Europe Days 7 and 8: Normandy, Mont Saint-Michele, and Paris!

We left Belgium on day seven and headed south to France.  We first stopped in Honfleur, a beautiful old port city that was popular with impressionist painters like Monet (it inspired paintings like Rue de la Bavolle, below).  I can see why!  I was especially fascinated by Saint Catherine's, the biggest wooden church in France. I read somewhere that this church was built after the city had been destroyed in the Hundred Years War. All of the carpenters in town were away rebuilding the country, so the shipbuilders stepped in and built the church--and it definitely looks like it!



We didn’t spend much time here as it was just a stop on our route--and it was raining again--but I would definitely spend more time here if I was ever in the area again (and I hate that we didn't have time for the Bayeux Tapestry!).  We walked around town and grabbed a quick breakfast to eat under a tree in the park before hitting the road again.  I think the item below is apple-filled....I usually just pointed at what looked good. :) “Meals” like these are some of my favorites, though...people watching and pastries.  Swoon.



We headed south along the coast for another hour until we reached Omaha Beach.  I don’t think anyone needs me to sell this as a “must see” stop on a trip to the area, so I’m not sure what to say.  I just really can’t imagine being an American on vacation in Normandy and not taking the time to visit.  The cemetery, the beach, everything...just standing and staring was beautiful and moving.  I also definitely suggest taking the time to visit the museum and the memorial on the sand.



We headed south again, this time toward Mont Saint Michel. We stayed at Hotel Saint Aubert, which was less than a 5 minute shuttle away.  Be prepared, though, that the shuttle can only take you to the bottom of the hill...and while it doesn’t look that far...it feels it! We had to walk from where I was standing in the photo below all the way up.  I kind of regretted not spending the money to stay in one of the neat hotels on the island, but I did not regret not having to haul my luggage that far on cobblestone! :)



I could have walked around there forever.  So many alleyways and neat restaurants and shops.  We were there in the evening on an odd day, so not a lot was open, but it also meant that it was not crowded, either.  Every inch of the place was picturesque.  It was like heaven for me.  



After wandering a while, we decided to try one of the omelettes for which Mont Saint Michel is so famous.  Well, everyone else had them, but since I don’t eat eggs...I had a tomato and onion crepe.  My crepe was fantastic, but the omelettes didn’t impress as much.  I think they’re still glad to have marked that off of their bucket lists, though. ;)



That omelette is so darn fluffy!

That night, I was pretty surprised by how “dead” the area was.  Our hotel was full of Japanese tourists, but we saw almost no one else other than that.  We decided to spend the evening hanging out in the hotel lobby and we enjoyed a bottle of DuPont, a gift we received from some other guests staying at the Saint Bernardus B&B.  On our first night at the B&B, we spent hours talking to a New Jersey couple that was living in Belgium and on a weekend trip to the Saint Bernardus brewery.  James and the husband, Jack, discussed Trappist beer quite deeply and when we were checking out our last morning, the hostess Jackie gave us the bottle of beer that Jack and Diane--ah!--had left for us.  Such a sweet surprise and nice ending to our day.

The next morning, we headed toward Paris.  We gave ourselves an entire day for this so we could enjoy the drive.  We stopped at a bakery on our way out of “town” and I still regret not getting one of these precious Mont Saint Michel-shaped cookies, although I can't complain about what I did get.  I took too many photos of the gorgeous homes and streets we traveled on, and just couldn’t get over how beautiful every inch of France seemed to be….We didn’t notice until we’d gotten to Paris that somehow our GPS had been set to “scenic” drives (or something similar).  Good thing we allotted an entire day for that drive! :)  

Can I please move in?

Besides the beautiful homes, we saw (and stopped at) many brocante shops.  While I’m more of a “vintage” kinda girl, my parents love antiques (and European ones at that) so they were in heaven.  Mom had been dying for a French antique cast iron fireback to mount behind her stove (if this idea is as new to you as it was to me, see http://www.houzz.com/photos/1777210/French-Farmhouse-Kitchen-Dining-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco) so we were on the hunt for one of those.  My parents just moved into a new house, so the fireback isn’t installed yet...but when it is, I’ll post photos and tell the whole story. :)

And we finally made it to Paris! After ditching the rental car and checking into the hotel, we headed a few streets over to Rue Cler for an early supper.  We settled on Cafe Central and had the very Parisian meal of croque monsieur and frites. ;)



Gorgeous flower shops everywhere.



Still having a bit of daylight left, we decided a Seine River cruise was the best way to get our bearings in Paris.  They sold mini bottles of champagne where we bought our tickets, so we relaxed on the upper level of the boat and toasted the last stop on our trip.  

