On to Germany, Day 5

So on Friday we left our B&B in France and headed for the German border, our destination Frankfurt. It's about 370 miles from the Disney park area to Frankfurt, so it was over a six-hour drive. I planned this one longer driving day so that the rest of our time down the Romantic Road (a famously picturesque route between Frankfurt and Munich) would be more leisurely. The drive was beautiful, too, and we enjoyed seeing the French countryside with it's pretty rolling hills, tiny towns, and bright blue skies. We even got to see this unique highway art; it did make the drive a lot more interesting, and it was interesting already!

Our first challenge on the drive was trying to figure out which pump to use at the gas station, but we were able to find some very friendly English-speaking folks also headed to Germany who helped us. Knowing French would have been so helpful in these tight spots! But we bumble through, don't we?

The second challenge and the most interesting thing about the drive was that we didn't see a border crossing. We were expecting something obvious (you know, like a sign that said, "Hey, Americans, pull over and validate your passports right here"), but we didn't see anything--no signs, no obvious border, nothing. The only way we knew that we had crossed into Germany was that the towns abruptly changed. The towns in France were somehow more haphazard and busy than the ones in Germany, and the second we crossed into Germany we noticed the neat little towns with houses painted in muted earth tones, uniformly-colored roofs, and a completely different feel. Not having seen anywhere to do anything with our passports, we just kept driving. (I know, you're thinking that wasn't such a great idea, and the passport-checking border officer at the Munich airport several days later would certainly agree with you...live and learn, live and learn.)



The tufty trees (see pic--well, what would you call them?!!?) ended up being my favorite part of the French leg of the drive, and all of the quaint little villages were my favorite part of the German leg. AND, we thoroughly enjoyed the drive. It was amazing to see such beautiful scenery, and the 6+ hours really didn't seem like that long (except for Kyle and Don, who were driving).

Our cool stop on the way was right before Frankfurt, where we went to the Frankfurt temple. Like some of the other temples in bigger cities, you can't see it until you're right on top of it. In fact, we thought we had taken the wrong road until we were almost literally in the parking lot. The temple is on a side street, and it's tucked between houses, condos, etc. It's also VERY beautiful.


When we got to Frankfurt, it was pretty much like other big cities, only with German signs (the kids particularly liked "ausfahrt," which means exit but is very funny to an American ten-year-old) and fewer traffic laws. After checking into our hotel, we went for dinner and ended up a schnitzel place. It was amazing food--nicely breaded and deep fried huge cuts of meat with a variety of tasty sauces, very delicious and more to my liking than most of the French food we had eaten...I guess I'll always be a meat and potatoes gal. The funny thing that happened at dinner was that we asked the very nice owner/waiter if it would be possible to have tap water, and he smiled and said, "This is Germany--we don't do that here." I know, I read Rick Steve's guide books, but you can't blame a girl for trying...

France Days 3 and 4 -- Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris consists of two parks, Magic Kingdom and Disney Studios (the MGM Studios equivalent), with the same rides you find in the states, though Disney Studios has fewer than MGM. We spent one day in each park and had a great time. If you've been to Disney World in Orlando, Disneyland Paris is pretty much the same experience but with rides/attractions in both French and English (and a few in French only). Even the shows have English-only show times.


I was happy after the first ride on the first day, my favorite ride on the planet, THE ROCKIN' ROLLER COASTER--yah, baby! It's a g-force coaster with all the speed, loops, and turns of a traditional coaster but none of the huge drops and stomach-in-your-throat unpleasantness; and, to put is simply, it ROCKS, pun intended!

The rest of the two days were exactly what you'd expect, with all the glitzy, shamelessly-overpriced fun Disney provides. It was exactly what we went for, and we all loved it.

My favorite quote came from Eryn about half way through the first day after riding the Star Wars ride: "This would be a lot more fun if they'd just stop speaking French!"

