Hello from Japan!

We have had the rare experience of finding ourselves on three continents in one month. Late February, we left for France, on the ski trip to Meribel and the Three Valleys that John has always dreamed of. We were favored with the best snow they've had in the past few years, and the skiing was all John had hoped for. We were joined by our long time friends Kris and Becky.

The apex of the trip for John and Kris was a day with new snow and their guide Andre'. They are both steeps junkies and spent the day climbing to chutes and jumping off cliffs they had only dreamed of anywhere else. Becky and I stuck to the blue and red runs...

We took a side trip to Nice and Monaco, and fell in love with Nice. We sprang for rooms at the Hotel Negresco, and they upgraded us to a suite. Our room looked out over the Bay of Angels and the promanade by the water. The hotel is a grand old, regal landmark, and their art collection was really impressive. 

Everywhere we went, the people were delightful. The French in our group was limited to my few weeks of listening to Fodor's French for Travelers in the car before our trip. Living about 3000 miles from French Canada, it is not a language that makes it's way into our everyday lives very often. Almost everywhere we went, people spoke at least a little English, and where they didn't I could stumble through.

The girls stayed home this trip, and again this could not have turned out better: Hud stayed with them. Since his move to LaPine, they miss him like crazy, and there is no adult in this world they would rather have stay with them while John and I are away. It was so nice to talk with them and have their "I miss you" no less casual than when I'm gone for a day.

The other high of the trip was the Savoie foods. We ate the most amazing cheeses and sausages, and drank so many wonderful Vin de Savoies. It has been fun for us to juxtapose the French foods with the fish and sake here in Japan, which we also love. The other curiousity is meal times. Dinner in France is never early, the restaurants do not open until 7:00 and are not crowded until 9:00. Here in Japan, dinner is 6:00 or 6:30.

The downside of the trip, which was not a small one for us, is the weak dollar, especially against the Euro. It hit an all-time low while we were there, and seemed to purchase about 25 cents worth of anything. We broke records for us in money spent on a dinner out and a hotel room. Needless to say, we did not come back with many souvenirs. Next time, we will try to time our trip when there is a more favorable exchange rate. I do wonder, though, if it will bring more Europeans to the states, as it makes travel in the US a bargain for them.

Shortly after we set our France trip dates and paid for our apartments there, my brother told us he is moving from Tokyo to Yakima, Washington. While this makes it so much easier to visit him and his family, it takes away the cultural element from any visits. Although we really can't afford to make two huge trips like this back to back, we decided we really should take the girls back over spring break.

We started our trip heading to Izu-Oshima Island, and stayed in a charming little fishing town called Habu. We love finding out of the way, remote places that are not influenced so much by tourism. Children in the grocery store here stared at our little blondies, and the Japanese we told we were going there could not understand why, even those on the island. I admit it would be difficult to navigate without by brother and sister-in-law to interpret, but our stay was lovely.

Right now we are staying on Lake Chuzenji, in a traditional Japanese inn called Hotel Kojoen. It's right on the water, and we had snow the other morning. The view was breathtaking. We drove down to Nikko yesterday, spending half of the day in shrines and temples and the afternoon at Tobu World  Square. The latter has miniatures of over 100 of the archetectural marvels of the world. Many were from Japan, some of which we've seen the real buildings on a previous visit. Most were from all over the world. As excited as I was about the Tosho-gu Shrine, the girls were even more thrilled with the miniature world.

Our guests often "complain" that we feed them too much food. Now I am glad that we do so on the buffet, where they can choose to take as much or little as they like. Our rooms both here at the Hotel Kojoen and at the Sea Cliff in Habu have included breakfast and dinner. The food has been amazing, and the quantities overwhelming. We are learning to come to meals as hungry as possible, as we have not been able to finish otherwise.

Today we head back to Tokyo for our last couple of nights before heading home. It has been a wonderful trip. Traveling with my brother and his wife has been a great way to reconnect and get to know them better. We were never close as children, and he left for college when I was a sophomore in high school thirty years ago. Just as we see with extended family groups who stay with us at Rock Springs Guest Ranch, sharing new experiences together where nobody has to cook for or clean up after anyone else offers a unique opportunity to grow closer.

And, lastly, we always feel that our own travels make us better at what we do; host travelers. I always learn more about things that work in the rooms, remember how it feels to arrive road weary, and see what information these places have on their websites.