We strolled the streets around our hotel and watched the sun set over the Eiffel Tower before checking in for the night (and finishing off a few more of those Belgian beers--sadly our carryon bags weren't great for bringing home souvenirs!).  

Europe Day 6: Belgium

Day six was more or less “James’s Day.”  After a very fun night on day five, we woke up without a lot of desire to leave the bed. So, we had breakfast and headed back upstairs for a nap while my parents did laundry. (Our hostess at the B&B, Jackie, was awesome and let them use the ones they had onsite.)

Feeling a bit more rested, we started out at the Saint Sixtus Abbey to see where the famous Westvleteren beer is made.  Like all of the other Trappist breweries, we weren’t allowed inside, so we just snapped a few (okay, quite a few) photos of James with the grounds and abbey signs behind him.  This part of the trip was the most important to him, so we made sure to document it well. :)



A block or so away is the restaurant/welcome center, In de Vrede.  I honestly don’t remember much about the food and I still wasn’t up for any beer (probably the single worst timing in the world for a hangover!) , but Mom and I did decide to share the ice cream made with Westvleteren beer.  It was delicious!   The guys most definitely tried the different beers, though. :)



If you’re beer nerds like us, you’ve surely heard of the Westvleteren 12 beer--rated the #1 beer in the world by RateBeer.com.  It is nearly impossible to get your hands on, as the monks prefer that it is only available at their abbey and restaurant, where availability is often limited (and sometimes there is no beer for sale at all). There are waiting lists you have to call ahead for and only certain days and times you can call and that beer is released. It takes quite a lot of effort, so we were really lucky that the visitor's center had some while we were there. (Another perk of a weekday visit!)  James and Dad each got a 6-pack to bring home...James does look pretty proud of it, too, doesn’t he?

We had a reservation for a tour of the St. Bernardus factory, so we headed back that direction next.  We got to see how the beer was made and Dad even tasted some of the hop pellets used in production (he can’t smell so he had no idea what he was in for!).  We learned a lot about the history of the brewery and the tour ended with a long and generous beer tasting.  There is very little I can tell you about the history of the beer that you can’t read on Wikipedia, but the tour is definitely worthwhile if you are in the area.  The small tour fee even included a souvenir set with four bottles of beer and a large glass!  While these beers are fairly easy to get your hands on in the states, it was really neat to see the production of one of James’s favorites, especially after getting to meet the owner. 

If we ever go back to the area, I would love to take a bike tour.  They are very popular in the area, but just didn’t really fit into our already cramped schedule.  Even the car rides were beautiful, though, as the whole region is known for hops.  These hops fields were right outside of the brewery/B&B:



Speaking of hops...our next stop was the Hopmuseum in Poperigne.  We had read about the museum before our trip, but basically just went because we had the time...and we are so glad we did!  It was a really, really interesting museum and so well done.  The drive to and from and through the town of Poperigne were so pretty, too, and we even saw our first and only maypole of the trip!



That evening, we took the 1.5 hour drive up to Bruges for supper.  This part of our day wasn’t necessarily planned, either, so we went up without any knowledge of where to go or what to do.  We ended up parking where we could and we found this square where we walked around a bit.  As it started to pour down rain, we ducked into a nearby cafe and grabbed a bite to eat.  The menu was difficult to read, so Mom and I got frites and the guys some sort of fried "sampler".  We had fun trying to guess what each bite was and we ended up sitting on the second floor with a great view of the rain over Bruges.  The meal was mediocre but the experience was pretty pleasant.  




And then...on our way back to the car...we realized we were parked basically underneath a fair, so we decided to walk around a bit….and discovered one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life.  I’m not sure why it hadn’t occurred to me to look for a waffle the entire time we’d been in Belgium, but when we saw it, we jumped on it.  And that darn street fair Belgian waffle is one of my favorite memories of the entire trip.

Europe Day 5: Belgium

So, it has been almost a year since I started posting about our trip to Europe...and I still haven’t finished.  Not much to say about that, but I’m ready to get back to it, so here I am.

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On our fifth day, we checked out of the castle hotel and made our way through Luxembourg to Belgium.  Luxembourg was basically just your basic quick stop at a gas station:  lots of gummies, any cold (!!!) drink we could want, cheap cigarettes, and 50-cent bathrooms. ;)

Our first stop in Belgium was the Rochefort Abbey.  We couldn't go inside, but snapped a few photos outside.  It was beautiful and so peaceful.

Our second stop was just down the road at the Chimay Abbey, the location of another Trappist brewery.  We couldn't go inside their either, but we walked around the grounds a bit and then headed to their restaurant down the street.  



