14th Day in France/Zurich

Today was a day we thought we could leisurely take our time getting out of our hotel, until the maid knocked and clearly looked frustrated we were not out. So we packed up quickly and headed to the train station to go to Champ Elysee and the Arc de Triumph.  We were going to go through the Arc de Triumph before we watched the last stage (21st stage) of the Tour de France, but it was closed.   We then decided to eat lunch before the tour starts. ( If you do not eat lunch before 2:00 you do not get lunch.  They stop serving until dinner.)  Rebecca and I heard the floats coming for the tour and decided we would go out and and stake out a spot to watch the Tour.  We ended up finding a spot which meant we had to scale the wall.  I did and thought Rebecca would be right behind me.  She was laughing and motioned she would just go around.


Once again it was exhilarating to watch the tour.  They were so incredibly fast.  Where we were at they would make a 2 or 3 mile loop 8 times.  We watched 5 of those loops and then decided we would have to beat the crowd to the metro.

 

The yellow jersey 

Good- Bye Paris- Hello Zurich( for only a few hours for Erik and I)

Things we learned about France,

1.  Men and women share the same bathrooms

2.  Bathrooms are definitely limited.  No wonder the French are so small, they don't eat or drink because their country has no toilets. 

3.  Most of the French smoke.

4.  The roads and the streets are impossible to figure out and drive in.

5.  The French like to put raw eggs on lots of their food.

6.  The French start counting the number "1" with their thumb. (A little confusing when the French man was trying to ask me how many waters I had ordered with my meal and I thought he was asking me if the meal was a thumbs up meal.  I kept nodding and putting both thumb's up saying I liked the meal it was good.  He would repeat the counting in French and put his thumb up and then his second finger as he pointed to Rebecca.  I thought he was asking if we both liked our meal!  (1) me and (2) her.  So I am putting both my thumbs up motioning we both liked our meal and I'm kissing all ten of my fingers trying to get my point across that "yes, it was good."  He finally had to walk over and point to the waters for me and say, un and un.  I got it then.  

7.  Diet coke in Paris is $8.00

8.  All soda's are served warm or with no ice. 
9.  The French don't understand French when it is said with an american accent.  I kept asking for a banana , which is banan in French.  I am saying banan and 2 men are saying it looking at me with a question like '
"We are not sure what you want"  I say "banan?" again and they look at each other and question with their hands in the air as they say "banan?"  Finally I use my sign language and pretend I am peeling a banana and while I am peeling I say "banan?  and they finally say OHHHHHHH BANAN!!! ( I thought that is what I was saying!)
10.  They are nice.  We did not encounter any really rude French people.  

13th Day- France

After getting some rest yesterday, we set out early, got on the train and headed 30 minutes outside of Paris, to Versailles.  King Louis XIV's estate which is said to be, "The most beautiful castle in the world."

Before we went into the castle we all had to hit the bathrooms.  In France, men and women share bathrooms, so for 2 euro's Erik, Daniel, Rebecca and I all got to use the potty together.  A picture you would never see in America.

Versailles started out as a hunting lodge by King Louis XIII and was later turned into a powerful estate by his son Louis XIV.  It was ridiculously beautiful.

The Versailles Chateau

The Kings Bed

The Queen's Bed

The Versailles Garden 

After Versailles, we went to the Army Museum.   On our way, transferring trains and busses, some man tried to pull Daniels wallet out of his pocket.  Daniel pushed his hand away and then he and Rebecca saw the same man grab something out of a women's purse.  Glad it wasn't me. 

Erik at the Army Museum

Ancient Armor

Yes, Nazi attire

We ate dinner downtown, and actually got home early at 10:30 pm. 

12th Day- France

We were so tired from getting home from the Eiffel Tower this morning at 1:00 AM, that we decided to sleep in, and hang around in town where we are staying.  We were going to go to the pool and just relax but it ended up raining, so we went to the local mall and did some shopping.  Erik and Daniel went for a ride and Rebecca and I watched a movie.  We had lunch in town and it was a very relaxing day.  Tomorrow will be full of adventure.

Thought I would post the cute little house  we are staying in, in Paris

11th Day- Paris France

TEAM CHARBECCA

Today we are off to PARIS and we have demanded that the guys from "TEAM DANERIK" support the girls team of  "CHARBECCA" ( a name Rebecca came up with for us. They are great sports and have agreed!! We followed them for two days and they will follow us!)

We got on the train and went into the city with our first stop being Notre- Dame. (I had to explain to my kids that this was the church that the movie "Hunchback of Notre- Dame" was inspired after)  It was beautiful as all the others, this one though had a line that snaked through the courtyard, with hundreds of people.

 (Little History)Notre Dame broke ground in  1163.  The people who built the church "had hopes that someday their great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren might attend the dedication Mass 200 years later."
The location that Notre- Dame sits on is also considered the center of France, "the center where all distances are measured."

This is Charlemagne (Charles the Great," 742-812) King of the Franks, whose reign marked the birth of modern France. 

This is Joan of Arc- she is looking directly across from her into the center of this window which is a picture of Mary and Christ.  This window is one of the original windows from the time Notre Dame was built.

