Travel to Europe was not an adventure I was willing to undertake with children. Instead, my wife and I traveled extensively throughout the United States with our children, visiting National Parks, Museums, places of interest and family.

With our children in college and their income producing summer jobs, our typical three week family vacation was not a possibility. My mother and father had traveled for years, on their own and with friends, to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Australia and New Zealand, and had reached the age where regulations prohibited them from renting a car to tour Europe.

It was a perfect match. We enjoy each others company. They were the seasoned European travelers, we were the neophytes. France was always a favorite destination of my mothers, so we purchased the Air France tickets, reserved the accommodations, and then the United States invaded Iraq. France became an unpopular ally. French Fries became freedom fries, Bordeaux wine was dumped on the steps of the US Capitol, and our friends gave us strange looks.

We went anyway. France is beautiful; the people were friendly and polite. No one was rude to us; everyone was helpful, la nourriture était excellente, le vin superbe, le paysage magnifique. These pages will hopefully give you an idea of what we experienced.