Valley of the WHAT????

Valley of the Kings?  Well, I can tell you that the Walton's (the 70's t.v. show) lived like kings compared to us these past 2 days.  We were all in 2 small rooms!  But, let's start at the beginning.  We got to the Loire Valley by train from Paris.  We rented a car, a "renault".  I wish I could describe the renault, but words don't even come to mind.  The tires were like go-cart tires (important info for the rest of the story).  Traveling by car in a foreign country always proves interesting, but this time took the cake.  Wait, there was the time in Ireland that Todd took the side of a car out on a bridge!  Anyway, the renault got it's first scratch about 45 min. into the Zauggs having it. Todd hit a large green flower pot.  We all took turns trying to buff the green paint and scratch out!  The second day, the fate of the renault was worse.  Todd took on a curb off the freeway while on a phone call and shifting gears!  The next thing we hear (the children and me because Todd is still on his business call) is flap, flap, flap, flap.  I'm like, that can't be good.  We have 2 flat tires!  Let me just say how it ended, all of us riding in a French tow truck with a mechanic who had a real handlebar mustache and couldn't speak any English!  The good news is that we were all having a wonderful dinner by 9:00 and toasting to the valley of the kings!!
Ah, the valley of the king's castles!  The castles and chateaus are breathtaking!  They are surrounded by gardens, lakes, and hunting land.  Who knows if the children really appreciated them, but I do know they appreciated the garden mazes, spiral staircases, and sprawling balconies.  They raced, hid and played forever!  It was a great time, and it felt good to be in the "country".  Loved where we stayed.  We were in Amboise.  Our 2 room "apartment" was above an Italian restaurant right across the street from the Amboise castle.  Just down the street was the chateau that Leonardo de Vinci lived the last years of his life.  They had full size replicas of all of his inventions (believe it or not, he was more of an inventor than painter) on display in the garden.  They were hands on, so the children loved them!  It's been a great couple of days.  Great local wine, great food, and great fun!
We're off to Switzerland now.  We are going to meet some of Todd's family while we are there.  Looking very forward to that!  Just a quick few days and then off to Italy.....thank goodness!  We are thinking Italy is more our style.....loud talking.....lots of hand motions.....yelling "Pappa" out the window.....laughing loud, you get the picture!!!
Can't wait to give you the Switzerland highlights.  Glad that I'm able to blog again.  We've had some technical difficulties with internet and phone service.  We even missed Samson's birthday!  Thank you Leah and Matt for loving our baby and giving him a birthday party!  The children are worried that Sam is not going to want to come home!
Miss and love all of you!!! I'll leave with a Leonardo quote, "L'amour triophe de tout"! You can figure out what it means.  By the way, I reached an all time fashion low yesterday.  Rainey asked me if I had on pajama jeans!!!!  Pictures to follow (not of the pajama jeans).

Callie and Todd

THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 5 SECONDS SINCE TODD WANTS NO RECORD OF HIS DRIVING ERRORS ON THE INTERNET!!!