We all had to use the bathrooms and they have no bathrooms on the street so we thought that we would stop to eat so we could use a bathroom.  (That is one thing about Europe- they hardly have any bathrooms and you sure don't get to use the limited ones they have unless you are a "customer")

Our next stop was the Louvre. [LOO-v] (This is where the Da Vinci Code book took place.) The Louvre is a museum where most of Europe's history and antiquities lie.  I guess the Louvre started out as a collection of old art open to the public close to 8 centuries ago.  It has accumulated over 300,000 pieces of art.  As you walk in the courtyard entrance and you look all around you the Louvre surrounds you on all 4 sides.   The pictures of us with the glass pyramid in the background is also a part of the Louvre, which goes underground.  There was so much to see we could have stayed in there for hours.   My favorite was looking around the Greek and Roman antiques.  Here are a few pictures. (Of course we are with 14 year old men who kept laughing at the greek statues that were naked.  Rebecca and I had a good laugh as well.  WHY?????? are they all naked?? we kept saying.

This angel was originally on a ship that was dated all the way back to  190 B.C.

Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1503

Aphrodite, was sculpted 400 B.C. 

We then headed over to The Orsay Museum which also holds a lot of art mainly impressionist artists like, Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Toulouse- Lautrec, Paul Gauguin and Claude Monet.  I would have loved to take pictures but they do not allow cameras.   My father would have loved it. 

We were wiped out after all of this, but had yet to see the Eiffel Tower.  We bought the tickets to go up the tower and then waited our hour in line.  It was so beautiful at the top and of course very high up.  We later went to dinner at 10:00pm next to the Eiffel Tower, a photo shoot of the Eiffel Tower at night and then a trip on the train home!!  We walked all over Paris all day long. Everybody says Paris is all within walking distance.  HUH!!  We must have waked 10 miles today.  We were exhausted and did not get off the train until 12:30, walked another mile (no lie) to our car and then home by 1:00 AM.  It was a long marvelous day. 

The Eiffel tower at night. 

And after I took this the whole Eiffel Tower lit up with sparkly lights.

This lady was at the restaurant we were eating at.  I think she is some sort of star in Paris.  She did not want me to take her picture, but I'm American and a momarazzie!

I think this is her on the cover of a magazine in Paris!!

10th Day- France

Today we woke and got on the road for Paris, which is 700 km( 420 miles).  We drove and it poured.  It was a good day for traveling, because we would have been stuck inside not doing much.   We stopped about halfway in a town called Limoges  which is considered the Massif Central and toured their little city.

The stained glass from the inside is just spectacular.

This is the closest I can get Erik to church!!

My pictures do not do these church's justice.  They are so beautiful and the architecture is amazing.  The camera can not get the right angle.

9th Day in Europe- Toullese

Today the guys left at 6:00 am and Rebecca and I decided to stay here and catch up on our blogs, load our pictures, and do some souvenir shopping in Toulouse.  We never made it to the City of Toulouse, but I enjoyed finally resting with my book, my computer and some movies.  Erik and Daniel had a great day on the Col du Tourmalet.  Their 21 km ride was the backside of the mountain from where the tour was riding.  Their ascend was 4,950 feet of climbing.  They met in the middle and watched the tour ride by.  Of course they had no camera to document any of their adventures, but they thoroughly enjoyed it.  They met a nice Australian couple who took their picture and we are waiting to get it on email. 


Tomorrow we leave for Paris. 

8th Day in Europe- France

Today was full of excitement for us. We woke up and got on the road to chase the Tour de France. We drove about 120 km to Fransac, where we would watch the tour go by. Rebecca and I dropped Erik and Daniel off to ride part of the stage the Tour de France was riding today. We stayed back to watch the tour come by and then got in our car and raced to the finish line in Luchon to watch the riders come in. It was invigorating to watch the whole thing. Helicopters are flying over head, people are cheering and the competitors are all revved up. I loved it!! Rebecca and I (who we refer to as wheel support for "team- Danerik") are loving it. I don't think we would want to be anywhere else. We are going through some of the most beautiful country sites ever created. We got some great photos today and some great prizes as well.

"Team Danerik"

They have a parade of sponsors come through for the hour before the tour rides through. they throw candy, hats,jerseys, and all sorts of things. Rebecca and I would grab for things but they always threw it to the kid next to us. We did get a lot just not as much as the kid. Here were some of their cars.

I ended up taking over 400 pictures today, just of the racers. Erik needs to help me go through and label each of them. I do know these guys because these were really the only ones I cared about. They practically touched shoulders with me.!

Yes, there are all sorts out there!!!

A stroll through the city with dinner as well.

We are still struggling to communicate with the french. It is actually very humorous to us, but we know when we walk away they are saying "Stupid American people." I've thought about sharing some of our stories on the blog but I think it might only be funny to us and you would walk away thinking "Stupid American People" as well. Sometime remind Rebecca and I about Rueben (our smooth talking French man) The French translations we have learned to ward off smooth talking French men, our language barrier with universal hand signals and so much more. I think trying to communicate with foreigners always sets ONE up for a Good TIME. Our theme for the trip. "WE WILL NEVER SEE THESE PEOPLE AGAIN"