Vannes, France

 After a week in Greece, we decided to spend a week in France where Steve served his mission 17 years ago.  Here's a picture of us flying over the Alps.

 The first two days in France we spent in Vannes, which is in Brittany on the Northwest coast along the Atlantic.  Steve opened up the first branch in Vannes as a missionary, so it was a special place to him. 

 Vannes looked like a page out of the Beauty and the Beast story, and I kept thinking that they did I nice job copying the Disney image, but then I had to keep reminding myself that Disney copied Vannes...that most of these buildings were built in the middle ages.

 Dinner that night consisted of galettes, which are like crepes made out of buckwheat, therefore gluten-free.  Pretty good with cheese and bacon in it, and mine was less than 5 euros. 

 This is the apartment building Steve lived in when he was a missionary.  Very top floor, last two windows on the left.

 The table outside our hotel room where we ate a lovely lunch of cheese, bread, fruit, and some chocolate.

 The next day was Sunday, Mother's Day.  We attended the branch in town, only about 30 people, and the meeting was, of course, all in French.  First time I've attended a church meeting that I couldn't understand.  But it was one of the highlights of the entire trip.  Afterward, we drove our rented car around the French countryside and also to the coast.

Late afternoon we caught a train that took about 3 hours to get us to Paris.

Bodrum, Turkey

 One of the highlights of our trip for me was visiting Turkey for the day.  It was a 40 minute ferry ride from Greece.

 Sailboat on the Aegean.  How amazing is that?

 When you pull into the harbor at Bodrum, you see another medieval castle.

 Market place.

 One of the best parts of the day was finding this restaurant right on the harbor that served a two-hour meal to us, while we enjoyed one of the best views ever. 

 Fresh fish.

 Another stray cat under the table next to us.

 Check out that view!

 The castle within sight.

 See those blue and white marble-like circles embedded in the side walk?  Those were everywhere in Greece and Turkey, in our hotel, every store, on jewelry, souvenirs...we bought a few necklaces and earrings for our girls as souvenirs and finally found out what it symbolized:  The evil eye.  It's meant to protect the wearer from evil.  Legend is that if the talisman cracks, it clearly absorbed evil and protected the owner from it. 

A lovely day.

Greece part 2

 Kos Town shops and alleys.

 Ancient Greek ruins.

 Evidence of Turkish rule not so long ago.

 Stray cats in alleys everywhere.

The tree that Hippocrates planted a long, long, long time ago.

 The couch I sat on every day to get WiFi so I could email my kids.

Sunset.

Kos, Greece Part 1

 Steve won the lotto and was sent to Greece for an international work conference.  I got to come, too, except I am deathly afraid of planes.  I usually white-knuckle every plane ride I take the whole way, convinced my sojourn here on earth has come to an end.  But 24 hours and four plane rides later, and possibly against all odds, I arrived alive in Kos.  The view from our hotel room made it mostly worth it...that's the Aegean Sea and Turkey in the background.

 While Steve was learning about boring titanium plates and screws and such, I watched the gentle waves.

 And when I grew bored of the waves, I sat on these couches and read my book.

 This is where we ate our meals each day.  The view made up for everything on this trip.  Including the food (canned fruit, soggy bacon, cold fish)...

 ...and the room, which might not be bad, if the bed weren't as hard as the floor and the couch as smelly as my socks.  (And worse of all, Greece has some sort of agreement with garbage can liner manufacturers because you aren't allowed to flush toilet paper down the toilet at all anywhere in the country.)  But the view made up for it all.

 Kos Town.  The medieval castle built by the crusaders, and a fancy cruise ship.

 Kos Town harbor.

Kos Town building and lamp.  More to come later...having difficulties loading pictures, plus I want to sleep now.  Later!

Walking the dog.

Darn thing always needs to be walked.  It's a good thing I have a good dog walker in this family.  (Got roped into going along this time...guess it's not so bad.)