Big Sky Saturday

I was up early this morning and headed out for a bike ride.  The roads were mostly empty and I enjoyed a little over 15 miles.  I rode in the Big Sky neighborhood and when I came to the top of a hill with about five miles to go I had a beautiful view of the sunrise.  I almost never stop to take a picture when I'm on my bike, but I made an exception today.  

 

God is always the best Artist, whether it's painting the sky or painting our lives!

Friday Foodie ~ Easy Bake Oven and Summer Goodies

My wonderful air fryer finally gave up the ghost a few months ago.  I started researching air fryers and found an article about air fryer/toaster oven combos.  I've owned a toaster oven for years and thought this would be a great 2-in-1 appliance.  I took advantage of Amazon Prime day and bought the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven.  This came with a variety of shelves and pans and is surprisingly roomy!  This is my full size cast iron skillet inside, baking Balsamic Rosemary Chicken:

For the fourth of July I made homemade ice cream using my Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.  This time instead of freezing the entire gallon, I divided it into individual quarts.  I bought these containers from Amazon and made four flavors - vanilla, coffee, chocolate-Butterfinger, and peppermint.  Each of these was amazing!  

 

 

For the coffee, I dissolved four packets of instant coffee into about 2 tablespoons of hot water then stirred it into the ice cream.  I think I could have added a little more coffee or next time I might buy some chocolate espresso beans.  I added chocolate syrup and Butterfinger bits to the next container.  For the peppermint I added about 2/3 cup of crushed peppermint candies and peppermint syrup.  Each flavor was very unique and absolutely delicious!  The total cost was about $12.  We had been in our local Baskin Robbins the previous week and paid over $14 for 4 scoops (2 scoops each.)

 

Les thought this ice cream would be great over a cookie skillet.  I picked up a set of four mini skillets and we were in business.

These baked for about 10 minutes.  I wanted them to still be slightly gooey inside.

I then realized there wasn't room to put any ice cream, so I dumped them in bowls and topped them.

 

These were a hit!  As we were enjoying them last Friday night, Les started chuckling.  He said, "that's an Easy Bake Oven!"  I never owned an Easy Bake Oven as a kid, so I'm very happy with the one I have now!

A Treasure!

Les received a package in the mail from his sister yesterday.  His Mom's Bible!

 

Dolly received this Bible from her home church in Toledo, Ohio when she left to attend Apostolic Bible Institute in Minnesota.  She was 17 or 18 at the time.  She was a student of the Word which is quite obvious!

It is falling apart, so we are handling it with great care.

 

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”
― Charles Spurgeon

London to LAX ~ The End! (Day 19)

 

I have finally come to the end of our trip.  This is my 53rd post!!  That is a little under three posts per day that we were gone.  We've been home for seven weeks.  I've enjoyed reliving our trip and learning the answers to so many of the questions I had along the way.  (If you have not read all the posts and want to start at the beginning, just go HERE.)

 

We took a total of ONE picture on the final day of our trip and it will be the last one in this post.  All others are just some of my favorites.  (Picking a favorite picture is a lot like picking a favorite kind of chocolate - impossible!)   We had breakfast from the buffet at the hotel, then it was a short taxi ride to the airport.

 

We arrived at London Heathrow Airport with plenty of time to get through luggage and security.  Again, Heathrow seemed very easy to navigate.  One word of caution if you are thinking about taking a trip to Europe - there are a number of strikes going on in airports and railways this summer, none of them were happening when we were there.  It is wise to check ahead and check again.

 

Our United Airlines flight left about 10 minutes late, but other than that it was a very smooth trip.  We traveled with the sun, leaving London at 11:15 a.m. and arriving in Los Angeles at 2:10 p.m.  I don't think either of us slept much, but I really don't remember!

 

It took a while to get through US Customs.  I had downloaded the Mobile Passport Control app and filled out all the necessary information.  I was ready to speed through until the customs agent said they don't have equipment needed to connect to the app.  Typical government bureaucracy!  We laughed with the agent, then were on our way to baggage claim.

Our luggage was delayed about 20 minutes.  From the time we landed until we were outside it was a little over an hour.  We stepped outside and took a picture of an LA landmark, then our driver, Hilda, picked us up and we were headed for home.

Thanks for reading along!  I have some fun Friday Foodie posts coming soon.

Paris to London (Day 18, Part 3 of 3)

Getting from City Locker to the train station was suppose to be easy... the walk wasn't too bad until we actually got to Gare du Nord station.  We came in one entrance and were directed to the Eurostar part of the station - up one flight of stairs, across another part of the station, then back down another flight of stairs - dragging our luggage with us.  Traveling is always an adventure!

