TRAVEL DAYS 2015 IRELAND, SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, SKYE AND PARIS

After a painful start to 2015 (see previous blog post) we prepared to leave our home in California and head to Scotland with Natalie in tow for her graduation gift; a trip to Northern Ireland for a quasi Game of Thrones tour, continuing into the Highlands of Scotland and Skye and an extended stay in Moffat.   Just to cap off our trip we will spend another 6 days in Paris with Jillian and Alison!

Gordon and I had travelled to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland the year before (see 2014 Blog posts) but were excited to be going back to show Natalie some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  Well, the world we've seen so far!

We took off the very end of August saying farewell to our kitties Teddy and Gerdy for 6 weeks.  Gordon had just been very ill and was on two types of antibiotics for diverticulosis so we had a bit of a precarious start and were a little worried about our trip to Ireland as it started so soon after our arrival into Scotland.

Teddy tried to sneak in Natalie's luggage!

After about 4 days to acclimate to the new time zone we zipped off again down through southwest Scotland to catch the ferry to Larne, Ireland before heading around the Antrim Coast.  Another easy 2 hour voyage across the Irish Sea and soon we were taking the scenic route with Natalie staying again at the Whitepark House B&B with "Uncle Bob".  We had beautiful rooms and took off right away to explore with Natalie the Dark Hedges, The Giant's Staircase, the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge, Whitepark Bay Beach and many other sights including areas used to shoot scenes for the Game of Thrones.  In fact, they were shooting while we were there but unfortunately we didn't run into any actors.  Natalie and I had our eyes WIDE OPEN in search of Kit Harrington, aka, Jon Snow!

First class delivery on the Ferry to Larne, Ireland.

The Dark Hedges, Antrim, Ireland

The cliff's at Dunluce Castle.

The ruins at Dunluce.

The Giant's Causeway.

Natalie carefully picking her way down the basalt columns.

Carrick a rede rope bridge!

The sun breaking through on the northern coast of Ireland.

Whitepark Bay Beach walk.

An old fishing boat.

The Iron Isles!

It was a fun but busy 3 days in beautiful northern Ireland before heading back into Larne and the Ferry for Troon on the Scottish Coast.  We spent an evening in Glasgow eating Indian food and staying in the funkiest hotel before heading up into the Highlands.

Funky Glasgow hotel.

Our drive up was uneventful into the spectacular Highlands of Scotland.  Natty had us stopping along the way every chance she could get to take pictures for reference in her drawings.  The Highlands of Scotland has been a dream of hers and rightly so, the scenery really is breathtaking.

We stayed at a little B&B that Gordon, Jillian and I had stayed in several years ago right on the banks of Loch Ness.  Pretty centrally located for the touring we wanted to do.  The next day we took off for Fort William (think Outlander, another series Natalie and I love) to catch the "Harry Potter" train up to Mallaig on the Northwest Coast of Scotland, a tiny but scenic fishing village.  We had purchased first class tickets which included seating styled after the carriages used in the Harry Potter films and scones and tea.  Fun!

Driving up into the Highlands.

Glen Etive and wildflowers.

The valley pass by Glen Coe.

Loch Ness and the view from our rooms.

Gordon and Natalie get a first hand look at the Loch.

The Harry Potter Train!

On the train ready to enjoy tea and scones while heading up to Mallaig.

Look familiar?  Watch out for dementors!

A fishing boat dry-docked for repair and painting.

The little town of Fort William.

Natalie and Gordon get a closer look at Glen Etive.

The Loch's south of Loch Ness.

Looking north toward Loch Ness.

The early morning sunrise over Loch Ness before our drive to Skye.

The next day we drove the stunning road to Skye past the Eileen Donan Castle and over the bridge onto the lovely island.  Natalie wanted to hike the Old Man of Storr so that's what we did, stopping along the way for coffees and scones and other interesting scenic landmarks.  It was a drizzly day but still beautiful.

Eileen Donan Castle.

Low tide by Eileen Donan Castle.

Hallo Highland cattle.

Beautiful hills in Skye

The waterfall at Kilt Rock.

Old Man of Storr beyond the Loch.

A closer view of the "Old Man" but still a distance away.

A little closer view of the rock with tiny people standing next to it!

The views from the top looking northwest on Skye.

It was a wee bit windy up there!

Gorgeous scenery!

