Samma, did your in-laws choose the wintertime for a specific purpose? I think it's not the best time weatherwise, but you will sure get better rates at hotels, no crowds, etc.
If you are planning on visiting any museums in Paris, the first Sunday of every month they are all free.
Do your MIL and FIL have any travel itinerary and things they want to visit? Paris is great for shopping, but quite expensive. However, every woman must at least buy a bottle of perfume in one of the Champs Elysees boutiques.

We are going to Goa (never been, hear great things) Brazil and NY. In which order though I am not sure yet

I think the timing had more to do with getting it on the calendar. Last year they gave us a cruise, but we never 'collected' due to scheduling issues. So this year, they upped the ante and we just pulled the first available time that worked for all 4 of us.
My husband's grandfather was a WW2 airforce gunner, so we will visit the airport and town he flew out of, and the Normandy beaches. My husband is bummed because the weather means he can't find a dive operator to scuba with.
Love the perfume tip -- I'm dying to try the wines, breads and cheeses!

There's nothing better than a picnic with a fresh fragrant baguette and French cheese.
When you're in Paris I suggest that you visit the Latin Quarter. It offers a significant number of nice bistros and restaurants (excellent food, great wine!) It's right next to Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. Btw, I strongly recommend that you visit the cathedral itself and climb the tower stairs to the top for some gorgeous views of Paris.

Seems like every time we travel we get stuck in a natural disaster. We were stuck in London when the volcano erupted in Iceland. We had to take a train to Brussels and rent a car to drive to Berlin because my hubby's grandmom passed away while we were vacationing in London. We were grateful to have already been in Europe but getting to the funeral with a 1 year old was awful!

Last year we went to Hawaii for 4 weeks and on our last evening there we had to evacuate to our hotel room on the top floor for a tsunami warning.

We won't be taking a vacation until summer since we are in the middle of buying a house and will need to renovate and decorate before we move in. Such a busy start to the new year already!

I'm so sorry you're unlucky in your travels... but do you want to know where we were when he volcano erupted? We were in Skaftafel NP, the closest point a person could be to Grimsvotn volcano. We stayed there at night, and when we woke up in the morning we couldn't believe our eyes 'cause you couldn't see anything. It was like a very dense black fog, and the visibility was close to zero. We had to clean the volcano ash off our car and since the road in the direction we were going was closed, we had to go back all the way around the island since they have 1 circle road and glaciers in the middle, so there was no other way except for drive back all the way around.
We had a lot of adventurous trips all around the world, and we still enjoy travelling. We will sure go back to Iceland and visit whatever we missed last time.

jcent - I lived in Canmore for a year, and ADORED going through the mountains, and visiting Lake Louise, walking the trail at Johnston's Canyon etc. I still dream of going back. Sadly, we're living in Ontario now, and it's LESS EXPENSIVE to take my family to Ireland for 2 weeks than it is for me to go to Alberta for a 5 day trip.

That's just crazy. I think that Canadian airlines or railways should make it a little less expensive for Canadians to explore their own country. Sheesh.

So, enjoy it while you can this year!

Oh, and I totally understand about wanting to travel somewhere without your kids. I love my DD, and our recent trip to DisneyWorld was great with her... but some destinations, I dream that it will be just DH and I. lol. I'm too nervous to leave DD behind though.

As for us - travels this year have been interrupted. We WERE going to Las Vegas in December for a relative's wedding... but said relative just announced she's pregnant and cancelled the wedding trip. Soooo, back to the drawing board for us! lol.

Dayna, I agree, Alberta is fantastic. Last time we visited Canada we got a great deal with AirCanada from Toronto to Calgary, so we really had no problems with that. Maybe we were just lucky.
I would gladly go back to Canada. We really enjoyed hiking in Banff, Jasper, and Yoho NP. The Icefields Parkway is spectacular. Of course, the glaciers you view there don't quite compare to what we've seen in Iceland and Patagonia, but it's a beautiful and relaxing drive anyway. We were fanatic about the wildlife, lots of black bears, elks... let alone squirrels. Wow. We really don't get that here in Europe, sooo cool!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the gorgeous lakes of all the possible shades of blue, turquoise, and emerald... wanna go back!!!

Utah.Rocks - I know what you mean! It's really beautiful and peaceful there. I miss it a lot at times. You're making me "homesick" for the mountains! LOL. Ah, I get nostalgic for pretty much any place and country I've been fortunate enough to live in.

Regarding the Elk... that reminds me of a funny story. There was a woman who came to visit the mountains, and she was glaring at a guidebook, clearly perplexed about something. I was passing by her while working (I worked at a resort there), and she stopped me to ask a question...

Woman: "Dear, AT WHAT ELEVATION DO YOUR DEER TURN INTO ELK?"

Me: Pardon? I don't understand...

Woman: "This guide book says at deer live at such and such an elevation, and that higher up, we'll see ELK. So, we thought if we go hiking, we can sit in a clearing at that elevation so we can watch the deer BECOME elk."

Me: stunned silence.

Woman: "You know what I mean? That would be AMAZING to see a deer morph into an elk..."

Me: Um, that's not exactly how it works...

I couldn't believe it, but she was SERIOUS. I had to explain that deer and elk were two different species, and that her guidebook meant that deer live in lower elevations, and elk in higher elevations. It actually took about 3 tries, explaining it in different ways, before she understood what I meant. LOL.

That poor lady. I think the elevation was getting to her.