The Lavaja Diaries: The Lavaja's Come to Europe!

Family visits are the best, and waiting a couple years for either of our parents to come out to Europe made the Lavaja's recent trip that much sweeter.

Rusty's dad- Russ, surprised us in November when he told us he had arranged flights for him and Rusty's mom Susie, to come out for Christmas and New Year's. I was so, so happy we would be able to spend the holidays with them.

It was their first time to Europe, which made their trip even more exciting. They also wanted to see Italy, so we decided to do Paris for Christmas- what better time to explore the city of lights than Christmas?!, and Italy for New Year's.

I had never done much traveling with Rusty's parents before, so I didn't know what to plan for. Would they like to sight-see, do museums, would they like their days filled so they could see everything, or more relaxed so they could just enjoy the atmosphere? I made a list of ideas for each day, so we were ready for anything.

They arrived on the morning of Christmas Eve. Rusty had weights that morning- yes weights at 9am, right before their Christmas break begun...was that really necessary? Definitely not! I think sometimes the schedule is made just to annoy the players. But anyways, as I mentioned in some of my previous posts, I was stuck picking his parents up at the airport by myself.

Well, I am proud to say I have mastered stick-shift, and I use the term "mastered" loosely haha. But, I did make it to the airport- an hour and a half drive with some traffic, without stalling once! After many failed attempts at driving manual, I was pretty proud of that accomplishment. Of course once I got to the airport, I made Russ take over so I didn't have to drive in Paris, but hey, baby steps.

We headed to the hotel to get settled in and wait for Rusty, who was driving down to Paris with one of his teammates as soon as weights was over. Our hotel- Duc de Saint Simon was so perfect and so French. We had our own rooms, but they were connected through our own little hallway. Rusty arrived about an hour later and then our Christmas Eve celebrations begun!

Day One: Christmas Eve!

Checked into the hotel

I may have gone overboard with the pics (what else is new?), I loved the French decor!

Crio Bru

Russ and Susie brought a 5lb bag of Crio Bru (ground cocoa beans), so it became a daily routine.

Christmas Market

The market was huge and had great food, oh and the police escorted Santa down the street.

Dinner

We had dinner at Le Basilic- a recommendation from our hotel staff. The food was delicious.

Church

We ate dinner right next to a cathedral, so we walked over after we finished and I went to my first Christmas Eve Mass.

Presents

The Lavaja's came bearing gifts- a carry on full of presents from all the fam! We opened them in the basement of the hotel- definitely a new Christmas experience, but one to remember!