Safely in Paris...or more specifically Sceaux

ARRIVAL

DEPARTURE

We left our house in phoenix at 5pm on tuesday.. our flight was delayed a touch causing us to take a later flight from London to Paris...But as we got off the flight in Paris there was Nora Tinard waiting to greet us!!! We loaded our bags in her car and the 5 of us took our first metro ride from the CDG airport to Sceaux where we walked to get pizza... FROM DOMINOES but not your typical dominoes cheese- this puppy had 4 cheeses- goat cheese, formaggio and 2 others and then another pizza with fresh basil, tomatoes and mushrooms... then to Nora's house. We are eally thankful to have had a great travel day.

The Gift

Soooooo, here it is- the day of our departure. What's been in the distance and felt far away is now here. My heart has been overwhelmed the past few weeks with the thought of GIFT. This sabbatical is a gift- something we didn't deserve. A gift is something that makes you giddy, that floors you, that overflows your heart with joy. That's where I am this morning- thankful for this gift, thankful for all the people that have said kind words to us in the past couple days, thankful for those that have said- "We got this" to free us to go. So the adventure begins- last night our kids were giddy too and that made me smile as I realize this is going to change them in ways I can't imagine. I'm off to get one last buttermilk bar from Rainbow donuts before rolling out.....

Jason

Dinner Out

We asked a few people where the best fish and chips could be ordered. The overwhelming response was this little place.

Here Jason is waiting for our food.
Here I am waiting for our food.
We were both so happy with our meal. I had fish and chips, Mahi Mahi. The best I have ever had. Jason had fish tacos.
A perfect end to a perfect day.

All Day on the Beach

We left our room around nine thirty and did not leave the beach until four. It was a beautiful day. This is Tunnels beach and famous for snorkeling. We spent a good amount of time in the water looking at fish. I really wanted to see a turtle, but had no luck until we were almost ready to leave. The couple next to us told us to walk down the beach where they had sighted a few smaller turtles.

Sure enough, there were turtles. I can't believe I got to swim with a turtle. As we were getting out of the water further down the beach, Jason realized we had dropped a snorkel. He went back in the water and right there, there was another turtle. The water was only four feet deep and he was huge. We got to watch him eat and come up for air. Amazing end to a perfect day spent on the beach.
This beach is also famous for Bethany Hamilton, the young surfer who had her arm bitten off by a tiger shark.
Jason hunkered down for the day with his book in the shade.

Blown away at the BEAUTY....

We tried a new shave ice today, The Wishing Well. Not as good as Jo Jo's but still good. Love the macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom! This place has been making shave ice for a long time- notice the sign in the upper right--- and the lady making ours asked if we were honeymooning!

This is the hike we took down to the beach right by our hotel. A steep hike down and a workout on the way up.
The pool at the resort is not exempt from the chickens!! I was not feeding this rooster, but was faking for the photo.
This sunset was amazing.
So fun to think yesterday we kayaked around that point!

Kayaking Trip

Yesterday we got up at five and were on the road to our kayaking trip. It was amazing, breathtaking, HARD and so much fun. We kayaked seventeen miles along the Na Pali coast which can only be accessed by ocean or hiking trail. We launched out to sea and right off saw dolphins. The seas were pretty bumpy for the first half. A few hours in, I felt my seasick medication wearing off. So so so glad I brought it with me. I was sick for about thirty minutes, no puking but just SO queasy. Our guide told us he has had people curled up in a fetal position in the front of the double kayak. Once you are out to sea there is no turning back. Our guides took us into two caves, I swam in one of them. At one point we stopped for a swim, and there were Portuguese man of war jelly fish in the water. They had a little bubble floating on the top of the water and long brilliant blue threadlike tentacles, I was back in the boat so fast! No one got stung. Later in the day there were two sea turtles and a beached monk seal. We hiked back to a waterfall at lunch. The last part of the journey was not as difficult. The current and the wind pushed us to the end of our journey. We were tired and sore by the end, but it was the experience of a lifetime. We took a disposable camera, but the photos will probably not be great. You can link to this website to see the amazing company we went with. They have beautiful photos posted. http://www.napalikayak.com/

The Lighthouse

We spent the morning watching the waves and reading. Jason didn't put sunscreen on his chest and got pretty burned. We bought good food: brie, apples, rice chips, salami etc.

This beach has a reef so large you can see it from space. The snorkeling is some of the best in Hawaii. The ocean was too rough again today to go in so we just watched the ocean and read our books.
We went to visit the lighthouse. It's lens was shipped over from France and is the largest of it's kind.
This little isle is right off the shore of the lighthouse. One of the keepers of the lighthouse had two sons. One would swim to the island with a rope in his teeth, anchored to the other side. They would then drop shark bait into the sea and watch them swarm. The other would swim back to the main isle when it appeared all clear.
Winston, here is the car.