The Barker, Wolf Boy, Bearded Lady, and not so Strong Man.

These photos were taken 610 days apart.  We were in Torrey UT.  I love our state.

This was taken on September 24, 2011 @10:30This was taken on May 26, 2013 @ 9:48

It has been a rough couple of weeks.  Vinnie was in really bad shape.  Sunday was his 11th birthday.  He is doing a lot better now, he even jumped up on our friends when they came over yesterday.  He will not be with us forever, I am just happy he is with us now and felling better.

Its hard for me to update this blog.  Its not hard to update technically, and by technically I mean I just have to click on menu options and think of things to write, that last bit is hard for me.  I think I have written three entries that I have never posted, never posted because I am too self conscious about what I write.  It’s also hard to update because I am lazy and I haven’t really been taking photographs.  I first wanted a blog to show off my photos.  I also started this just before our trip to France.  I think I have gotten through half of our trip so far.  I will eventually post the France photos.  In the mean time Isaac got braces the other day.

The day after our anniversary we headed west to the coast.  Our day started with a trip out to the airport to pickup the rental car.  The trains were not running, there was a bomb scare at one of the stations on the way out there; everyone was in a panic about missing their planes.  We had no deadlines and took our time and waited for cab.  We finally made it to the airport and got our rental car; this would be my first time driving in France.   It wasn’t bad at all, we found our way out of town easy enough, it was a straight shot to the town we were staying in, Etratat.

The climate was a lot cooler than in Paris.  It really reminded me of the Pacific Northwest.  Etratat is a small town set in a cove surrounded by huge white cliffs.  Our hotel was on top of a hill that looked down over the town.  A lot of Parisians take their vacations here.  It had great seafood, so I hear (I don’t like seafood) also one of the best hamburgers I have ever tasted, that’s right America ONE OF THE BEST HAMBURGERS I HAVE EVER TASTED.  I have had probably thousands of pounds of hamburger pass through my stomach so I consider myself a connoisseur.

The beach was made up of small stones instead of sand.  That first night we sat on the beach drinking wine and throwing rocks into the Atlantic.  When the tide went out you could walk out below the cliffs.  There we found an old World War II bunker and a cave.  Inside the cave there was a ladder leading up to a ledge where there was a sign that read “if you find yourself here during high tide don’t panic you are safe just wait till the tide goes back out and walk out.”

The next day we hiked to the top of the cliffs on the north side of town.  At the top it was very grassy and there were cow pastures.   Looking to the north it seemed that the white cliffs went on forever.  On the way back we spotted a trail that led down a steep path through the cliffs.   Jessica, being very afraid of heights and cliffs, decided to head back to town and do some shopping.  I headed down the trail.  At the bottom was a solid rock bench that led into the water, waves continually crashed against it.  There was an Asian couple there and the man was trying to get in the water so his wife could take a picture.   I offered to take their photo, so the woman skittishly crawled out on the rocks.  I took my own photo while the man was still out there, it ended up being one of my favorite photos I had taken in France.  If one of you had said blurry Asian for the scavenger hunt you would have won the grand prize.  On the way back to the trail I saw a cave that led into the cliff side.  I looked through and I could see daylight.  It was about a hundred yards long and led to the beach that  we  were at the night before.

The next day we hiked the cliffs to the south side of town.  We ran into a Spanish couple that we met in line for the catacombs in Paris.  He noticed that we had new clothes; we told him that our bags finally showed up.  When we met them the first time the luggage thing was a hot topic, with over an hour standing in line next to us they got to hear all about it.

The hike was beautiful blah blah blah…. Photos, food, people.  I am sick of writing and it takes me forever.  I want to go back to France.

Today was our eleventh anniversary.   I woke up before Jess and snuck out to buy her some flowers.  There were some venders getting ready for a farmers market just down the street from our hotel.  Lucky for me the flower guy was the only one set up for business, using what little French I knew I asked, “fleur s’il vous plaît?”  He looked at me confused and the same way you would look at someone making fun of your favorite past-time then began to make a bouquet.

When we got our day started we headed north to Sacre Coeur.  It’s a white cathedral on top of a hill; it has a different look then all the other cathedrals we had been to.  At the bottom of the stairs leading up to the cathedral we got harassed by these guys selling bracelets.  They try and put them on your wrist and force you to buy them.

