A recap of July

 Wow, it's been alonnnnnggg time since I wrote a blog entry.  I didn't realize until yesterday when I was telling Kelly, my assistant, the key story.  Needless to say she laughed quite hard.

Anyway, there is so much that went on in the last month I don't know where to start.  No way I can write with the immediate emotion and memory of the moment, but I'll recap.

As some of you know, I went home (to the Lake House) for the Fourth of July.  I flew home on Friday and back on Tuesday.  Being with family and friends at the lake for those few days was incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating.  Problem is, it made me realize how much I miss them.  Fortunately, I'm back home in a few weeks.

A week after returning from the U.S. we had a four day weekend, the 14th of July.  This is equivalent to our 4th.  I decided I didn't want to stay in the apartment for the long weekend, so I took a few days and explored Amsterdam (Netherlands, Holland, Dutch - all the same).  It was very nice.  My hotel was on the edge of the "Red Light" District.  I'm sure back in the day it was a bit more racy, but now it was more tourist.  You still saw hookers in the windows and cannabis is legal, but it was more interesting, then exciting.  I know now where all of the hippies from the 70's went.  I swear some of the people looked very familiar to me.  Unfortunately it rained terribly on Thursday and drizzled on Saturday, but Friday was spectacular.  On Friday I spent 6+ hours to explore the city.  For sure it is a city Jill and I will visit.   

 

This past weekend the excitement was Le Tour de France.  Sunday was the finals here in Paris.  I decided to take the walk down Champs Elysse to watch the race.  Only remembering that Matt said the end was on the 24th, I had to look up the details on line.  The crowd was crazy, people wearing Viking helmets and their national flag, I would have thought I was at a Bills' game.  People were picnicking along the street, cheering for their favorite racer or team.  A lot of people were there.  I was fortunate, I walked all the way down the road and then, due to my laziness to walk back through the crowd, I decided to park myself under the trees, across from the Palace, just behind the finish line.  I had perfect view of the big screen TVs and a nice view of the spot, just after the finish line.  The race itself wasn't too exciting.  You only see the riders for a second and then they are gone.  Incredible how fast they go.  But the award ceremony was neat - it was right in front of me.

  

I will try to become more diligent in my writings...