Part III Countries 5, 6 and 7

This post is way over due because we spent last week at the beach in Katwijk, Holland. I just could not bring myself to sit inside and work on the computer and now I am preparing for our international move which leaves me not much time for blogging . . .  So, here is a very belated conclusion of our 7 counties in 7 days adventure.

After we left the beautiful Swiss Alps we drove about 3.5 hrs to Country #5 Italy. It was a beautiful drive though part of the Alps then down to the Italian coast. We happily arrived at Savona, Italy where we had a wonderful but far too short visit.

(note: by this point we are all running low on laundry and my NGU shirts were not smelling so great)

A break for some sunshine and a seafood lunch by the Mediterranean at the Hotel Mare and then it was back on the road. 

Country # 6 France

We drove for another few hours to Les Issambres, Roquebrune-sur-Argens, France. A charming little beach town in the south of France.

The following pictures are from Les Issambres, St. Maxime and St. Tropez.

(yes still have not done laundry) 

This picture is on the ferry back from St. Tropez, which you can see in the back ground.

Beautiful evening in St. Tropez.

Swimmy girl in Les Issembres.

 This beauty of a beach is in St. Maxime. WOW it was gorgeous! The water was perfectly clear and wonderfully warm another must visit place.

And finally off to Country # 7 - Monaco

What can I say about Monaco, it's fancy & fun. Lots of fancy cars and fancy looking people whom either are celebrities or they think they are. It was really great people watching that is for sure. We were only really there for the afternoon so we did not get to see to much but it was fun to be there and we know we will be back. 

Phew we did it. 7 Countries in 7 days

It was a challenging trip but so much fun and so rewarding! We raised some money and I think lots of awareness. We spoke with many people about the the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation and SMA, people that were interested in knowing more and wanting to donate or help spread with word. The current tally is $6,009. And if you are reading this and wondering can I still donate, yes you can. Click here http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/7countries7days/lauriestonesfundraisingpage

Thank you to EVERY ONE who donated or shared our FB link or told a friend or asked more questions! We were humbled by the support from everyone. 

NEVER GIVE UP! And Go TEAM GSF!

Part II and country #4 Switzerland

After Luxembourg and Belgium we spent 8 hours making our way to Zermatt, Switzerland. The time includes the train time because Zermatt is a car free village in the Swiss Alps. 

Be prepared for photo over load because this place is so breathtaking that I could not resist! Hiking in Zermatt was a dream of mine and it was everything and more than I expected. It was one of the great highlights of my life and definitely the highlight of the trip...one for the bucket list.

I had to include this picture I took of Jessy at a gas station "Vineyard" only in Europe do they grow grapes at the gas station.

We had a great view of the mountains from our Hotel in Martigny, where we stayed outside of Zermatt. Long story short it was just more convenient to stay outside of Zermatt.

 Tasch is the name of the town where you can park your car and jump on a short train to Zermatt! 

Yahooooo!

Veronica and Connor counted waterfalls while we rode the train up. The view were just stunning!!!!!

Seriously  . . . "The hills are alive,

With the sound of music

With songs they have sung

For a thousand years" - Sound of Music

The hike was beautiful, but bit of a challenge since I could not see my feet with my sleepy sack of potatoes.

I love this shot of our friend Veronica just taking a minute to enjoy it all.  

Imagine this place covered in snow. . .

My cute boys sporting their NGU gear on our hike.

Cheers from Zermatt! 

Jessy was SO tired here that she ate most all of her lunch with her eyes closed . . . poor thing.

We made it to country # 4 and are thrilled to see the famous Matterhorn mountain! 

Until next time Switzerland, we love you! Thanks for taking our picture Connor. Good shot little guy.

We made it!

DONE!  We did it and made it to all 7 countries in 7 days.

The best part is that we raised an AWESOME $5,854 for the GSF and spread awareness about SMA to lots of good people who wanted to know more!!!! Hip hip hooray! 

And apologies for the late post as we did not have consistent access to wifi so this blog post is coming to you late.

COUNTRY#1:  Laren, Netherlands 

Our first stop: Laren, Netherlands, a mere 1.86 miles from Blaricum, the town we live in.  Laren is a beautiful little Dutch farming village that is charming, cute, have lots of animals for kids to see, and a quaint street with shops and restaurants that you can spend your day drinking wine, eating and milling about.  

Country #2

After our quick stop in Laren, we drove approximately 3.5 hours to Bastogne, Belgium.  Bastogne is where the famous, Battle of the Bulge took place during World War II.  The tank below is in honor of the 76,000+ american lives lost during the battle.  Near the city is also the Wood of Peace, where thousands of trees are planted to remember that deadly battle.  Interestingly, the forest is shaped like the UNICEF emblem and you can only see it from the sky.

Then from Bastogne we drove to the Besichtigung Castle, Luxembourg.  This should have been an hour drive but detours and touch and go navigation made it double that. On the plus side, we drove threw the rolling hills and quiet villages (when the kids weren't crying :-))  of Luxembourg. 

Besichtigung Castle

Doing a little toast at the castle ;)  

Above is the the view from the top...not to exciting especially compared to the view we had the next day in the Swiss Alps. Which is my next post . . . Zermatt Switzerland will blow your mind.

7 Days, 7 Countries for the GSF (the revised route)

On July 18 we will be embarking on a journey across 7 European countries in 7 days spreading awareness about SMA and helping raise funds for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. Below is beautiful Gwendolyn and a few of her best buddies including Connor.

Our goal is 3 fold:

• Spread awareness about SMA....the #1 genetic killer among young children.

• Raise MONEY for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation's research, advocacy, and support programs!! Please click here to DONATE.

• Teach our children that life is composed of many events (good and bad) and its not those events that make up who you are as a person, but how you react to those events.  Bill and Victoria Strong (the parents of Gwendolyn and founders of theGSF) are a symbol of how we should all lead our lives and that if you get knocked down, we can get up tomorrow and keep moving forward to inspire and make a difference.

***************************************************************

Below is the route of the 7 countries, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco that we will be visiting. Feel free to follow our journey via Facebook (Laurie Stone). 

Note: Origonally we were only going to visit Geneva in Switzerland and hike near there but I was really dreaming about visiting Zermatt Switzerland and seeing the famous Matterhorn. When we added Zermatt our route to Monaco changed to go through Italy. So we are swapping a stop in Germany for a stop in Italy.

For more information on the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation go to http://thegsf.org/home

Italy part 2 picture overload