Au Revoir A Paris

I am exhausted (and broke). Time to come home. 

We had several more lovely days in Alsace since our last post. 

We have gotten into a rhythm of starting each morning walking around an achingly pretty village (this is Riquewihr) for an hour while I take pictures and the kids keep an eye out for a boulangerie for pretzels and croissants. Something for everyone!

We visited an incredible battlefield from WW1 where you could literally walk through the German and French trenches and see how close together they were. 

Then, to lighten the mood, we went to a cheese factory and learned ALL about the process of making Muenster cheese in agonizing detail.

Then a day of making changes on the fly. We started with our standard pretty village and a boulangerie. This is Eguisheim.

Our plan was to visit an open air museum all day, but after 3 hours we decided that the whole Alsace area looks like a historic museum, and that it was time to pivot. So we went to the local theme park and rode Stork themed rides (one of their local icons) all afternoon!

And with that, we crossed another trip off my life list. The Alsace was absolutely picture perfect- definitely recommend.

So, with 48 hours to go, it was time to take a deep breath and sprint to the finish of this epic, ridiculous, never ending trip. We drove a scenic 6 hours across France to Paris, dropped off the rental car and then walked our butts off. 41,000 steps in a day and a half. Oh boy.

Friday night we explored Montmartre and then wandered down to the Seine through the Palais Royale before learning how to take the Metro home. Paris may be the City of Lights but unfortunately it doesn't get dark until after 10:30, so it was more the City of Dusk for us.

We kicked off our big day in Paris with a morning at the Eiffel Tower, then did a boat cruise along the Seine. We spent the afternoon at the Louvre, as one does. Then we wandered through St Germaine de Pres until we found a little Creperie to toast our final night in Europe. We capped off the evening by visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and took our weary legs to bed.

We were welcomed home by random Covid testing for both twins, just in case we thought we hadn't stood in lines enough over the last month.

It's been a glorious, full, memorable and exhausting month. I definitely need home for a rest. But it's good to be traveling again. May we all.

Vive La France!

Holy Hannah, I may run out of camera space - the towns of the Alsace look like they were pulled right out of Disneyworld- to steal a Peter Mayle quote, it looks like they are busy posing for postcards. 3 days of sightseeing down and 2 to go in this gorgeous corner of Europe, with a little day trip to Switzerland and Germany to check them off our life list!

Our first dinner in France...

 (we had to buy it at a gas station - it was Saturday night).

Getting up close and personal with free roaming Barbary Macaques (we weren't allowed to feed them popcorn anymore, boo Covid).

Getting up close and personal with an Andean Condor (largest flying bird in the world, I believe) at a Birds of Prey show in a ruined castle!

Touring a WW2 bunker on the Maginot Line.

Apparently french grocery stores don't open on Sunday, so McDonald's it is. Before anyone claims that's not a cultural experience here's my Happy Meal - a McFish with ketchup, potato wedges with Creamy Dill sauce, a sparkling mint water and a frozen raspberry sherbet for dessert.

Our fabulous rental apartment. The furniture has to arranged a little creatively. 

Next day, it was off to Switzerland and the Black Forest in Germany. 

Testing the acoustics in a roman amphitheatre. 

We took a chairlift to the top of the mountain,  I dont want to take credit for hiking it!

Touring castles today - this is Haut Koenigsbourg. 

Picture taking heaven in Colmar. Poor Brendan stayed home to write a math test while the rest of us wandered and looked for historical plaques.

The Manneken Pis - not sure why there's a copy of the Bruxelles original here, but I'll take my famous sites wherever they want to show up.

The sculptor who created the statue of liberty is from Colmar - this place is landmark central!

And finally, one more hilltop castle,  overlooking our village. They are long days, I can't deny that. Nobody wants to be done, but I don't think I've been this continually overfed, overtired and overstimulated, ever. We will definitely home for a rest.

Tot Ziens Nederlands!

We had a great 3 day cycling tour across the Netherlands. Being the king of the road on a bicycle was a very odd feeling,  but we managed to figure out the trail/navigation system eventually even if we never mastered the right of way rules and had a wonderful time. My brother John and nephew Wyatt biked with us and turned it into a party. We had 2 comical stretches of biking in the pouring rain, but everybody handled it with grace (and chocolate) and we dried out at a lovely converted Gypsy wagon on the second night. We saw cows and sheep and canals and dykes and castles and manor houses and pedalled about 75 km in all. Hats off to my amazingly adaptable crew.

We are on a TGV (high speed train - one of Brendan's life list items) headed for Paris now to start the 4th and final section of our Covid Combo of 4 trips in 1. We have 6 nights in the Alsace region between France and Germany and then 2 nights in Paris before we fly home.

Tot ziens Nederlands, Bonjour a La France!!

(Thank you to whoever's car port this is, I'm really glad we found shelter)

Biking in the Netherlands!!

We're doing it!!! I'm so excited!!! We actually made it 1 hour across Dutch cityscape and countryside from the bike rental agency beside the train station to our hostel. It feels amazing  - bikes truly rule the roads here, and you can bike almost anywhere.  We are staying the night in a luxurious hostel (my first hostel ever!)  south of Utrecht. The plan for tomorrow is to bike 2 hours west (ok, google maps says 1 hour,  but we're prepared for it to take all day) to a converted gypsy wagon for the night!

A Day At The Dorp

We finished our 5 days of sightseeing in the Netherlands with Mom and Dad with a day in Eindhoven. After discovering that the Trappist Monastery Brewery Tour was full, we pivoted to visit a recreated Stone Age/Medieval Age village called Prehistorisch Dorp. So much learning! We practiced throwing spears, grinding grain by stone, forcing square pegs through round holes, stilt walking, walking on stilts, writing with feathers and shooting crossbows... none of it very well! 

Then we toured a fantastic war museum with lots of lifesize doramas and vehicles. Brendan's expertise was impressive  

In the land of chocolate and windmills

I had great intentions of posting each day once we hit land (and wigi), but you know what they say about the best intentions...

We have had a wonderful 4 days touring the Netherlands from our vrbo Hunting Lodge.  It is like stepping into another century. We have 1 more day before the next stage of the adventure. 

We had fun touring Amsterdam by foot and canal boat...

Then we rented a boat and toured nearby Breda under our own steam. 

One advantage of renting your own boat is you don't have to feel obliged to tip the driver...

We spent the afternoon getting groceries and hiking around the nature preserve our hiking lodge is in. I am a big believer in trying out local customs and cuisines. Here, Heidi tries to pick from one of the entire SECTION of chocolate sprinkles that Dutch children eat on their toast in the morning. 

Our area is brimming with rhododendrons in the most incredible array of purples. It's like living in a botanical garden. But also surrounded by taxidermy and deer on the walls. But lovely. I clearly need to take more photos to illustrate. 

We explored Antwerp (Belgium) the next day, since our rental house is only 13 minutes from the border. Highlights included a printing press museum that contained the second Gutenberg Bible ever printed, and a Belgian Chocolate exhibition that ended in a room of 10 vats of different types of warm  melted chocolate,  1 spoon for unlimited tasting and no water. I lasted as long as I could!!!

Today, we did a classic site, all about windmills and canals, called Kinderdijk.

We've now been joined by my brother and nephew, and have only  1 more day of sightseeing with my mom and dad, before they head off to Iceland. We're certainly a family with itchy feet after 2 years of not leaving the country!

After we drop them off we will attempt to learn how to navigate the Dutch bike trail system for 3 days. Gulp!!