When Things Go Wrong on Vacation

When we picked up our car in Milan the guy at the counter raised an eyebrow and gave me skeptical look because I had reserved a car with manual transmission.  I assured him it was fine and he rewarded me with an upgrade and a brand new Mercedes.  All was well until we arrived in Lyon and were at stoplight and the car completely died.  People were honking and screaming at me and I was quickly becoming unraveled.  As luck we would have it we were only a couple of blocks from our hotel (you can see it in the background in the photo) and I called our sweet concierge who came to my rescue.  He called Avis and they contacted a tow truck for me.  The concierge helped push the car out of the center lane.  The tow truck arrived and tried to jump the car-I think the white gloves are a nice touch.  The car was still completely dead.  So dead that I didn't know how we would get the back open to get our suitcases out. The tow truck then got out a pair of pliers, turned something and the car started.  

The next day we had planned to rent bikes and go to the zoo in the Tete d'Or park.  The girls accompanied me all morning on an art buying expedition.  Unfortunately, the park was closed because of high winds.  We had french fries and ice cream instead.

Overall we were blessed with wonderful weather and lots of good times.

Tete d'Or park-fermee

St. Bernards and Cow Bells

Our next stop was the charming town of Mageve, France.  The most direct route there from Cogne is the Mont Blanc tunnel but I thought that sounded a little boring and claustrophobic so I decided to drive through the mountains instead.  The drive was a bit (a lot) harrowing.  We were on a road that was suspended on the side of the mountain, I had to do a lot of deep breathing.  The girls were watching a movie and oblivious to where we were.  The road briefly went through Switzerland and we went through the small town of Martigny so we stopped at the St. Bernard museum.  The girls loved it especially because they had some dogs they could play with.  From there it was onto Mageve.  When we arrived we opened the back food of our room and we welcomed by the sound of cowbells.  We were also welcomed with herbed water and cake.  I loved our charming alpine hotel especially since they drove us into town for dinner, I didn't realize how tired I was of driving until I got in the van and was able to enjoy the scenery.
The next day we had planned to take the cable car to the top of Mont Blanc but unfortunately it was closed because of rain.  We walked around Chamonix in the rain trying to find the Moncler store for a friend but it too was closed.  We had lunch in a cozy restaurant and continue on to Lyon.

Delivery of cake and herbed water on our patio

Girls Gone Wild

When we finally arrived in Cogne the girls jumped out the car and ran like wild horses. There was a meadow of wild flowers and they ran for what seemed like forever.  They took a brief break to relax in a hammock.  I grabbed a glass of wine and planned to sit outside and watch them but it was so chilly I had to go inside.

That little speck is K

This was on a hike the following day

Breakfast in our adorable alpine hotel

The view from our hotel room when I woke up

Packing Light

Is it possible to pack light for a 17 day trip? I read the blog of a woman who said she wore the same leggings every day on a 14 day trip and just washed the critical part of the leggings at night. We're not going to travel quite that light! We are flying into Milan and driving into the mountain for a few days. It is still quite cold over there so we need some warm clothes for just the first few days of our trip. Being the geographically challenged American that I am (not quite a bad as Miss South Carolina) I did not realize that Lyon is just over the mountains from Milan. Perfect! I can entertain the girls (K is taking a friend) with a trip to the St. Bernard Museum, ibex viewing in the Grand Paradisio Valley and a ride up the Aiguille du Midi. It is high time that I visited Aspen's sister city Chamonix. Too bad I am not the mayor of Aspen so I could take a fact finding boondoogle to Chamonix and have the city of Aspen pay for it.  I digress, sorry. After all the mountain fun, I will hit the girls with some art shopping in Lyon. From there we go to Avignon for some antique shopping and the rest of the trip will be pure bliss in Portofino, Florence and Venice.

Spectacular Spring

Our hydrangeas are spectacular this spring.  

Our pool area is not looking so great.  As could be expected our pool renovation has taken twice as long as anticipated and has cost twice as much as planned.  I got more bad news from our landscaper this week who told me it is now too late to plant sod.  I am faced with looking at dirt and having mud tracked in all summer or going with artificial grass.  Some neighbors just got artificial grass around their pool and it is amazing.  Unfortunately artificial grass is really not in the budget.  It is crazy expensive.  But I may have to bite the bullet-I just don't think I can live with dirt all summer.  Also artificial grass does get hot. They have it at K's school and since yesterday was a very hot day so kicked off my flip flops off and tried walking on the artificial grass.  My feet were on fire and I was hopping up and down and did a great job of embarrassing K.  Any opinions on artificial grass?

The quick pictures that I took with my iPhone are not great but I am amazed that this bush has 3 different colors of blooms. 

This is how I want our pool area to look when the work is complete.  Am I dreaming?

Graduation!

Well done!