Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Gutentag, Germany!

From Paris, we took a road trip through FOUR countries in one day!  Coming from the states, where it's difficult to drive through four states in one day, it seems so exciting awesome to go through four countries in a few hours!  I'm also grateful for the European Union so driving through those four countries wasn't difficult because we didn't have to stop at every country and do the whole customs/passport delay!  Anyway... I digress... We went from France through Belgium to Luxembourg where we stopped for a bit and then continued on to Germany so Michael could get to his work meetings.


Stopping in Luxembourg was just as great as it sounds!  It was small but breathtaking! The buildings were picturesque, the views were picturesque, it was just lovely!



We got lost on one of these side streets.  We really did not mind! It was so breathtaking.  But we laughed because our GPS Siri was freaking out.  She kept saying to proceed to the highlighted route.  Hahaha!

We checked into our hotel in Mainz, Germany right next to the Rhine River! What a view! When Michael had meetings, the kids and I got to explore this cute town.  We enjoyed the walks on the river.  We were told that we were there with the best weather they had had all summer.  It rains a lot.  But for us, it was beautiful and sunny.   


Harrison woke up from his nap and loved the view too.



My favorite hydrangeas everywhere!

I also found an amazing burrito place which is worth documentation because Mexican restaurants are a rare commodity in Europe.  Loved it!

We spent one afternoon in the Gutenberg museum.  It was a beautiful building and I was fascinated to see the history of print and the monumental impact the Gutenberg Press has played throughout time!  It was really cool for me and the kids did great too. ;)


So great we had ice cream on the river and then our little Adelaide loved finding her name on a sign.








We had so much fun walking around this town and enjoying the views and yummy food!  It was a great, short visit!


Saturday, September 10, 2016

Paris is Always a Good Idea

Before we came to Europe, we made a list of our top places that we wanted to see while we were here.  Paris was on mine since I had never been before.  A lot of the others on my list were able to coincide with some work trips of Michael's but unfortunately, they had had a big work meeting in Paris right before we left and so there wasn't a direct need for Michael to go there.  Fortunately, things like that don't stop my husband from making things happen!  He knew he had some work meetings in Germany and Switzerland so he made it so that we could fly into Germany and drive to Paris for the weekend! (He loves me!) And oh! How magical it is!


Sadly, our trip started off rough.  We were at the airport by 6 AM for our early flight to Germany where we were planning on driving to Paris from there.  However, we got to the airport and they said our flight had been delayed until 3:30 PM that day! WHAT!? Because of that delay, we asked if we could switch to the direct flight to Paris.  That was working for us, but then we had to worry about getting a rental car in Paris but returning the rental car in Germany was going to cost big so we were trying to figure that all out.  By some miracle, when we FINALLY got to Paris, they said they didn't have any cars except one with German plates.  We said we could return that to Germany for them so we didn't have to pay the return fee! MIRACLE! After all that crazy of a day, it was late and we were pretty exhausted so we got to the hotel in Paris and fell asleep.

Trying to stay distracted at the airport...

Laila thought these were hilarious

Perfect carry on size!


The next day, we spent most of the day driving out to Versailles and enjoying the opulant palace and gardens there! It's pretty incredible!

Good thing the driveway is huge so that it can hold the line it takes to get in. ;)










There is a special exhibit there right now.  This is one piece.  Another is the "floating" waterfall in the gardens. It only turns on a few times a day so I saw it on while we were in the palace but couldn't get a good picture outside.



Laila took this one for us! 



That evening we went to Sacre Coeur in Paris.  We enjoyed the walk to the top, the view and the yummy dinner we had there.





Not the best photo thanks to us hustling home for bedtime, but macarons must be documented. ;)


The next day was jammed pack trying to fit in as much as we could before Michael had a big work meeting.  It started with the Eiffel Tower!  We went all the way to the top and loved seeing the city!



The European Cup was in Paris while we were there so they had this giant soccer ball hanging from the bottom of the tower.

They also had that huge, blue screen in the park below that crowds could gather to watch the games. Loved the excited atmosphere!


From the tower, we took the walk along the river to see the city and get to the Louvre!



We stopped for some lunch right outside the museum and enjoyed some crepes for dessert! My kind of meal!


And then there was the LOUVRE! I loved finally actually being there and getting to cross off some of my AP Art History list of things to see.


Nike of Samothrace was probably my favorite!


"Meeting" this famous lady was pretty special too! She's tiny but legendary!

And of course we saw THE Notre Dame! It's definitely as beautiful as I would hoped it would be!

 



There was a choir singing inside when we got there.  Laila asked if they were "angels or fairies."  It did sound magical!

Oh... those flying buttresses! 


Our time in Paris was short but so enchanting.  We know we will come back again! Until next time, Paris, au revoir!