We walk past this house frequently and it is one of my favorites in Tuebingen. It has some of the biggest geraniums I have ever seen!

Isabelle enjoying a beautiful weekend in Tuebingen.

Allie loves to give slobber kisses! I love to get them!

I can sit up with my arms in front of me for a bit...of course with the watchful eyes and hands of everyone if I start to careen to the edge. My mommy just needs some bubble wrap and a helmet to let me have some freedom.

Oh, but sitting and relaxing in the comfort of Daddy's lap is so much easier.

The brothers were able to tour the Ayinger Brewery outside of Munich last Thursday. They had a really good time.

Vielen Dank Fritz!

Thanks for coming to see us! We will miss you! Have fun this year. Isabelle wanted to say, "Mine tails!!!"

We spent Monday and Tuesday evenings in Beaune. It was a beautiful city and apparently the "unofficial capital of the Cote d'Or", but we didn't get to experience much of it. The last night we were there, we enjoyed a 3-4 course meal that was so delicious. The French really know their food and wine! We traveled back to Tuebingen on Wednesday morning. It took us about 5 hours from Beaune.

Okay, okay...I am sure you are getting tired of all of the pictures of the weekly blog session. I did have to just choose a few pictures out of the 600 or so we took! The country-side was so beautiful...very mouth watering...

This girl can sleep anywhere. Burgundy is just a little too much for Isabelle to handle. I did see her illegally snatching some pinot grapes off the vines.

Taking a much needed coffee break in Saint Georges. Allie is obviously very happy to be out of the confines of the Baby Bjorn.

A wine lesson...
You may be able to see some of the prices here if you click on the picture...a little out of our price range. Some bottles of pinot noir made here fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auctions.
Small city streets in the Burgundy region of France. This is Saint Georges.

Monday takes us to Burgundy famous for you guessed it...wine. Burgundy's finest vintages come from the vine-covered Cote d'Or (Golden Hillside), the narrow, eastern slopes of a limestone, flint and clay ridge that runs south from Dijon for about 60 km.
A historical wine tour that we took...unfortunately for us there was no sampling at the end.
But, it was beautiful...and educational.
"Caves" are apparently cellars in Burgundy. We were able to do a little taste testing in Saint Georges. We got to meet the co-owner of this winery and sample some pinot noir...delicious.

We spent alot of time in the car...driving along the French interstates and roads. On Sunday, we spent the night in Tours, France. Our guidebook said that the French spoken in Tours is said to be the purest in France. Jamie did quite well with some French words and phrases, having taken just a semester in college. We didn't get a chance to explore Tours, as we left behind the French aristocracy chateaus in The Loire to visit the Burgundy region...pinot noir country!

Chateau Chenonceau. Jamie and Shawn luckily got to explore this beautiful Chateau that is surrounded completely by water. I decided to stay back with the two "sleeping" girls in their carseats wedged in the middle of the backseat. Lets just say that their slumber lasted all of about 2 minutes after they went to the chateau, and I was left to deal with the aftermath of the short nap.
Isn't this just beautiful???? You are seeing what I got to see...a picture! I am not bitter...really.

On Sunday, we traveled to the Loire Valley to see a few of the famous chateaus that dot the country-side. Above is Chateau Villandry that owes its fame to the terraces of gardens around it.
Chateau Villandry was the last of the great Renaissance Chateaus built on the banks of the Loire.
The garden of love.
The ornamental garden is composed of two sections on the same level as the chateau: the garden of love and the garden of music. They also had a water garden that you can see to the far left and a herb garden. The view was truly magnificent.

The courtyard of the Abbey.

Going down the steep staircases of Mont St. Michel.

Mont St. Michel
It was a chilly and very windy day. Fortunately it didn't rain until we were done with our visit. Allie came with us...she is just hiding under the blanket!
The streets...leading up to the abbey.
The abbey. Legend has it that the abbey was founded in the 8th century, when Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, was visited by the Archangel Michel in a dream. Mont St. Michel sits atop a small island, connected to the mainland by an old causeway. It is said that this is the 4th most popular pilgrimage in the world.

You can see the sea and flat sand beaches from the receding tide behind us. This place was unreal!

The entry-way of the American Military Cemetery in Normandy.
The American Military Cemetery is the largest American cemetery in Europe, containing the graves of 9387 American soldiers and a memorial to 1557 others whose remains were never found.
Omaha beach where D-Day on June 6th, 1944 took place.

The beautiful cathedral Notre Dame in Rouen, France.
Looking up...
Rouen's cathedral Notre Dame is a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture.
Amazing details etched on a doorway.
Walking through the streets of Rouen, the rue du Gros Horloge. We decided to rent a car to experience alot of the French countryside. We started our adventure in the area of Normandy. With what we thought would be a quick 6 hour drive from Tuebingen, turned out to be twice as long to the city of Rouen. If you know the Miller brothers, you would assume that we would get a late start...which we did. Jamie turned into a driving machine and made it through long country roads and about 1032 round-abouts to make it early on Saturday morning. Rouen was very beautiful and worth the sacrifices the night before. We were all going on little sleep, but the amazing cities of France kept our interest...that and alot of cafe au lait.

Happy 31st birthday to me...and Happy 5 month birthday to Allie...
LOOK who came to visit!!!! Uncle Shawn!!!!
I took a picture to show this adorable little dress...but decided to post it for people to check out those thighs!!!

It has been a very rainy week here in Tuebingen with the temperatures being unseasonably cool in the 60s. I know that all of you mid-westerners are jealous! No need for air conditioning here! Jamie had a neuro-surgery conference about 30 km from Tuebingen and so the girls and I have been doing our regular routine. The sun actually came out this weekend! Alot of you have had some questions on the prices of items here in Germany, so I have put together a little list for you! Some of the prices I have paid, have about put me into cardiac arrest...but I have to keep it in perspective.

You have to do a little math here...1 Euro = $1.33, so whatever the price is...multiply it by 1.33.

1 liter of milk is 0.55 E
1 container of yogurt 0.33E
1 loaf of bread 0.95
1.5 liters of apple juice 0.69 E
1 bottle (.5 liter) of beer 0.70 E
1 container of raspberries, blueberries...3 E
1 container of Bausch & Lomb contact solution 18 E (yes, I know...I had the unfortunate circumstance of Isabelle breaking my glasses the first week we were here---like I said I have to keep it in perspective!)
1 liter of gasoline 1.41 euro, diesel is 1.14 euro...multiply that by four to get about a gallon...and don't forget the conversion rate...I will NEVER complain about the price of gasoline again back in the U.S.

I personally have not purchased these items...due to the outrageous prices...but I found it interesting that our local supermarket was charging 4.99 E for Hershey's syrup, 1.69 E for a regular Hershey's chocolate bar, 2.69 E for a box of mac-in-cheese...(and it isn't even Kraft!).

We hope that everyone is doing well...and not melting due to the temperature and high heat index! Until my next post...Auf Wiedersehen!

I don't really have a caption for this picture. My mommy thought I just looked really cute.

Happy!
Sad!

Allie has a sympathy cry for her big sister. She is so dramatic.