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Oh Paris, you have my damn heart, and I think you always will. Our France trip commenced six weeks ago in Paris, and from the moment we were swept east via train, I’ve been thinking about the 'city of love' ever since. All of France has been magic, but there is just something about Paris for me. So after looping around the country to Bordeaux, then the Basque Coast, inland to Carcassonne, then the Mediterranean Coast, we hopped on our final high-speed train of the trip and headed towards Paris for our final four days! And let me tell you, it was icing on an already delicious cake!

European Cities, Europe, FranceLindsay KellerOctober 9, 2023ParisParis, Europe, Eiffel Tower, LouvreComment

7 Steps to Ensure The Best 24 hours In Saint Émilion!

Saint Émilion is a delightful medieval city in the Bordeaux region of France famous for its red wine, charming scenery, and Romanesque religious architecture. Its history of winemaking dates as far back as the 2nd century Saint Émilion is a delightful medieval city in the Bordeaux region of France famous for its red wine, charming scenery, and Romanesque religious architecture. Its history of winemaking dates as far back as the 2nd century when the Romans planted grapes in the area. Today, the town and the surrounding vineyards are UNESCO world heritage sites and continue to produce world renowned wine. Ever since I took an intense Wines and Spirits course in college, I had wanted to visit this region of France. I couldn't believe almost 20 years later, here I was experiencing it in real life! Follow our (obviously very important) steps below to ensure an amazing visit to Saint Émilion.

UNESCO, Europe, FranceLindsay KellerOctober 7, 2023Saint Emilion, FranceFrance, Saint Emilion, Europe, wineComment

Photo Dump: Saint Jean De Luz, France

On one of our last days with Chip's parents, we decided to sneak twenty minutes south of Biarritz, along the Basque Coast, to a charming fishing town called Saint Jean De Luz. With only one day here, we narrowed down the best of the best...an incredible restaurant called Pil Pil Enea, a unique underwater winery tour at EgiaTegia, a walk around the main town, and a nap (for me and Chip) and paddle ball at the Grande Plage (beach). Below is our photo dump of our day in St Jean De Luz!

Europe, France, Family TravelLindsay KellerOctober 5, 2023St Jean De LuzEurope, FranceComment

Bummerland, Here I am (in Carcassonne!)

It felt wild to be saying goodbye to our time in Biarritz. It was hard to put a finger on exactly what, but it was just one of those places. One that you could effortlessly slip right into and never look back on your previous life. But, ultimately we were excited to continue on and discover more of France. During this portion of the trip it would be just me and the boys. Chip’s 'month of pause' was up and he had to fly back to the U.S. to work. So on me and the boys traveled, our next stop being a visit to a fairytale city in the South of France: Carcassonne!

France, Europe, UNESCOLindsay KellerOctober 4, 2023CarcassoneFrance, EuropeComment

So This Is Love: Paris {Part 1}

So. This is love. Not a question. A statement. I was officially infatuated with a city. Paris had me at bonjour. For forty years (or something like that) I had been dreaming about visiting Paris. The books, movies (most recently, Emily in Paris!), real life stories from friends, and photos had this destination looking and sounding as dreamy as can be to me. The boys had learned all about Paris in first grade, and Bennett even wrote a book report (on his own accord!) about the city of love, and since then they had wanted to go too. Well, we had officially arrived and were so moved by Paris, that after circling around France for six weeks, we planned to come back and spend even more time here. I'm telling you, something about this place is pure magic.

Europe, European Cities, FranceLindsay KellerOctober 3, 2023ParisParis, Europe, Eiffel TowerComment

Just Touched Down In London Town

Ah London! We had finally made it “over the pond” post-covid and it felt AMAZING! We have been waiting for this moment for three years, and London was the perfect city to explore on foot (and double decker bus, of course) while getting ourselves acclimated to traveling abroad again!

Bars, Beers, & Books: 48 Hours In Dublin

We did it! We made a complete lap around Ireland in under two weeks and lived to tell the tales of our mother-daughter trip! I only had doubts because well, a rental car plus narrow roads plus driving on the opposite side plus foreign country (not to mention I had not driven at all in 10 months!) all could have equaled a number of different outcomes. But besides the minor bumps in the road, we came out victorious! The final two days we got to stow our car away and use public transpo in Dublin, the vibrant capital city of Ireland. We had a lot to squeeze in and as the title implies, a fair bit of it revolved around bars, beers, and books with visits to the famous Temple Bar, the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery, and Trinity College’s Book of Kells Exhibition & Old Library.But first, check out the ground we covered in the map below...

Ireland Part 3: Are You Ready For Moher?

