Running Through Germany and France

As most who've been reading over at my blog know ... Lewis and I went to Germany and France this past week. Below is an accounting of our days there, what we saw, where we went ... and there are dozens and dozens of pictures.

We had a truly, truly fabulous time. We stayed in Germany with Allen and Tina and their kiddos (Andie, Lauren, and Ryan) and they were the best hosts ever! Thank you so, so, so much Allen and Tina for letting us "crash at your pad!" Without you our trip would not have been possible and I just couldn't be any more grateful. It was nice to spend time with the cousins too outside the traditional family gathering settings of holidays, weddings and etc. (Though we do love seeing them at the traditional gatherings too!)

Anywho ... I learned the following things on my trip: 1 - speaking foreign languages is a plus, but not an out and out necessity of international travel. 2 - The United States is still the best nation on the planet (even though we are young, young, young compared to the places we visited!) and 3 - French women don't get fat because they walk a trillion miles and smoke a gazillion cigarettes.

Day 1 (Aug 30) - Depart Houston airport at 1:40PM

Day 2 (Aug 31) - Arrive in Frankfurt at 9:30AM. Allen and Tina pick us up! (Yeah!) We drive back to their home, say hello the kids ... and proceed to go. to. bed. We napped for two hours and then drove to Rothenburg, Germany. This is a town that's been around a very long time. It's midevil, and has a large stone wall all around the old part of the city. It's since grown outside that boundry. Inside the walls are shops and B&Bs (we stayed at one!) We walked around and had dinner, then went on the Night Watchman's Tour. He gives you a history of the town and its ups and downs throughout history. And he's veryt funny. Ryan loves him.

Day 3 (Sept 1) - Wake up and have breakfast at our B&B in Rothenburg. Do some more touring around the city, including the crime and punishment museum. Very gross in some places. The things people did to each other in the middle ages is disturbing. Not very civilized. We did some more shopping, then headed back home. The kids got pizza at the house, and us grown ups went out for dinner somewhere near Ramstein.

Day 4 (Sept 2) - Allen took us to Bitche, France, where we had a brunch / lunch at a cute little cafe and then toured the citadel there. This was a fort that the French holed up in during (most notably I guess) the Franco - Prussian war. The French lost, because, well short of Napolean, that's kind of what the French do. Hahaha. Short of Napolean. So pun-y! We also visited a castle near Allen's home. I took a gazillion pictures at both these places. Very beautiful country.

Day 5 (Sept 3) - Allen was so kind as to drive us to the train station at 6:30 to make our train to Paris. I was incredibly nervous about the trains and manuvering on our own without Allen, our resident German language specialist. But we did okay. Most everyone we ran into spoke at least some English and what you can't communicate with words you can do by pointing or looking confused. I did mostly the latter. Lewis took care of the former.

When we arrived in Paris we made our way to our hotel, which was just off Champ de Mars and the Eifel Tower. We checked in, dropped off our bags and headed off to explore. I almost got hit by a car I was giggling so much when we turned the corner and ran smack dab into the Eifel Tower. It's just so HUGE. And awesome. And such a thing I never thought to see. I was overwhelmed. So we walked to the Louvre ... which is really a lot farther than we should have walked. Our feet wouldn't hurt so much today if the first day we had taken the trains. We did the Louvre thing ... and for anyone that goes. Do not enter the Louvre through the turnstiles at the glass triangles. There is an underground exit you can get to from the Tuileries, and there is no line, and takes you straight to the little electronic kiosks to buy tickets.

So we saw the Mona Lisa ... and it was wonderful. But the weirdest thing about museums these days is digital cameras. Used to be, that seeing a camera at all made the security at these places jump all over you and ask you to put it away. The age of digital photography has sort of changed that. No flash? You can takes as much as you want. So there are hundreds of people all pushed against a rope to see ML, and they've all got digital cameras pointed at her.

It was strange.

After the Louvre we went to Notre Dame. So great. I could've sat in there all day and just marveled. 200 years it took them to build that place! After Note Dame, jet lag attacked for the final time. We had gotten up early and gone, gone, gone all day for 4 days. We were exhausted and tired by 5:00PM. So we got dinner, drank French wine (which is cheaper than the water) and went straight back to our hotel and went to bed.

Only issue with this ... well our feet were fried from walking like 10 miles around Paris, and we also woke up at 1:00AM. Not so smart. But, we did get to watch Wolf Blitzer talk about the RNC at 7:00PM EST. The joy of only one English channel.

Day 5 (Sept 4 - MEGAN's BIRTHDAY!) - We got up early and headed out to Versaille to the palace were Louis and Marie Antoinette ruled the party. :) It's a beautiful place. The gardens, which are free, are the very best part. The castle, take or leave. Except, the Hall of Mirrors is awesome and Marie Antoinette's bedroom was soooo cool.

After we got back to Paris we rested a bit and then went to the Arc de Triumphe. We went and had dinner at Les Deaux Maggots (where Hemingway hung out) and then went back to the Louvre to take pictures at night time (all lit up!) We then walked along the river to go back and see the Eifel Tower light up at night. Which happens on the hour, and we booked it (we really ran through Paris) to make sure we saw the last show of the night. We just made it. Running through Paris though is probably going to be the favored story though. ;)

Day 6 (Sept 5) - Last day in Paris. It's raining. Oh that's the other thing ... our weather was really fantastic the entire time. Not too cold, not rainy, just beautiful pre-fall weather. Except this last day. It rained on and off like all day. But a rainy day in Paris is probably better than a lot of rainy days other places.

Anyway. We got up early and checked out of the hotel, took our back packs and went to ride up the Eifel Tower. Something you have to do when you visit. Next, we went to the Orangerie Museum, where Monet's Water Lilies are in the circular rooms? They were his gifts to Paris, and they are breathtaking.

After this we went to have lunch on the Left Bank at a pizza place. Very good food. Oh this was across the street from St. Germain. We took the train from here to the island, to go see St. Chappelle. But we got in the wrong line, got tired of waiting in the rain after that, and gave up. We took the train up north to Sacre Couer and MonMartre. We walked around and saw all the bohemian places, including the Moulin Rouge. After that ... train back to the train station.

And by this time ... we were beat down and exhausted. Being a tourist is hard work! We got back to Germany just before 10PM and Allen and Tina picked us up. Next day, we went to the airport at 9:00AM, and headed back home. We landed in Houston at 730 on Saturday, and we drove back home today.

Whew! I'm tired just writing that! We really did have a terrific time, and seeing Allen and Tina was excellent fun. Like I said ... I took hundreds of pictures. All of which will be available HERE and HERE (Paris). As soon as I get them uploaded. Next stop on my international travels ... not sure. But I'd love to see London!