Mom was so wistful about the trip - it sounded like she might really enjoy coming along.   Little did she know that Barb and I would decide to take her on the cruise as a sort of early birthday present  (Hint - it was to be a milestone birthday, but you'll have to guess from the photos which one it was).

So we planned to fly to Barcelona for a one week Med cruise.

But one thing sort of led to another.

I didn't want to fly to Barcelona, arrive on the day of the cruise, and then fly out again right after the cruise.  I decided that even though Barb couldn't  take off from her Pawmer House Pet Hotel business, Mom and I could still extend our trip.

I let Mom choose a European city that she might enjoy, and she chose Paris.  I told her I would fly to Chicago, join up at the airport, and then fly together to Europe.

Well ... you can't go to Paris for just a couple days.   And then I just had to go to Mont St. Michel ...   So that part of the trip grew to nine days in Paris.

Click on the map for our destinations

Of course, then there was the 8-days for the cruise, which was the centerpiece of the trip.

Then, when we returned to Barcelona, we spent a day there due to airline schedules.

And then, well, you can't fly directly from Barcelona to Chicago ...  so, since we had to fly through someplace, we picked London.   By now you can predict what happened ...  we didn't want to just change planes in London.   So, we needed to spend another few days there, too

All in all, I think Mom and I were gone for about 26 days.

It turned out to be the best September on record.

   PARIS  

  BARCELONA  

   CRUISE  

  LONDON