Paris Day 2

The next day we awoke to snow (yes, snow, which we were also sadly unprepared for), ate breakfast (including much Nutella), and headed into Paris. (Even though it was April, the weather was pretty darn cold the whole time we were in France, and we were glad to have the jackets and sweatshirts we did think to bring.) This day we did the ultra-touristy open-top bus tour. It was a great way to park and simply ride to all of the places we wanted to see. The highlights of the day were, of course, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, but we also really enjoyed the audio commentary on the bus and simply seeing the beautiful, intriguing city. And, yes, we did ride on the open top of the bus, cold and all!

We found at the Eiffel Tower that you are able to buy less expensive tickets than what we were expecting. AFTER we bought them, however, we found out that there is a reason they are less expensive--they are for the uber-adventurous souls who want to climb the whole way up and not ruin their genuine Eiffel Tower experience with pesky little details like elevator rides. Once you've purchased your ticket, you're locked in, however, so up we climbed...and climbed...and climbed...and climbed (hmmm, reminds me of a children's pioneer song) until we reached the observation level. This level allows you a comprehensive view of Paris and is spectacular. For those foolish, er, I mean adventurous enough to want to do it, you can then climb to a second observation level several stories even higher, where you get the same phenomenal view from a slightly higher and more thigh-straining height. And, yes, of course we did it. For the ultimate experience, you can then pay more to take an elevator to the very very top, but we decided that we had gone nosebleedingly high enough already and had fulfilled our life long Eiffel Tower-climbing need. Though it is textbook cliche, this truly was a once-in-a-lifetime, incredible experience that I oohed and aahed (and occasionally groaned) all the way through.

Eiffel Tower coolometer rating: 10 (yep, it is what it is, and what it is was dang cool)

Then it was on to Notre Dame. This incredible church is over 1000 years old and oozes history. Beyond impressive in all its grandeur, the throngs of tourists mill about in awed reverence for what it represents. After taking our requisite pictures outside, we got in line with the horde or other tourists to make our way inside, watching an interesting gypsy lady who was asking everyone in the crowd whether or not they spoke English and then asking them for money (American tourists are apparently the most generous). The inside of the cathedral was spectacular, with breathtaking stained glass, intricate wood carvings, and beautiful paintings. We were even there during mass, with the tourists milling about around the outside of the roped-off worshipping area and the priests performing mass as if no one was gawking at them. It was an interesting juxtaposition. When we went back outside and continued around the exterior to the opposite side of the building, we were surprised to find a small park in the courtyard. An unexpected find, the kids played for quite a while, shouting and laughing in the shadow of the massive structure. My only disappointments were that I didn't catch a single glimpse of Quasimoto (maybe he had the day off) and not one person shouted "Sanctuary!" Maybe next time. Kyle did tell a very funny joke about about Quasimoto's cousins, though. You should have him tell it to you. (The picture is Derik being Quasimoto, by the way.)

Notre Dame coolometer score: perfect 10 (the cathedral was incredible, and the children getting to play equipment was icing on the cake)This one goes on my most memorable life moments list.

Other notable things we saw on the open-top bus tour: The Champs de Elysses, Grand Boulevard & Arch de Triumph, Palace, Bastille, Opera house, and a whole bunch of other things I can't pronounce



To top off the day, we were able to find a restaurant for dinner (complete with a great waiter who actually spoke English and was great with the kids) and then successfully made it back to our B & B for the second night in a row! You go, Kyle!

After everything we had heard about Paris and the warnings we received from former travelers, we were pleasantly impressed. We had expected people to not be friendly, but the only person we dealt with the two days we were there who was even unpleasant was the parking garage attendant at the Louvre.

What a great experience!

Next adventure...Paris Day 1

Well, life goes on, and so does the adventure...

Right after I returned from Utah, Kyle and I, the kids, and Don and Carolyn (Kyle's parents) left for Europe. We were gone for just over a week, and we spent four days in France and four in Germany (two days in Paris, two at Disneyland Paris, and then four driving the "Romantic Road," or Romantische Strasse, between Frankfurt and Munich and visiting towns along the way. Since we were so close to Austria, we even took a short drive over the border into Austria just to do it (and to buy cheaper gas).