The hike to the Old Man was tough.....very steep and rugged but I'm so glad to have done it and enjoyed the fabulous scenery once we reached the top.  Definitely a highlight of our trip into the Highlands.

While we were doing all this traveling around over 7 days, Jillian had arrived into Moffat with her friend, our friend, Flora.  The girls had left before us from L.A. and travelled to Stockholm, Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, London (where there was a screening of Jillian's Trichster Film...therefore the whole trip a write-off!!) before flying up to Scotland to spend a few days in Moffat.  So when we finished our tour of Ireland and the Highlands and drove the long hours home to Moffat, Jillian was waiting for us.  Flora had left a couple of days before.

It was a blast having both girls with us in Moffat and we entertained our Moffat friends, took lots of beautiful walks and went down into the Lake District of England for a day - mostly to buy wine at this nice little wineshop, but also to show Natalie the lovely Lake District.

Back in Moffat at he Balmoral Beer Garden.

Views from one of our many walks.

Loch of the Loughs.

Coming down from the Gray Mare's Tail.

Loch Skeen above the Gray Mare's Tail.

Always working!  Gordon in front of the Peel Tower in Moffat.

Tea and scones at Floors Caste!

Abbotsford, Sir Walter Scot's home.

The ruins of Melrose Abbey.

Floors Castle and the Roxborough Estate.

Ambleside tiny home on a stone bridge.

Waverly Station in Edinburgh.

The Pub!

Writer's Square.

Across Princess Street Garden's looking up to the Royal Mile.

Scott's Monument.

The Royal Mile in the distance.

About the middle of September the four of us flew off to Paris where Alison had just arrived on a red-eye from NYC.  After we connected at the airport, kind of a challenge I'm not gonna lie as Charles DeGaulle is HUGE, we had a car drive us to the Left Bank and a cute, top floor flat through VRBO not far from Notre Dame Cathedral.

We climbed Notre Dame, the Arch de Triomphe,  millions of stairs in the Paris Opera House looking for the Phantom, the hill to Mont Martre.  We took the bus tour of the city and got caught in a rainstorm on top of the double-decker bus, laughing hysterically!  We toured the Seine by boat.  Saw the Eiffel Tower twinkle with a million lights on the hour.  Walked the streets of the Cluny District endlessly and overstuffed our faces with pastries to die for while drinking delicious strong coffee.  We also were able to meet up with a couple from our Supper Club, Shar and Marc Reisfelt for an evening of debauchery and walking.

Chatelet Metro Stop Paris.

Onion Soup and Rose in the Cluny District....Ali's first of many bowls.

The Opera House.

The Grand Entry of the Paris Opera House.

Notre Dame Cathedral.

After a hefty walk up many many stairs we reach the top of the Cathedral for.....

......spectacular views!!!

The gargoyles.

Notre Dame at night.

We enjoyed many, many STRONG coffees!

The Cluny District.

Speaks for itself.

Inside the Louvre and the pyramid.

The Moulon Rouge below Monte Martre.

The Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur, Mont Martre

The meeting point stairs in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris!

Bridge over the Seine by Notre Dame and three beautiful women, Alison, Jillian and Natalie

Hooking up with Marc and Shar!

Arc de Triomphe

The Iron Lady

Our view from our rooftop flat.

The Luxembourg Garden with the Pantheon in the distance.

Quayside stairs down to the Seine.

Yummy pastries!

Our first view from our Flat on the Left Bank.

I can truly say it was one of the best vacations of mine and Gordon's lives.  The girls instantly fell in love with Paris and all the bad crap from earlier in the year just melted away and we melted into that beautiful City eating fondue, drinking lots of wine, tasting all the fabulous sweets and seeing all the wonderful sights Paris has to offer.  Within days the girls were scheming how they could come back and live for a while.  Who doesn't fall in love with Paris!?!

Our dream vacation and over too quick after six days.  So we said goodbye to Alison and flew back to Scotland to finish another week with Jill and then Jill left flying back to L.A. leaving the three of us another week in Moffat to get things in order before heading back to the U.S.

Just weeks after our return Paris suffered the terrible terrorist attack.  The first picture above at the Chatelet Metro stop was the scene of horrible carnage.  Our entire family was in shock and so saddened that such a beautiful city with such wonderful and welcoming people would have to go through this shocking crime.

Just a fabulous time together with our little family making unforgettable memories.