Happy Birthday Kate! (Part 1)

Way back in April Kate celebrated her 25th birthday and her upcoming graduation from Med School with a trip to Europe.  First stop was the Keukenhof.  We had a cool spring so she was about a week too early for the peak blooms, but it was still beautiful.

Just two hours off of the transatlantic flight -- I think she looks pretty good.  

Flower fields of Holland

Strawberry ice cream from Luicano's in Wassenaar.  It's delicious.  

This is the first of several birthday cakes that you will see.  Kate had to bake this one herself.  It has Guinness in it to bring out the chocolate flavor.  It was delicious.  

The birthday/graduation celebration was highlighted by a weeklong trip to France to cruise on a barge in the canals of Burgundy.  There were a total of 8 of us that converged in Paris for a day before heading out to board the barge.  

Sechlers, Kate & I took the high speed train from Amsterdam to Paris.

The controls of our washing machine.  Grant stayed alone during the week we were in France, so I left him with fully illustrated instructions on how to do laundry.  Needless to say, no laundry was done during the week.  

The crowd gathered for Kate's birthday dinner.  

We held Kate's birthday dinner at Alain Ducasse's restaurant, Aux Lyonnais.  The signature dish is quenelles. creamed chicken with bread crumbs and egg, then poached.  The sauce is creamy crawfish.  So good, but so filling.  

Birthday cake number two.

The Paris Opera House

The stained glass windows of Saint Chapelle

Kate and Claire, friends for almost 20 years.  

Sunday morning we traveled to Montmarte, the highest point in Paris.  At the top of the top is Sacre'-Coeur.  We climbed to the top of the dome.  

Views from the top of Sacre'-Coeur.  The wonders of zoom lenses on small cameras.  Here is the Eiffel Tower in normal view.  

Now, zoomed in from the same place.  The top of the Eiffel is the only place higher than the top of Sacre'-Coeur. 

A very ornate downspout.  

From the crypt at Sacre'-Coeur.  

Also in Montemarte there was a large open air market.  

These are au gratin potatoes, each with a different type of French cheese.  

Fresh roasted nuts

These guys dressed as Canadians to sell maple syrup.  

There used to be 14 windmills in Paris.  Now there are only two.  

Actually, there are three windmills remaining if you count this one, Moulin Rouge.  I don't think it counts as a working windmill  

Street art