Just for the record, it was one fantastic trip!!!

Day 1: Paris

There are several different ways to get to Paris from here--train, ferry, eurostar/chunnel--it turned out to be most cost effective for the nine of us to fly into Paris and then rent small cars to "motor" through Germany. So, cost always being an issue with a family our size, that's what we did. We left London via Heathrow airport, which is easily accessible by the underground from our house, and flew straight into Charles De Gaulle aiport. We then struggled through the language barrier to find the rental car area and then make sure that we weren't signing away any of the children. Since we still have them all and we haven't had any massive charges on our credit card, it went alright! We then decided, so as not to waste valuable daylight sightseeing hours, to drive straight into the city.

Driving in Paris is an experience, to say the least! And I thought London was crazy!!! With Kyle doing a great job navigating the sea of driving insanity and the help of "Jane" our gps, we eventually arrived at the Louvre. We were pleased to actually find parking, figure out what to do with our garage ticket, and begin our quest to see the Mona Lisa before the museum closed for the day--each a feat in and of itself. We spent the next few hours searching for the most famous works of art in the museum (Venus de Milo, Psyche and Cupid, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, etc.), and we even eventually found the Mona Lisa. After fighting your way upstream through the mass of other tourists to get a glimpse, she looks just like you'd expect her to: 15 or so feet away and behind tons of bullet-proof glass. Joking aside, it was pretty cool to actually see the painting in person and to see the rest of the cool things we saw (and I actually recognized some of them from pictures in humanities books--look who didn't sleep through EVERY humanities 101 lecture...big grin). The children's favorites were a little less traditional: a baseball-playing Greek god sculpture (sporting a club that looks like a baseball bat), a sculpture of a Greek lady on a couch that looked real, a painting of a man with a face on the back of his head, and two paintings that show a front and back perspective of the same two guys fighting to the apparent death. Go figure. After our whirlwind museum experience, at 6:30 the museum unceremoniously kicked us out into the very cold rain (for which we were sadly unprepared), but even the rain couldn't make the outside of the Louvre and the iconic pyramids any less interesting.

After both our Louvre experience and our experience at the Vatican museum last month, I'm going to choose to believe the following: cultural experiences do somehow seep into children's head even while they chant the "what's so great about that," "when do we get to see something interesting," and "are we done yet" chorus. Please indulge my fantasy.

We then went in search of food, eating dinner in a small cafe that actually had an English menu and very nice staff. After such a long day, our crepes and sandwiches were a welcome feast. The only real glitch came when it was time to pay for our parking. The automated machine wouldn't read our card, and I had to try to communicate the problem to the attendant. Since she spoke no English and I don't speak French, resolving the issue was pretty challenging, but I can honestly say that all of those Monday night games of charades have finally proven useful.

Louvre coolometer rating: 9 (because we really needed more time than we had and it was a rush sightsee)

Renting the cars made it so that we weren't forced to stay on Disney property, which is even more expensive during spring break than it usually is; instead we stayed at a very nice bed and breakfast about six miles from the park and simply drove into the Paris both days we went in. The cars ended up both being small Mercedes, and they got between 34 and 40 miles per gallon the whole trip (almost makes you want to spend the extra to get the impressive gas mileage!).


The B & B (a nice country property with quaint and nicely-renovated cottages and barns) was called the Domain De Bellevue, and we stayed there quite comfortably for four nights. Being Europe-unsavvy Americans, we didn't think to bring little incidentals like soap and shampoo, but we were able to find a small grocery store in the nearby town where we could buy those things and pack ourselves quite a tasty daily picnic for lunch. Lack of toiletries aside, it was a very nice few days and the most comfortable of all our trip accommodations.

Dad

Well, my dad did pass while I was in Utah, and it was a surprisingly good experience. He died as he lived--steadfast and immovable, with dignity and unwaivering faith. I'm eternally grateful for the life he lived and the example he is to me and all those he touched. I'm also grateful that he was finally able to go home and is no longer in such excruciating pain. I miss him a ton, but it's ok.