais Walking Tour.  We were all interested in the architecture and history of that district. It was a wonderful tour! Our small group of eight learned a lot about some of the key buildings and squares in that district and it was fascinating. Our guide pointed out marks from the past, like damage from WWII bullets… …and an 1830 cannonball stuck in the side of a building… One of the most interesting places our guide pointed out was Campagnons Du Devoir…  (Ah, stupid broken iPhone camera.) I was attracted to the blue facade

I’m ho-ome!  For those who haven’t been following on Instagram or Facebook, I spent two weeks in Europe and arrived back in the States yesterday.  I didn’t want to work on blog posts during my trip.  Instead, I took lots of pictures and kept a detailed journal, so I could share it all with you when I got back…and, boy, I have a lot to share!  I filled my entire journal and then had to turn it over and start writing on the backs of the pages because I ran out of paper.  (I’m a one-sided page writer.  It’s just tidier to me.) Anyway, before we dive into the trip, I wanted to let you know that this will be a series since I have so much to share.  I couldn’t possibly fit it all in one or two posts.  I’ll share the posts in chronological order and try to

Last week, I got all of our final plans in place.  Our Italy leg is all planned out by Inspired in Tuscany, so I only needed to make travel arrangements and schedule some tours for Paris and for one day in Florence. One thing we wanted to do this visit was to see the French countryside, so our big excursion is a day trip to Reims-Champagne with Artventures France.  We’ll be visiting a couple of champagne houses for tastings, an old village, and a cathedral.  I am so excited for that day! We are also doing two tours in Paris with Localers again.  We did our Flea Market Tour and Sweet Side of Paris tour with them last year and both were excellent.   We did the Sweet Side of Paris tour on a whim and it was such a wonderful surprise and memorable way to experience the city. This year,