​Ok, we arrived in the beautiful port city of Marseille late last night and went to our first World Cup Rugby Game today. How very exciting! All Blacks absolutely "broke" Italy, at a score of 76-14. Shame - for Italy, but since I love All Blacks, thanks for kickin' Italia's ass. It was REALLY exciting to be watching one of the World Cup games and get to see NZ perform the Haka on the field. That was a highlight for me, and I posted the vid.

Marseille: such a VERY Mediterranean port! Go figure - its ON the Med! The city is very arid and hot (all the spectators during the game sat out in 90-degree heat for 3+ hours. Talk about "berled" potatoes! The buildings, while not whitewashed, are very sun washed and all light colours, with the terra cotta tiles for rooving. Pics attached

Early tomorrow morning we are off to Rome. MORE travel excitement! We are starting to feel like we're competitors in the Amazing Race!

**Oh, our latest funny story: RyanAir. For anyone who hasn`t travelled on this airline, what can I say? It's a frenetic, and interesting flight and travel experience! There is no assigned seating (unless you pay for it), so they load you up like cattle, but cattle don't run fast, so let's say line up like horses, behind a barricade (at the gate) and you all get ready to walk RAPIDLY to the plane to get a seat. I`m still not sure what the benefit is of no assigning seating. It's not like anyone got a preferential seat on these planes. I don`t even think they have emergency "larger" rows. Who knows**

MARY: Yes, of course I went to Anne Frank Huis. Amazing eh, her story (as well as all survivors during that period). Can you believe someone painted a Nazi cross on her statue? How despicable!

Amsterdam is a very pretty city (even throughout the infamous red-light district ["RLD"]).

It's very funny to see the working women in a doorway (or "kamers,” as they're known in Dutch), then stroll along to find a piano bar the next door, then a kamer, followed by a coffeeshop, kamer again, and then a restaurant. Many Kamers, shall we say!!

The RLD is plentiful with men, and couples, and groups, and it’s definitely a high-interest touristic area. Perhaps it is PURE HELL or PURE HEAVEN for certain folks to see the women dressed so scantily & shakin' their "goods" at them, and then there’s me, trying to find a burqa for my upcoming trip to Egypt. Such a contrast!

A VERY funny thing - we have a bar (gay), 🤔🤔, maybe 3 doors down from our hotel called the (close your eyes if you're a good Christian) - the Cockring! 

Ok, so funny story about this bar: we're strollin' down the streets here in the red light district, and there are endless touristy shops of all types, jewelry shops and "coffee-houses" (marijuana boutiques) a plenty, cafes and lots of pizza shops. You get the jist, (everything you could ever want to purchase), so I stop ... looking at this "jewelry" or maybe it was kitchenware, because... you KNOW, most people love household goods. 

James asks," What are you looking at?" I turn to look at him ... after all, wasn’t it OBVIOUS?!  
I was looking at sterling silver table settings, duh!! 🙄😵‍💫🤪 Gees.

It was at this moment that  (*puzzled look*)  I noticed an out of the corner of my eye one of the “napkin holders” around a big dick (sorry Mom & Dad). Would "phallic symbol" be a better word to use here? ... Riddle me that!!?? 🙄😂😱😳😵‍💫. However, it was at that moment that I realized what I initially believed to be LOVELY sterling napkin rings for one’s formal dining table settings, were actually ...ahhh, is there another name? for cockrings?!??!?!?

Needless to say I decided against this table addition, and scuttled off down the alleyway, both of us laughing our faces off.
🤣🤣🤣 Oh the dear!

Arrived in Paris and hit the ground running after we dropped our bags at our postage-stamp sized room in the Eiffel Seine Hotel, located in the . The hotel location is incredible for sightseeing, and they make incredible use of smoke & mirrors to makes spaces seem larger than they are. For the amount of time we're staying, it will suffice, and the desk clerk is very helpful ad friendly. Service really does make a difference. We decided to take a city hopon-hopoff bus to see the city's highlights. I've determined that my SLR camera I've brought, can't upload pics directly, so you`ll all have to settle for my 2nd best shots (from the little dig cam). You`ll still get a good idea of what we`re doing.

Today we decided to visit The Louvre (incredible/incroyable!) - too much to see in such a short city stay actually, and Napolean`s apartments. We got disoriented (it was James' fault, lol) and it took quite a bit of time to actually find our way out. "Sortie" does not REALLY mean "exit" at the Louvre as the *Sortie Sign* pointed us to all kinds of fake exits. Who knows? As someone who has done French immersion, I thought I could fund my way out of a building in France, Apparently not! Who knows? God knows?? 

We "took" Mass at Notre Dame (just a short one - we`re on a tight sked here in Paris - The Notre Dame Cathedral was very peaceful and our loved ones had a candle lit for them. *sigh* I wish they could be with us, just a call away). In truth, the entirety of this trip is rather fast-paced, given that it's based around the 2007 Rugby World Cup games and schedule!

I`m VERY proud of James. He is speaking more French than I (albeit I whisper to him what to say and how to say it) but he is "parlez vous francais`ing" very well. People in Paris will speak English to you at the first sign you`re having difficulty though. God love `em!

So we`re off to Amsterdam tomorrow morning.
Ya might not hear from us if we get caught in a "kamer" or a "smoker," just kidding.
Hope I don`t lose James in the red-light district, lol.

K, gone for now. Loves to all our friends and family following our journey.
​The Us

So, 🙄, I couldn't find my passport and we`re only in Halifax on the way to France, to start our 75-day journey. The panic that ensued!! Nice eh!? What a ditz, it was in James's pocket. I was getting hot and "havin' palpitations" 😂🥵

We`re havin’ a celebratory pre-departure drink in Hali, one would be remiss to not celebrate such a large journey!

Departed on Iceland Air from Halifax to Paris, via very short stopover in Reykjavik, in economy. (Looking back as I update this post, that was an experience, not a bad flight, but most overnight flights to Europe tend to be wearisome). Out the plane's window you can see some of the terrain and smaller volcanos, what an interesting spot. Definitely have to circle back for a more in-depth self-drive tour around Iceland.

Best & Loves from the J & J

Such the procrastinator. We leave in the AM for 75 days, a lil prep wouldn't go astray. :)

The last place we`ll be is first on the list, mmm strange uh! Newfoundland will always be my home, and these beautiful people will always be my family. Rather excited to commence this 75-day journey. Not sure if we'll kill each other or enjoy it thoroughly. 

​Life's short, what would it be without adventures.

After we depart on Sept 1, we'll be leaving on a 75-day trip that will take us to:
- Reykjavik, ICELAND; 
- Paris, FRANCE;
- Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS;
- Marseille, FRANCE;
- Rome & Naples, ITALY;
- Catania, SICILY;
- St. Julian's, MALTA;
- Venice, ITALY;
- Lille, Lens, and Bordeaux, FRANCE;
- Munich, GERMANY;
- Budapest, HUNGARY;
- Athens, Patmos, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, GREECE;
- Istanbul, and Kusadasi, TURKEY; 
- Cairo, Karnak, Luxor, Edfu, EGYPT;
- Amman, Wadi Musa and Petra, JORDAN;
- Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Cana, Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, Massada and the Dead Sea, ISRAEL.

​We're just a BIT excited!!