Mantua

Alex's brother Nic came to visit us for a week. We headed out to Mantua, an hour and a half southwest of Venice on Alex's first day off. Mantua was once ruled by the powerful Gonzaga family from 1328-1708. They resided in the Palazzo Ducale, a series of huge buildings in the center of town.

Me and the 25 week old belly.


The brothers.


Eating the BEST gelato ever for the first time. We had to go all the way to Mantua to discover this place. It's a chain called GROM and they have a store in Mestre. Alex and I went at least three times a week. Look at the fresh panna on top!!!!

The Palazzo Te is a straight shot from the Palazzo Ducale. It was built by Giulio Romano as a summer residence for the Gonzaga family. There is a huge park in front of the palace where everyone can hang out and the children can play soccer. Not sure what I'm doing here.

Quebec

Montreal

Our annual trip back to Quebec began with dinner with the kids.

Jenny, Rim, Mehrez, Karen, Diandre and Nic after a delicious dinner.

We headed in to the Laurentians, an hour north of Montreal, to visit one of Alex's old coaches during a basketball camp. Here is Alex teaching the campers something about basketball.

Alex running through a basketball drill with some of the campers.


Andrew Bier, a Maccabi Canada teammate, Emerson Thomas, former National team player, Alex and Coach Dore.

Trois Rivieres

Drinks with two high school friends, Jean-Charles and Max in downtown Trois Rivieres. Max was in town for the week (he lives in Europe) and Jean-Charles was just driving through on the way to New Brunswick. We couldn't have planned this reunion even if we wanted to.

On the first sunny day, we headed up to Lake Wapizagonke for some canoeing and sunbathing.


Dinner in the backyard with Mom, Dad, Nic & Diandre.


Jenny & Rim drove up to Trois Rivieres to hang out with us.


Alex, Nic & Rim playing in the sandbox.


Hanging out with Max and his wife Zoe.

Exploring Normandy with Erin and Nic

Erin is here visiting us for the week and Nic came over from Berlin for the weekend. We visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and Memorial, Queen Matilda's Tapestry in Bayeux, Mont-St-Michel and Chartres Cathedral.

Omaha Beach

Erin, Omaha Beach and the English Channel.

A few of the 9,386 marble tombstones in the American Cemetery and Memorial on a hilltop overlooking Omaha Beach.

Wall of the Missing. The names of soldiers whose bodies could not be found are etched into this wall.

Bayeux

This town is famous for its tapestry, known as Queen Matilda's Tapestry. It is 225 feet long and contains 58 scenes which tell the story of William's conquest of England in 1066. Cameras are not allowed in the tapestry room, since the tapestry was stitched in 1067. Here we are, eating lunch outside of the Tapestry Museum. Chips, sandwiches and clementines, delicious!!

Mont-St-Michel

One of the absolute COOLEST and impressive places any of us has ever seen. The Mont-St-Michel abbey sits on top of a 264 foot rock off the coast of France. The original church was completed in 1144 and the abbey took over 500 years to build (1017-1521). Benedictine monks live and work at the abbey today.

You can see sand flats surrounding the abbey because it is low tide right now. We wouldn't be able park our car in this spot if we were visiting during high tide, since the sea can rise up to 45 feet.

Halfway up the steep staircases going up to the abbey.

Close up view of the abbey.

The streets of the village at the bottom of the island are lined with shops, restaurants and hotels. It looks like a Disney village.

The abbey at night. Looks kind of like Cinderella's castle, doesn't it?

Chartres

Built in 1250, the cathedral in Chartres is famous for its over 150 stained glass windows.

The stained glass windows depict both biblical stories as well as 13th century daily life. This window depicts the Glorification of the Virgin. The five windows beneath depict the kings of Judah and the prophets (including Nebuchadnezzar, David, Solomon, Aaron, Saul and Pharoah).

A typical French half-timbered house.