Here we were, entrenched in our mother-daughter adventure through the small country of Ireland. On this particular day we were buzzing along a narrow, winding, and picturesque Irish road at 8:30 in the morning. The sun dazzled brightly in the blue sky, the weather was a hint warmer than the previous day, and our bodies sensed we were about to have a notable outing with each other. Today was Mother's day and we were driving towards one of our bucket list items. A place we had both longed to visit for several years. Little did we know we were about to treat ourselves to one of the best Mother’s Day experiences of our lives. And together. After parking our rental in a near-emtpy parking lot (visit in the off season, people!) and using the restrooms for a quick pit stop, we busted out in one of those "shopping mall lady" powerwalks to catch our first glimpse of the world famous, most outstanding coastal features in all of Ireland: The Cliffs of Moher!

A Little Mingle Around The Dingle (& Then Some)

My mother’s and my whirlwind (and very scenic) tour of Ireland seemed to be starting off on the right foot (okay, minus the couple “miscalculations” we had encountered while driving)! We were only 24 hours in and had already enjoyed each other’s company and the Emerald Isle immensely. But we were on the move in this next section. It is probably the chapter of our trip when I wish we could have slowed things down and had two extra days to explore everything you’re about to read and see. But heck if we were going to let time slow us down. We were determined to squeeze in every bit of scenery and Irish beer we could in ten days so buckle up as we travel through southern and southwestern Ireland, which includes the Dingle Peninsula...hence the title.

Part I: Teedo & Lindsay Do Ireland

How many of you out there have a bucket list? I've personally kept a list since 2011 but admit I need to check in with myself to see how I'm doing. What about a bucket list with another person? I never had but realized that can be just as doable when one day out of the blue I flicked my mom a text. The question? "What's on your bucket list?" She replied with five places: New Zealand, Vietnam, Glacier National Park, Hawaii (one last time, but this time without her husband/my dad), and Ireland. If you know us at all, then you know that was the start of an elaborate plan...

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

The word Switzerland conjures up some of the most beautiful images in my mind: snow-capped mountain peaks piercing crisp blue skies and fields of flowers with happy cows grazing, the sound of their bells floating softly in the air. And maybe, if you're lucky, a mountain man in lederhosen tooting on his alpine horn…think Ricola commercial. But, honestly, nothing could prepare us for what our eyes were about to see on our 8 day visit in Switzerland. This place is hands down one of the most beautiful countries we've ever been to. It reminded us a bit of Colorado but with more dramatic peaks and towns with hundreds of year more history. Not to mention the foreign language which makes any place feel a bit more glamorous.

Europe, European Cities, SwitzerlandLindsay KellerJune 23, 2015Switzerland!Switzerland, Europe, Lauterbrunnen, ZurichComment

Turkey: I...Just Want To Fly

Turkey has been on the top of my must-see list for quite a while. The idea began when I met a group of internationals while working at Six Flags in Chicago who were from Turkey. They told me a few tidbits of information on their fascinating country and I was hooked. Fast forward seven years later and there we sat on a ferry from Rhodes, Greece to Fethiye, Turkey. It's possible I will say this numerous times throughout the blog but Turkey is SO incredibly beautiful, I honestly didn’t realize it was going to affect me the way that it did. In addition to being extremely excited about the country itself, I was also overjoyed that Michael and Taylor were still traveling with us for the next 11 days! Some pieces of information on Turkey before reading forward: Turkey is surrounded by 8 different countries, is slightly larger than the state of Texas, and is a predominantly Muslim country. Now let's get to it!

Tiptoe Through the Tulips - Holland

Greetings from Holland!

We sadly had to say goodbye to our eight month long chapter in New Zealand, but we’ve happily begun our month and a half long journey through Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Turkey. In under 4 days we've already had the most amazing time with friends and family on this side of the world.

Life is a (German) Highway

We write to you from the soils of Germany where we've just spent an eventful time exploring the southern countryside. As I mentioned in the last blog, we decided to rent a car from Holland and make our way down to the southern edge of Germany with the preferred mode of transportation being the German autobahn. If you haven't heard of the autobahn, it's Germany's network of highways with the biggest differences from the American highway system being the quantity of BMWs and lack of a speed limit. Driving on the autobahn has been on Chip's bucket list since he visited 10 years ago (and who wouldn't want to cruise at 180 kph (that's 111 mph) legally)? So we belted up in our rental Ford Fiesta and took to the open road at times clocking 180 kph...which is about what it will go, flat out. If that didn't feel fast enough, we'd actually have people in Mercedes, BMWs, and Audis flying past us at that speed like we were standing still. It was awesome!

Europe, GermanyLindsay KellerAugust 1, 2012Germany!Europe, Germany, mountains, surfing Comments

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