Weekend in Brittany - Nantes & Carnac

After Genia's parents arrived, we drove for a long weekend to Nantes, and some of the areas in Brittany north of it.  Our first stop was the Nantes castle, where we did a tour followed by lunch at the castle. 

After lunch we stopped at the "Machines de L'ile", a place where machines come to life.  Built on the site of an old shipyard, there were a number of fantastic mechanical animals, many of which we operated.  Gary loved it!  Check out their website. 

 

 

 

This was the first one that Gary operated.  
A fish with a propeller operated by the feet, 
plus a number of hand controls. 

 

Here Gary is getting instructions on operating the inchworm. 
He operated it flawlessly, forward and backward! 

 

Gary, Genia, and Gary got lifts on these funny chairs, 
for a better view of the flying mechanical heron below. 

 

Five people rode this ant at once.  
Each had a different control.  
The little boy on the right side 
(pictured below) was charmed!

The next project will be to build a huge tree outside, which will be ready in 2017, with two huge mechanical herons flying above. The tree will be 65 feet long and 20 metric tons. Gary and Tom walked on a prototype branch above. 

This is a view from the hotel in Nantes that we stayed in that night.  
The entire neighborhood was off limits to cars, except for unloading at the hotel. 

 

The next day we stopped in LaBaule, at the cottage ("Casa Maris") 
that used to belong to Tom's aunt and uncle. 

 

On the way to Carnac, we stopped at a harbor on the Golfe Du Morbihan.  
It was a beautiful sunny morning. 

We finally arrived at Carnac.  Here are pictures from one of the sites with the stones (menhirs).  They are from prehistoric times, and scattered around the area.  
There were over 3000 in the area. 

Weekend in Paris with Genia's Parents

 

On Friday December 5th we picked up Donna and Gary at the Paris Charles DeGaulle airport for a month stay!  We stayed and visited Paris with them for the weekend.  

We want to say that we had a very nice time with Donna and Gary for the month, but that towards the end of the month Gary started having some breathing problems that have been diagnosed as stage four lung cancer since he returned to Michigan January 5th.  

We feel devastated by this news.  

However, we still want to share with you all the great things we saw and did. 

Gary wanted to make a special arrival sign for Grandma and Grandpa! 

Our first afternoon in Paris we went directly to the Cluny medieval museum.  We were very lucky and found a parking spot directly in front of the museum, a rare feat!

 

We found a wonderful apartment in Paris through airbnb.  Here is a sunset that we enjoyed from the apartment.  Below is a view that we had of the Eiffel Tower.  

 

 

Here we are outside of the apartment.

 

Gary in the dining room.  Kitchen below.  

 

 

The morning after the arrival we went to the Eiffel Tower.  It was a beautiful clear sunny day.  Genia, Tom, and Gary climbed the stairs to the second level.  Here are Donna and Gary at the base of the tower.

 

Here is Gary at the second level.  

Below is a picture of the view from the stairs that we climbed.

 

 This is at the glass floor that is located on the first level. 

A picture showing the height of the tower, along with other shots at the top.

Genia loved all the beautiful fruit stands, florists, and flea markets around Paris. Below is Genia admiring the wares at one of the flea markets.

It was enchanting to do one of the flea markets at night before the holidays for Genia.  We just stumbled upon this one by accident, and it was huge.  

We bought a few Christmas gifts.

 

On day 3 Sunday morning we visited the Louvre. 

 

 

Donna got to move in front of the crowds to admire the Mona Lisa because she was in a wheelchair.

 Genia in front of the Winged Victory.