We went through customs and security before finding our correct boarding platform.  We boarded on time and easily found our seats.  This part of our day is a bit of a blur - we were both so tired!  This was a really great way to travel back to London.  I know I have said it several times, but we really love the trains in Europe.  This was about a 2 1/2 hour train ride, we got an hour back on the clock because Paris is one hour ahead of London.

The Eurostar traveled through the French countryside then entered the Channel Tunnel (often called the "Chunnel.")  This is an undersea tunnel linking southern England and northern France.  There wasn't anything to see, just the reflection of the glass.  The Channel Tunnel runs between Calais in northern France and Folkestone in south Kent.

 

Once we arrived in London, we joined the queue for a taxi.  This seemed to take longer than it should have.  We finally arrived at the Leonardo Hotel and got checked in for our last night.  The hotel is definitely set up for travelers who are there for just a night.  It is very close to Heathrow airport and offers the option of a shuttle or they can reserve a taxi.  We opted for a taxi then headed to our room.  It was a normal size hotel room and we were ready for bed!

HoHo! The Paris Hop-On Hop-Off Bus (Day 18, Part 2 of 3)

After we shoved our luggage into our locker (no small task!) we headed out to find one of the bus stops for the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus.  This ended up being about two miles away.  We were at stop #10 of 10 and decided to see where the road would take us.  Spoiler:  we never did hop off!

 

We enjoyed riding up top and looking at the old buildings.

 

Stop #1 was the Louvre Pyramid in the main courtyard of the Louvre.  Constructed entirely with glass segments and metal poles, it reaches a height of 71 ft.  It is the main entrance to the Louvre Museum, home to the world famous Mona Lisa.

 

 Stop #2 - Louvre Pont de Arts - a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Seine River.

Stop #3 - we crossed the Seine and drove past Notre-Dame de Paris.  Construction of the cathedral began in 1163 under Bishop Maurice de Sully and was largely completed by 1260, though it was modified in succeeding centuries. In the 1790s, during the French Revolution, Notre-Dame suffered extensive desecration; much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. In the 19th century, the coronation of Napoleon I and the funerals of many of the French Republic's presidents took place at the cathedral. 

 

The 1831 publication of Victor Hugo's novel Notre-Dame de Paris (in English: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) inspired interest which led to restoration between 1844 and 1864.

Approximately 12 million people visit Notre-Dame annually, making it the most visited monument in Paris.

On April 15, 2019, while Notre-Dame was undergoing renovation and restoration, its roof caught fire and burned for 15 hours. The cathedral sustained serious damage. The task of stabilizing the building against potential collapse was completed in November 2020.  Reconstruction began in 2021, and is still ongoing.

Before we got to stop #4 we saw a a giant sculpture of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.  She has partnered with Louis Vuitton and is seen here painting the flagship Louis Vuitton building.

And some more impressive old buildings:

 

Stop #4 - Palais Bourbon - the meeting place of the National Assembly.

 

We were driving down the Champs-Elysées when we caught our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tour!

A lamppost blocked my first attempted at a selfie:

There it is!

Stop #5 is at the end of the Champs-Elysées - The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile - "Triumphal Arch of the Star."

 

It was commissioned in 1806, after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes.  During the Bourbon Restoration, construction was halted, and it would not be completed until the reign of King Louis-Philippe, between 1833 and 1836.

Les was so excited to see this one.  The Tour de France ends on the Champs-Elysées with multiple laps around the Arc de Triomphe each year.  This will take place tomorrow!

 

Stop #6 - the Grand Palais -  the Great Palace.

 

The Palais served as a military hospital during World War I, employing local artists who had not been deployed to decorate hospital rooms or to make molds for prosthetic limbs.

The Nazis put the Palais to use during the Occupation of France in World War II. First used as a truck depot, the Palais then housed two Nazi propaganda exhibitions.

 

The Parisian resistance used the Grand Palais as a headquarters during the Liberation of Paris.  By August 26, 1944, American jeeps were parked in the nave, followed by tanks from the French 2nd Armored Division, completing the liberation of the building. 

Stop #7 - Trocadéro.  This is across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower.

Stop #8 - the Eiffel Tower!  It was so fun seeing it from so many angles.

Stop #9 - Champ de Mars, a beautiful park.  Also seen at this stop was The Hôtel des Invalides (English: "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides.  It is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France.

It was a beautiful day in Paris!  We definitely want to go back and spend time hopping off the bus!    It took us about 2 1/2 hours to do the full route.  We made it back to stop #10 and headed back to City Locker for our luggage.  Next stop: Eurostar station, then Paris to London via the train.