Have Sister-in-law, Will Travel

This week continues the invasion of the visiting family members with a week long visit from my husband's sister, Gip. This is her second visit to us in the past year, and means loads of fun for my girls, free babysitting, and travel for us.

We spent Mother's Day weekend exploring the canals of Brugge, Belgium--A MUST SEE for those who haven't been there. It's called the Venice of the North, and for good reason. It's a city full of amazing old-world architecture, museum's that are just the right size, interesting history, great food, and all the cobblestone streets you can shake a stick at. We took a nice little boat tour and saw the city from it's many canals enjoying the spring flora and the 15th century architecture.

Our next stop was to Antwerp, also in Belgium, so see the diamond capitol of the world. On the whole, it was a disappointment after Brugge, but still worth a drive by if you want to dicker with old diamond and gold dealers. We visited because my in-law's visit there each year to buy their years supply of diamonds, so after hearing about it for so long, we decided to see the city itself.

We then loaded up in our fancy station-wagon, and drove to Delft in The Netherlands (aka Holland). Here toured a Delft porcelain factory full of the most scrumptious porcelain ever. Think toille on vases, tiles, and plates. We were so impressed with the artistry of it all (even my husband) that we invested in a beautiful vase to take home.

After all this fun, we drove home, a mere four hours away. I'm amazed that in this short distance away from our home in France, that we can cross the borders of two countries with their own languages and cultural personalities.