Quite a bon voyage.

And so the final leg our journey commenced with just Sterling and I cruising along in the Opal.  As previously stated, we headed to Luxembourg first for two reasons: 1) I couldn't seem to navigate to Strasbourg and 2) We thought Luxembourg might be as cool as Liechtenstein.  So, we arrived in Luxembourg City and although hungry, we were happy!

Luxembourg was just a little bit of a bust though.  It was Sunday, so everything was closed except the extremely expensive restaurants that were open due to a marathon in the city.  We did get to walk quite a bit though, enjoy some views and saw some Luxembourgian hookers near where we parked (still better than Pisa...  nothing was stolen!), so it was all in all, a satisfying trip.

But, we headed to France and decided to stop in Verdun, since the name sounded vaguely familiar.  (It was a big battlefield during World War I and is famous for the amount of devastation that occurred during the time.)  It was a wonderful place to stop and we found a charming little hotel, which was kind enough to coordinate its bathroom decorations with Sterling's outfit.

We enjoyed our one fancy French meal (Sterling didn't want escargot...  tant pis pour nous!) and walked around the small city.  The next morning, we found the best croissant and bread in Europe (hear that, Italy and Germany?!?) and gorged ourselves on deliciousness.  We wandered the streets and stumbled upon a star fort (our 3rd in a month!) and walked the perimeter.  In Verdun, there were miles of underground tunnels in the cities, many of which are in the star fort.  We opted not to go to the museum there though and to continue on the roads of France.

We eventually made it to Fontainebleau (pronounced fawn-tan-blow), which was the palace for the majority of the French rulers from Henry IV to Napoleon III (only Louis XIV to Louis XVI lived in Versailles).  It was an incredibly deluxe palace with beautiful gardens and was surprisingly empty!

We first enjoyed lunch on the grounds, before exploring the palace.  Napoleon lived there and much of the exhibit was based on his life in the palace; it was full of his clothes, his "dop kits," his camping bed, and his bathroom (evidently he was much cleaner than many of his counterparts.).  Marie Antoinette had also decorated some rooms.  This hall pictured below was built by Henry IV so he didn't have to walk outside when attending daily mass.  It was private for generations, invitation only by the king, but eventually was opened and is now one of the main attractions.  Sterling and I got to explore all by ourselves and slowly meandered down the hallway, easily imagining what it was like to be royalty there.  Only when I caught a glance of myself in the mirrors did something seem out of place!  We should have gone in period costume, obviously.

The staircase to the main entrance was spectacular and oh-so-unique.  I loved the curves of it and pranced up and down!  It was here that Napoleon gave his farewell address before heading to Elba to commence his exile.

And the gardens were beautiful and pristine.  It was a lovely day to explore Fontainebleau.

And then we hit the road, deciding to find a hotel closer to Paris in order to easily catch our flight the next morning.  Of course, sometimes these things are easier said than done, but we eventually stumbled upon a very modern, but still quite French lime green hotel room where we relaxed and repacked and reminisced about our wonderful trip.  And the next morning, we headed to Charles de Gaulle...  dropped off Opal, bought a Toblerone and hopped on a plane to return to the States.

To be honest, it was a rough adjustment when we returned.  Jet lag lasted forever for both of us and we just couldn't seem to recover our energy.  It could have had something to do with the fact that we just jumped right back into work (I just finished a stretch of 8 days in which I worked 6 of them...  Urg.) or with the fact that we set record high temperatures this past weekend and my air conditioning broke.  But, we have still had fun with a brief but wonderful visit from Mom (her first pedicure!  She's lovely!) and a new computer (hurray for Macs!).

The last leg of our time in Phoenix is starting now and moving logistics are always hovering in our thought processes.  But obviously, life is so good to us and I am happy.

Yes...  quite happy.