July 4th Week

This week Lee, Jenny and Rachael visited us. They went with Ann to Antibes and Cannes, visiting the markets and enjoying the ocean and sights.

We spent Saturday in Aix-en-Provence at a huge city market enjoying the fresh fruits and veggies - the women did some shopping in Zara's....We also went up to Avignon, where a huge theater festival was in full swing - lots of acting troupes parading around town to get people interested in their evening plays.

They went to church with us and enjoyed seeing that the church is the same everywhere(except the language).

We covered some new territory close to home and were surprized to find new treasures within 30 minutes of home. Some beautiful hill towns, gorges and spectacular para-sailing that was real tempting to Lee, Rachael and myself. Dinner was in Valbonne, one of our favorite small towns close to where we live.

While I was working, they spent some time at the beach and experienced the extraordinary floating characteristics of the Mediterranean.

I went up to Berlin this week and it has really changed since Ann and I were there 15 years ago. Everythings beautiful, new and/or renovated.
I have some physician visits in northern Italy so we're heading over to Bologna, Ravenna, Verona, Brescia and Bergamo. One night we have opera tickets for Aida in the Roman Arena in Verona. It holds 25,000 people and should be unique experience.

TOUR DE FRANCE - O9

This morning we went with Pat and Jerry French and Meghan McDonald, members of the US team, and took the train to Grasse (just 10 minutes - we wanted to avoid parking problems....) to watch the first segment of the Tour de France race go through our area. Since we were way early we had a perfect location to see them enter town. It was fun to be part of this experience - a chance of a lifetime probably.
As you can see from the photos, the sponsors came through first - throwing promotional candy, hats, and other marking items.


Then came lead bikers with the main pack right on their heels. The actual bikers were past us in less than 30 seconds!!


Then came the team-support vehicles with all the bikes and helpers.

We all had a good time and got way too much sun.....

Have a great week,

JW

TOUR DE FRANCE - JULY 5, 2009 - SLIDE SHOW

Switzerland

June 09

June was gone before we realized it. We both enjoyed getting back to SLC and going to Oceanside with the Davis family. Lots of fun and great times with the kids and grandkids. We also celebrated my parents 60th anniversary at Chuck-a-Rama and had a fun time catching up with the Williams clan.
On returning to France, Jan and Kevin Cameron visited us. They and Ann did a couple of Provence trips while I attended a meeting, then we all headed into northern Italy and up into Switzerland. We took the pass out of Lugano to Chur,

then into Lichtenstein

and to Appenzell, a very magical and typically Swiss mountain valley.

We enjoyed a great evening and dinner there, then spent the night in the Zurich area.
I visited some accounts while Ann took Jan and Kevin to Lausanne so they could catch a train back to Paris; she met me that evening in Bern where we had a great dinner in the Kornhaus Restaurant. A fabulous, large cellar where grains and wines were stored hundreds of years ago.
The next day I worked in Basel then we headed over to Innsbruck

and over Brenner Pass, back into Italy.
The pass and Dolomite area had some spectacular scenery.


We were rained out of seeing Verona, but spent the night in Padova and thanks to Allisons on-line reservation help, got tickets to see the Giotto frescos - something we had wanted to do for several years. They were worth the wait.

We made it back Saturday and enjoyed nice Sunday - church was enjoyable and we're getting to be a common ficture for everyone.
I worked this past week in Barcelona, then flew over to Madrid (>100 F) and took the bullet train (180mph) to Zaragosa and on to Barcelona-flying from there to Nice last night.
This weekend we hope to see part of the Toure de France, since it goes through our area. We'll update next week.

We love you all and miss you. Happy 4th of July!!! We'll miss doing fireworks with the grandkids...and big kids.

May 2009 update

I can't believe it's been a month since the last update!!! Time flies when you're ....fill in the blank.
In May I worked in Spain for two different weeks, plus visited a physician in Lugano, where Ann and I stayed in a 400 year-old inn, in a room where both Musollini and Orson Wells stayed (no hauntings unfortunately...).
Ann and I also made a quick weekend trip to Marseille, Aubagne, Cassis and the Toulon area. Mike and Allison visited for a few days, followed by Allison, Meg and Ashley a week later.
All four of them drove to Barcelona where my last meeting was. Ann and I had a great time spending time with and showing them around this great part of France.
After leaving Barcelona, Ann and I headed north along the Spanish coast and up into the Langueduc region (200 miles west of Provence). We stay overnight inside the walls of Carcassonne,a medieval city.
We then headed off into the land of the Cathars to Minerve, their one-time hideout from the Pope, on the edge of a cliff in the mountains. This entire region may be our favorite yet! Beautiful rolling hills and very old,quaint villages. Wild red poppies fill the fields almost everywhere.
We're very excited to head to Salt Lake and Oceanside this coming week. We can't wait to see everyone and spend some extensive time on the beach with the everyone - especially the grandkids.

Switzerland-Paris-Loire Valley

It's been quite a whirlwind for the last two weeks. On Easter Sunday, after church, we took off north to Geneva, Switzerland, along the Route of Napolean - the route Napolean took after he escaped from Elba and headed north to regain his leadership of France.

It was a slow, but beautiful trip. We stayed on the shores of Lake Geneva in a small town called Thonon in an Ibis Hotel, which we now refer to as a "Bed in a Box"....
The next day, which was a holiday, we headed north again and visited a small ski town called Molsen,

which had spectacular views of the surrounding area.
We spent the night in Neuchatel, which is where my brother Jeff spent 9 months of his mission.
On Tuesday I visited the Insel Hospital in Bern and made some progress on a tough account, then we headed to Paris that evening. We rolled into Paris around midnight. I attended a big conference the the next four days while Ann and the Muirs, friends from SLC who had also just arrived, saw the sites and visited the various museums.
Luxembourg Palace Fountain:

On Saturday morning, the four of us headed back to Mougins by way of Chartres, one of the largest cathedrals in France.
We then went through some of the Loire Valley, visited a couple of large chateau (French for castles).

Then we stayed in Lyon for the night. It's a beautiful city at night - called the city of lights...
The next day we visited the Pont de Gard and Avignon and on into Mougins.
Wednesday I flew into Hamburg, Germany for three days while Mom showed the Muirs around Provence and our area for the next three days; they left early Friday morning.
It's been raining all weekend, so we just took it easy for a change - a very nice change...
We miss you all and look forward to seeing you in a month.

See the slideshow below for the photos from these past two weeks.