— France —

Loire Valley Road Trip – Château de Chaumont, Château Royal d’Amboise, and staying in Château Le Prieuré – La Maison Younan

January 18, 2026

Another beautiful sunny day to explore the fairytale chateaus of the Loire Valley! After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started our road trip to explore more chateaus along the way to our next stay at Château Le Prieuré – La Maison Younan near the town of Saumur. The first chateau we visited… Read More Loire Valley Road Trip – Château de Chaumont, Château Royal d’Amboise, and staying in Château Le Prieuré – La Maison Younan

— France —

Loire Valley Road Trip – Château de Chenonceau, Château de Cheverny, and the largest Chinese buffet ever!

December 30, 2025

The morning sun started to light up Château de Chambord as I peeked out the window. I got ready first and then went to wake up the kids, no time to waste as our reservation at Château de Chenonceau was at 9 AM! Breakfast was included as we are Hilton Gold members, the spread wasn’t… Read More Loire Valley Road Trip – Château de Chenonceau, Château de Cheverny, and the largest Chinese buffet ever!

— France —

The Fairytale Chateaus of the Loire Valley – Chateau de Chambord and its Horse Show

December 13, 2025

I have been dreaming of having a road trip to visit the fairytale chateaus of the Loire Valley for years; our last visit was over a decade ago via a day trip from Paris on a van tour. The day trip was really rushed to see four chateaus in a day so this time with… Read More The Fairytale Chateaus of the Loire Valley – Chateau de Chambord and its Horse Show

— France —

Paris with kids – see Van Gogh’s paintings at Musée d’Orsay, sail boat at Jardin du Luxembourg, Seine River Cruise

November 15, 2025

From Vienna, we did a “stopover” in Paris for 2 nights to use Jason’s 3 Marriot 50K free night certificates. Our flight arrived at 8:00 PM so instead of taking public transportation, it was easier and actually not that much more expensive to take a taxi because taxi from the airport to central Paris and… Read More Paris with kids – see Van Gogh’s paintings at Musée d’Orsay, sail boat at Jardin du Luxembourg, Seine River Cruise

— Austria —

The Kid-Friendly Vienna: Sisi Museum and The Children’s Museum at Schönbrunn Palace

September 28, 2025

Before the kids’ school started, we took another trip to Europe! I had plenty of Air France miles and they do expire in 24 months without activity and the recent unannounced devaluation made me expedite my usage of them. Plus, Jason has 5 free 50K Marriott night certificates from a credit card sign-up bonus so… Read More The Kid-Friendly Vienna: Sisi Museum and The Children’s Museum at Schönbrunn Palace