PHOTO HOMAGE TO MY MOTHER

It will probably take me a couple of months to finish blogging about France. I'm slow, but here is a quick little series of photos from Paris, which represents my attempt to fulfill my mother's wishes not to take a picture without a person in it. She thinks it's boring. So while I ran around Paris by myself, this is how I took photos. :) Love you Mom!

picture of the Seine and Musee Orsay and my face.

picture of the Louvre and half my face.

picture of the the Sacre Coeur and yes, my face again.

Outside of the Louvre

Christmas Lights on the Champs Elysees and ME

Provence -- Arles, Aix-en-Provence, Gordes

We spent the next couple of days driving around Provence -- Kudos to Mary Ann for her skilled driving. The view from Gordes

The amphitheatre in Arles

Arles again.

Next Stop -- Les Baux-de-Provence

We traveled from Avignon to Les Baux, a stunning hilltop town in Provence that was recommended to us by many people. THANK YOU! This may have been my favorite town -- www.lesbauxdeprovence.com. Besides being beautiful, the history is deep.

VIVA LA FRANCE!

So France was amazing. Love it. Want to move there. Been depressed all week that I'm home. Sign of a good trip I think. We started in Provence and ended in Paris. I'll do this in pieces so here is the first one . . .

AVIGNON -- the first stop. We flew into Paris and took a train directly to Avignon -- gateway to Provence. We were exhausted, but we managed to get our car, get lost, and eventually find our hotel, which could not have been more perfectly located. It was the Hotel de L'Horloge and I would definitely recommend it. We visited the Palais des Papes, but mainly just wandered the adorble streets and tried out our terrible French. We also went to church here, which was such a cool experience. The people were amazing. Here are a few pics of Avignon.