Last Day of X-mas in July!

Last stop on the Christmas in July roadtrip is  Switzerland! This is on the way to Interlaken, which was our home base.

Don't stay there. It's not so cute and sooooo stinkin expensive. Fondue is around $100 for two- and that's just bread and cheese. BUT they have a Hooter's. Poor girls- it was snowing out and absolutely freezing and they still had on those crazy "uniforms". 

Anyways, the views from the villages are much better. And the food probably is too.

 When we got into town, it was snowing... so if you see little white patches in the photos it's not the photographer. Promise.

Waiting on the train. Even if we didn't want to stay in Interlaken, our B&B was great and really helped us get an idea of what we wanted to do. (Hotel Rugenpark) They talked us through several different options for our visit and we landed on a hike. Since dogs can go anywhere in Europe, Sadie hopped on the train with us and off we went! And, I am pretty sure she got a few pictures taken while on the train. Tourists ;)

The village of Lauterbrunnen is the first village in the mountains and where I really WANTED to stay but the holidays made things just a little crowded. Sadly, the b&b I wanted had a view of this waterfall. *sigh. Break my heart. All of the white at the base of the falls is not water- it's ice. Glimmering, super thick ice. 

Waiting for the tram!

So.. where we started hiking. Grutschalp- 1489m. And, we went to Murren. The trail is on the opposite ridge from Jungfrau, one of the highest peaks of the Bernese Alps. We hiked on the opposite ridge because to actually reach the summit of Jungfrau would cost over $200 per person. HA! That is more than our hotel cost for 2 nights. 

Cheap travelers.

5,361 Feet.

 Now, that's a hill. Jungfrau. 13,642 feet. 

There is a glacier on the opposite side of Jungfrau that we wanted to visit. Next time!! 

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures from the trip- the facebook album has plenty.

The National Sport of France

Some might say that the national sport of France is football. (Soccer to my American friends.) Some might say that it is drinking wine or eating cheese. My response to all three of these options is-  HA. I know their sport of choice and is a good old fashioned strike complete with signs, face paint, yelling, and parades. 

My parents had a really lovely experience with the strikes in France while they visited. You may have heard that the french government recently changed the retirement age from 60 to 62. Those 2 years really infuriated a lot of people here sooooo.. they went on strike. For about 3 weeks. And it started right when we needed to hop on a train to Italy. 

About a month before, John and I had gone to Italy and bought the tickets from Ventimiglia (the first stop in Italy) to Venice. All we needed was a way to get from Nice to Ventimiglia that did not include a train. At about 7pm the night before we left, when we found out the strike was continuing the next morning, John started the search for a way to get there. After about 2 hours of searching, trying to decide if we wanted to leave that night instead of the next morning, deciding if it would be easier just to take a cab the 45 minute drive into Italy; my sweet husband found a way to get there. 

We woke up at 4:45am the next morning, got ready, and zipped up our suitcases to catch a bus at 5:30am to the center of Nice. Where we caught another bus at 6:15am to Menton. Where we caught a cab into Ventimiglia and actually made it to our train at 8:45. I even had time to walk to a bakery and get some breakfast. 

We finally made it to Venice that afternoon. Longest day of my life. Until the next week when we came home. 

Oh France. Please find a new national sport.

Mont Saint Michel, Last day of the trip!

When we left Omaha beach, we were in a pretty big hurry. It was already 6:00pm and we had to be at our BandB by 8. It is normally an hour and a half drive between the two places (Normandy and Mont Saint Michel) BUT our GPS wanted us to drive on a nonexistent road AND we discovered that the ac adaptor was broken and our GPS was going to die before we made it to our destination. Joy of Joys. Always an adventure! We made sure we were on the right road, and then turned of the GPS until we got closer. And, we made it safe and sound.

Our BandB in Mont Saint Michel was fantastic. I wish that we had spent 2 days there instead of just one. Big bed, big bathroom, lovely surroundings, and a great breakfast included. All very rare in France for the 70 euros that we spent. They also recommended two restaurants for us to try. We went to both. I would recommend both of them to you, too! The food in the north of France is much heavier, full of creams and butter and potatoes. Yum. Not something I could eat every day... but after all that walking in Paris.... I think we deserved some cream and butter and potatoes!

After a good night's rest in that big, king-sized bed and breakfast, we headed off to tour the Monastery. And, you know how I said Paris was cold?? Well, this was even colder.. I layered every piece of clothing that I had left in the suitcase and added my bright yellow raincoat on top. Still cold, but not quite as much. Be prepared if you visit! Bring pants. :-) The monastery was nice. I think we were both a little disappointed, just because all of the original tapestries, paintings, etc, etc, are gone. It is a beautiful building with very gray walls. 

A few of my favorite pictures!

Just lovely isn't it? 

After Dinner picture taking

The night before, the water was into the grass that  you see there. When we were leaving the next morning, people were parking here. The tides here come in at a rate of 18 feet/second. 

The View from the Top. :-) Look at the line of people waiting to come in!

links!

Shutterfly Album

Facebook Album

Le Veilles Digues

Le Relais du Roy

OMW edition 101

Yesterday was my 100th blog! (I didn't even realize until I was writing this one!) Can you believe it? That's quite a lot of posts, in my opinion. Ah well, I have plenty of time on my hands to write I guess! And, plenty of things to write about!

So, today, I continue with Paris! 

 This was taken in the more industrial part of Paris. It is the EDF building- Electric Department of France.

Notre Dame De Paris. This cathedral is known for its amazing architecture and the breathtaking rose windows. It was one of the first buildings in the world to use the "flying buttresses" to support the outer walls. 

Construction started in 1163 and it was not completed until 1345. The outside of the church is amazing. The detail work on the facade and the doorways is impeccable.

