The Mallorys in France

Well, we have officially kicked off the summer travel season here in Strasbourg, France and this year's opening ceremony was highlighted by a long overdue visit from my family. My mom, dad, and two sisters (Elizabeth and Nancy) made the journey over the pond (as we say in the Navy) to Europe for a little over a week to see us and take in the sights.

The first few days we were able to show my parents some of the highlights of strasbourg, to include:
The Cathedral:

La Petite France, where we enjoyed a delightful Alsatian specialty known as Tarte Flambée:


On the walk home along the river we strolled passed the infamous "bar barges" of Strasbourg or also known as "Strasbourg plage" or in English, Strasbourg Beach. The barges are permantly tied to boardwalk and offer cool refreshments and and relaxing evening on the River Ill during those warm summer days here in Strasbourg...if those exists?

The following day a few of us brave Mallorys ventured to the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg that towers over the city. If you can bare the 333 winding and perilous steps to the top then the views on a clear day are beautiful. On this day we were able to see the Vosges mountains in France to the East and the Black Forest Mountains in Germany to the West. Our house is just over my mom's left shoulder in this picture.

No visit to Strasbourg is complete without walking tour of the European Institutions in Strasbourg. Our first stop was ARTE, a Franco-German television network with a odd "girafe-man" that guards the front door:

We also stopped to see the European Parliament building in Strasbourg:


The European Parliament is the legislative body of the European Union and is permanently headquarted in Brussels, however the plenary sessions meet in Strasbourg for 3 days (in political math that is a week) every month. For one week a month, 736 European Union deputes (and their numerous aides), representing 27 EU member states converge on Strasbourg to legislate on anything from the EU budget to approving European Union Commission Members.


We also strolled through the green and lush Parc de l'Orangerie in Strasbourg, which is famous for its storks.


Here my Mom is pointing at the stork that she says will be bringing our baby in December....yep......you read that right, a new addition to the Mallory family will be arriving in early December and we couldn't be more excited!


Stay tuned....up next for the Mallorys...we trek to Paris, visit Versailles, Nancy marches down Champs-Elysées and last, but certainly not least, our afternoon at Monkey Mountain.

We won't be posting the rest of these adventures for a week or so though, as we are heading south to Barcelona and Lisbon for a week. When we return, we will finish posting the Mallory family adventures.