Next Stop -- Gaithersburg, Maryland...

We took the train up to Gaithersburg, Maryland to spend two nights with Jimmy’s college buddy Malinda, her son Jamie and her husband Newman. It had been at least 6 years since we’d seen each other, but we reconnected very quickly and had a great time. We trained back into DC to go to the American History Museum and the International Spy Museum, which was especially cool; we all really enjoyed climbing through a fake heating duct. We also went to a sushi buffet that was fantastic.
Afterwards, we got on an Amtrak train to go to Cary. The best part was when Jimmy boarded the train in Richmond without the girls realizing it. You can imagine their surprise when he sat down on them!

First Stop of our Whirlwind Tour, DC...

After just three days back in Holland, it was time to head to the US for Home Leave. We decided to mix things up a bit this summer by adding in a few other cities. Jimmy was actually already in the US at a conference when us girls flew over, so he wasn’t with us when we arrived in Washington, DC. We spent four nights staying with our good buddy Marc, previously of Raleigh, and his girlfriend Lacy. In addition to doing the usual touristy stuff on our own (National Gallery, Air & Space Museum, children’s section of the Holocaust Museum and National Zoo), Marc took us to watch a drum circle in the park and to a party at his design studio. We also had some great meals together and enjoyed going to Amsterdam Falafel (although Veronica was disappointed they didn’t understand her Dutch), but our favorite was breakfast on the rooftop terrace of Marc’s apartment building.

The Lauren & Ashlynn Show...

While all three girls spent lots of time together, it was especially cool to watch Ashlynn and Lauren bond. They came up with a very cute show for the pool where they sang songs from Grease, danced and did tricks.

Amazing Views from Every Angle...

This was a big summer for Terri as she watches the renovations of her new summer house near completion after two years of major construction. This house, once owned by a race car driver but empty for the last 20 years after his death, had an even more amazing view as it looks over the Grimaud castle in one direction and the Med in the other. Terri’s done a wonderful job, especially in designing the kitchen and bathrooms. Sure hope we’ll have a chance to see it when it’s finished.

It’s All About the Pool...

Like “Le Turquerie,” “Pironi” has an amazing pool. While Terri met with contractors and designers, I sat by the pool and the girls enjoyed swimming. Apparently the contractor’s dog enjoyed swimming there as well.

Exploring Grimaud...

After the men left for Holland, us girls spent an evening exploring Grimaud. We started with a walk up to the castle ruins, with a great view of the mountains and the Mediterranean. Then we had dinner at the creperie and finished off the evening watching a musical performance with Indian dancers.

The Nearest Village...

Terri’s house is a quick drive away from the village of Grimaud, named after the infamous Grimaldi family of nearby Monaco. The ruins of the 11th century chateau sit on the highest hill with the streets of the village just below. We ate croissants from the town bakery each morning and had dinner in the pizza restaurant. While the town was lovely from close up, it was most impressive from a distance.

Family Photos at the Beach...

Terri and Chris took us out to a lovely beachfront restaurant in St Maxime. The timing was perfect for some photos on the beach. The weather, the setting, the food and the company were all great.

Friends at the Beach...

In addition to taking family photos, this was a perfect opportunity to take some nice photos with dear friends. Having St Tropez in the background wasn’t bad either!

Going to Market in Port Grimaud...

Veronica joined Terri and I one morning to go to the farmer’s market in nearby Port Grimaud (although only 4 miles to St Tropez, we never made it there). This picturesque town looks like something out of Disney World, which isn’t as surprising when you discover that it was built over swamps in the 1960s to resemble Venice. We bought a few trinkets and some wonderful local veggies, then took a walk to enjoy the scenery.

Relaxing at Le Turquerie...

This trip was all about relaxation, and I enjoyed every minute of it with lots of time reading by the pool. We made simple, but delicious meals in the garden. The houses in this area have names rather than street numbers and this one’s called “Le Turquerie.” My favorite area of the yard was the Turkish corner with lots of comfy pillows and an amazing mountain view; unfortunately, I missed taking a photo of it. Terri’s husband Chris and 14-year-old son Max joined us for the weekend. The kids all got along amazingly well and I really enjoyed getting to know Terri better.

Enjoying the Cote d'Azur...

We were really excited when my good friend Terri (we’re co-editors of the magazine for the American Women’s Club of The Hague) invited us to spend 6 nights at her vacation home in southern France. Poor James had to work, so he couldn’t join us. We flew out of the quaint Rotterdam Airport to Nice with Terri and her 11-year-old daughter Lauren. It was almost a 2-hour drive to her house, with the final 30 minutes on an extremely curvy mountain road (poor little Ashlynn got car sick, but Terri managed to pull over just in time). Despite the cool water temps, there was no way the girls weren’t going to spend much of their time in this gorgeous infinity pool.

Surviving Our Cycling Tour...

Here we are with our celebratory necklaces. You can see we were all smiles after our last ride together.
We’re still all smiles after Marianne’s and my final ride, and our journey back on the ferry (we even managed to sit in the jacuzzi for awhile). We were happy that we finished the trip with our bodies, our bikes and our friendships in tact. Most importantly for me, I did it! I had my doubts, but I managed to cycle for 7 days straight for a total of 289 miles, which exceeded Camilla’s original goal of 400k (249 miles) for her 40th birthday. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with for her 50th!

Valuable Lessons Learned on Cycling Tour...

* Don’t believe a little old lady who offers a “shortcut.” It wasn’t fun pushing our bikes through the sand (sadly, we’re just pretending to ride here), just to turn around and go on the original path that we thought was correct.

* Just because an area prints a map of bike paths, doesn’t mean that they actually have bike paths. Case in point was this hilly 55mph highway with no shoulder.

* Always make sure to carry food and water as some country routes have no restaurants or shops.

* Don’t forget your camelbak unless you want to do an extra 3.75 miles alone.

Fine Dining in Sweden...

One of the advantages of cycling so long each day was that there was no guilt whatsoever about what we ate. And it was also very easy to justify that we deserved fine dining after all our efforts. My favorite meal was on the coast in Kivik where I ate a cold seafood buffet featuring varieties of herring, salmon and mackerel. That night we drank local hard apple cider that was fantastic. Mat made us a delicious seafood soup, and on our final evening at Camilla’s house, we had an amazing seafood smorgasbord. Only Marianne managed to lose weight on this trip. Camilla and I like to think it’s because muscle weighs more than fat, but it’s probably because ice cream weighs more than sorbet.

Last Day of Cycling in Sweden...

I wasn’t originally scheduled to cycle on our last day, but finally came to the realization that that’s what we do--we get up and we ride. While Camilla drove Natasha and Lizzie to the ferry, Marianne and I set out for a 40.5 mile ride along the western coast. This was the only day that we were actually on official separated bike paths for most of the day. The scenery was lovely as we passed through Helsingborg and on down to Landskrona. We made it to the ferry to Ven with just a minute to spare (good thing we didn’t stop for a drink!) Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with the idea of going to this island; as the hottest day of the summer, it seemed that 1/2 the Swedish population was there. After a quick lunch and swim, we headed back to catch an early ferry, which gave us time for another enormous ice cream before meeting Camilla for our ride back to our overnight ferry.