John and I actually made 3 trips to Notre Dame. We met our friends there on Saturday when we arrived, and we went back on Monday to see the inside. The line to go to the roof was very very long on Monday so we came back Tuesday morning- very early- to try to beat the crowd. It didn't work. The wait was even longer early in the morning. So, no flying buttresses for us! 

While we were there, (the second trip) the daily prayers service started. So, it is an active church, not just a tourist attraction. 

One of the rose windows. Here, you can kind of see how very large they are. 

Taken from the very back of the church. Amazingly large. And old. And beautiful.

The City of Lights. Cold Version.

After our day in Versailles, John and I headed into Paris to stay with another friend. We dropped off our luggage at her apartment and headed off to... want to take a guess?.. Le Tour Eiffel. Lucky for us, our friend lives about 10 minutes away from the tower. Hop, skip, jump- we're there! And BAM! It's big. Bigger than I thought it would be. It "towers" (haha.. get it???) over the rest of the city. From just about anywhere in Paris, you can see the Eiffel tower. It peeks above buildings, pops out when you look down the street, and when you are way up high, you just can't miss it. When everything else is between 4 and 7 stories tall, something that is 81 stories tall tends to stick out. 

Things you should know when you visit the Eiffel Tower in August:
1) It's going to be busy. Real Busy.
2) There are two ways to get up. Stairs and Elevators.
3) The Stairs are cheap.
4) The Elevators are not. 
5) The lines for the stairs are non-existent.
6) The line for the Elevators will wrap all the way around the base of the tower. 
7) If you have a lot of money and lots of time, go for the Elevators. 
8) We have no money and no time. We took the stairs. 

Oh, and, it can be cold in Paris in August. I was not so smart and packed shorts and summer dresses. They were covered in a bright yellow Marmont raincoat the whole week. I was -that- American tourist.

It peeks.

No lines for the stairs! 

The view from the first floor

We went back to the Tour Eiffel on our last night in Paris to see the light show. It was as beautiful as the tower is tall. I don't think John was so excited about it, but once it started he understood why I had to see it. Mesmerizing. 

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

If you want to see the rest of the pictures from our trip to the Eiffel Tower, visit here (shutterfly) or here (facebook).

Hameau de la Reine

The hamlet of the Queen, designed by Richard Mique for Marie Antoinette, was built in the mid 1780's. Marie needed an escape from all of the formalities of court life so she built her own small palace and this hamlet complete with working farm. Here, she and her attendants escaped their regular lives and pretended to be peasants. It had a working farmhouse, mill, and dairy. (Of course, other people did all the work.. not the Queen..) But still, it was a way for her to get away from her responsibilities and relax. Even the King couldn't come without an invitation.

Now that you know a little bit about it, I'll tell you the important stuff. It's great. This artificial town was by far my favorite stop that day in Versailles and I can see why Marie Antoinette loved it. You feel as though you are hundreds of miles away, walking through a tiny village and at any minute, there should be farmers and merchants and horse drawn carriages. It is an escape. A beautiful, quaint, perfect escape. And, if I had known what I know now- I would just skip all the other stuff and come here for a picnic.

The farmhouse

 I love this little guy. They were all so sweet. Didn't live up to their names at all. ; )

There were pigs, donkeys, goats, sheep, ducks, rabbits, chickens, and cows. Now, in French!

Cochons,  ânes, chèvres, mouton, canards, lapins, poulets, et vaches!

A Vineyard

Part of the dairy

The mill

I love this picture.. that may be conceited of me.. since I took it. But I still love it. 

 Oh! I forgot.. and Swans. Cygnes in French.

 I might love this one too.. 

But I know I love this one! 

If you would like to see more of the pictures from le domaine de Marie Antoinette follow the links here (for shutterfly) and here (for facebook)

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Versailles

Ok! I promise, I am really back now! The past week has been crazy with picture editing, John being sick, me being sick, and our computer going on the fritz -again-. I had every intention of blogging all through the week as I had the pictures edited and it was just too much. 975 pictures makes for a lot of work and I am of the personality that it HAS to be done NOW. Otherwise they are staring me in the face and I can't finish anything else. So, after staring much too long at a computer screen, a knot forming beside my right shoulder blade, and my right hand transforming itself into "the claw" from the mouse- they are all finished. Yeh!!

First stop on our trip to Paris- the Palace of Versailles. A little history to start us off! The palace was the seat of the French government from 1682 until the Royals were forced out during the revolution. Louis the 14th wanted to get out of Paris and he wanted to better control his courtiers, advisers, and provincial rulers. In moving everything (and everyone) to Versailles, he,sort of, achieved this. 

The palace is huge. There are rooms for games, rooms for billiards, smoking rooms, big ballrooms, small ballrooms, bedrooms, long hallways, and chapels. Louis never had to leave. For John and I, the best part of the palace was the garden. This massive garden was divided into several different sections. Each is completely closed off from the next and you feel like you are in your own little world. There are fountains everywhere, some huge and elaborate, others small and simple. At the end of the formal gardens, a grand canal starts. There, you can rent a boat and row your way around for a bit. 

It is so strange walk through this palace and the garden and think that people lived here. I can just see Marie Antoinette getting up in the morning and saying to her ladies, "Yes, I think we will go for a walk to the Canal today. Please prepare my very best, largest hat."

View of one perfectly manicured garden. The French garden- it's all about control!

The ceilings are just amazing in the Palace.

Another ceiling

Just before the hall of mirrors

The hall of mirrors

The Orangerie- where the king grew his Oranges!

Looking toward the grand canal

Fountain show

The Grand Canal

Tomorrow, the Domaine de Marie Antoinette! 

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures that I took at Versailles, click here for my shutterfly site or here for my facebook album!