The neighborhood around Sacre Coeur had coble stone streets and a different  kind of hustler.  These guys would come up to you and ask if you wanted them to draw a portrait of you.  I never saw anything they had actually finished so I really don’t know if it was a scam or not.   Tourist seemed more open to them, maybe because they were not as pushy and dressed more fashionably than the others.

We really didn’t have anything planned so we headed to the Arch de Triumph.  Napoleon had it built, it was a lot bigger than I expected and very ornate – just like every other monument and cathedral we came across.  There was a huge line to get in but, because of the museum pass, we got right in.  From the top we had another great view of the city.  It’s where five major streets meet, kind of like five points in Twin Falls but without the cars bumping bass and slightly less rednecks.  From there we could see that we were fairly close to the Eiffel Tower.  After a short walk down the Champs Elysees we headed to the French version of the space needle.

Being that it was our eleventh year anniversary, which the gift is supposed to be steel, I was going to steal something for Jessica.  Then I remembered I am an adult and a chicken.  I think this giant iconic steel tower was good enough.  We didn’t go up and the grass in front of the tower was kind of gross but that didn’t stop us from sitting awhile and taking it in.  On the way back to our hotel we saw some dudes playing bike polo and a critical mass go by, it was the first Friday of the month, in Salt Lake it happens on the last Friday of the month.  The group of bikers were passing under another extremely ornate monument, the Pont Alexandre III.  The statues are holding GOLD SWORDS.

We had dinner reservations at a fancy restaurant but on the way Jess surprised me with a gift.   There is an old Japanese tradition that people celebrate in France.  Together you lock a lock to a bridge and throw the key in the river.  Done, NOW we are 4 eva.   Jess bought these super-cool locks that looked like they would be on a pirates treasure chest.  She also had them engraved by a gentle man that went by the moniker “Engraver Dave”.  Jess has a great story about getting them engraved that you will never read on her blog JessicaPlablogdon.com.  On the way to dinner we walked along the Siene, it was amazing and very romantic with just a hint of urine, sometimes.

The restaurant was fantastic.  The food was delicious and our table was right by the window.  While we were there it started to rain, the streets started to reflect all the streetlights, everything started to look like a painting.  This is the moment I realized the scope of this trip and how I will never be able to top this anniversary ever.

This post is photos of Jess not being impressed at the Pompidou.

We got back from Paris about two months ago.  The plan was to post photos every day, it didn’t happen.  I will be posting the photos in the order that they were taken.

We made it to Paris; our bags didn’t.  Whatever, we were in Paris.  Our hotel was in the center of town and our room had a view of Notre Dame.  We also had a bottle of wine waiting for us in the room, thanks to Jessica.  After a few glasses we went to see the cathedral.  The first thing Jess did was light a candle for her Dad who had passed away earlier this year.

 The place was very ornate with statues and carvings all over the walls and archways.  I took more photos of the cathedral, if you want to see them come over to the house.

Later we ended up near the Louvre and decided to go in.  We made it through the Egyptian wing and the part with all the statues.   It’s not really my thing Jess loved it though.

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel we were staying at.  The walls of the lobby/restaurant were covered with paintings and photographs from guests who had stayed there.  If you look directly over Jessica’s head you will see a painting of a lady on all fours and another lady about to…. I don’t know leap frog her or something, it was very strange.  Oh and there is a sheep in the background watching them.

 We headed north just to check things out.  Walked by the Pompidou museum, this is the modern art museum, more my thing.  It didn’t open for another few hours so we just kept walking.

Jess suggested that we go to the catacombs,(Catacombs of Paris – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )which was on the other side of town.  When we got there we were told that the wait would be about an hour and half.  After waiting about 45 minutes I left to go find some beer for us.  It did make the wait more enjoyable.  While waiting we met a guy from Spain that we later ran into in Normandy.  We also meet a father and daughter from the eastern part of France.  Jess told them what happened to our bags, they said that after the catacombs they were headed to the shopping area of town and would show us the way.

At the end of that second day we had hit our limit with wearing the same cloths.  Tensions ran high, wine was poured and tears were shed.  When we woke up on the third day to find our bags outside our hotel room door.

To be continued…