James and I each got the Trappist beer sampler and I had the Trappist cheese sampler (all of which is made at the Abbey).  Mom tried to order cheese fondue, but twice got a cheese sandwich...Dad got a grilled cheese that he still talks about.



We headed to our bed and breakfast next, the Brouwershuis connected to the St. Bernardus factory.  There was a little bit of trouble checking in (the front desk closes at 3pm and we did not have phones or internet service while we were there) but with some help from another guest, we got it sorted out, settled in, and headed to dinner at the nearby Sparhof Restaurant.  



The restaurant was beautiful inside and out and I loved the beef stew I got that was made with St. Bernardus beer.  :)



After dinner, we fully enjoyed the B&B's back porch and St. Bernardus-stocked fridge.  We were up until 1 am chatting with other guests and sampling all of the fresh beer.  

We were even lucky enough to be there on one of the brewery owner's rare trips!  Hans was hilarious and we really, really enjoyed getting to ask him questions and hear all about his family and how he got into the brewing business.  





We slept very well that night. :)

Europe Day 4: The Rhine River and Schoenburg Castle Hotel

Sorry for the long break between posts.  Back on track now...

The next morning in Heidelberg, we wandered the Haupstrasse until we found a bakery that was open (a difficult task!) and got coffee and pastries.  The food was good, but definitely like my parents warned us--prettier than they were delicious!  And on our way back to the hotel to check out...a pigeon got my Dad!  After a quick change of clothes, we headed toward the Rhine River.  James is an electrical engineer, so he took about 1,000,000 pictures of power lines, plants, and wind turbines...but this is one of the better ones.  Haha.

Everywhere we turned, there were castles.  Seriously, at some points along the river, we could see 3 castles without turning our heads!  We toured the Burg Rhinefels in Saint Goar and spent way more time there than I thought we would.  I think I'm officially a castle nerd. We looked at almost every square foot of the castle...walking through old mine tunnels, checking out the views, exploring the brewery room, and dreaming about a wedding in the Big Cellar (that part may have been just me). There was a family with two young boys having a picnic in the grass and it really made me want to move to Europe.  Can you imagine packing up on a Saturday morning, driving to a castle for a picnic lunch, and having supper at the Hofbrauhaus all in the same day?  Sigh.

Bacharach was our next stop along the river.  I loved the architecture in this small town and we had a delicious lunch and glass of wine in a restaurant courtyard in the middle of town.  (Sadly, I forgot to take photos of our food before we had devoured it!) 

 Because the region is known for its wine, we felt we had to taste the Riesling ice cream--and it was heaven!  Mom got a scoop of it while I got (translated) "herbs of the forest" flavor and we shared both.  Mine almost tasted like a basil-mint hybrid, and it was good, too...but I could have eaten my weight in the Riesling one!

After lunch, we headed to check in at the Castle Hotel Schoenburg just down the river in Oberwesel.  (I will warn you, though, if you plan to stay...let them carry your bags up for you!  We didn't think the walk looked that long and our bags weren't large...but it wore us out!)  Our room was so much fun!  We overlooked the courtyard and our shower even had a lion's head with a water spout.

We spent quite a while touring the expansive garden at the castle.  There was a huge outdoor chess set (the pieces were waist-high!), a treehouse library (a dream!), a South African-themed hut, and even a bocce ball court!  Mom and James enjoyed that while Dad and I enjoyed the lounging chairs and the view of the Rhine. :)  At this point in the trip, we all really needed a relaxing afternoon!

We had drinks outside on the terrace (champagne with raspberries for the girls and beer for the guys) before our formal dinner that evening.  The meal was four courses including salmon, veal, spargel, and crepes Suzette for dessert!  It was very leisurely and took two hours.  We loved the relaxing time and the waitresses in their native costumes.  :)  

I can still feel exactly what it was like standing where this photo was taken.  This is the picture that makes me want to go back the most.  

Europe Day 3: Heidelberg and Colmar

Our third day started off with a fabulous buffet breakfast at the hotel 
(and a nice surprise when we check out of the hotel and realized that our price had been quoted in US dollars instead of Euros)!  The buffet was a combination of a traditional German breakfast and American-style breakfast, with lots of cold cuts and cheese, fruit, pastries, sausage, eggs, etc.  And so many options of juice, which I loved!



Next, we headed west across the border into the Alsace region of France.  We loved walking around Colmar.  It is actually the only place where we got a photo of all four of us together!  An American woman took it for us. :)  




After that, we drove back across the border up to Heidelberg.  My family lived here when I was a baby, so it was nice to go back and see even though I had no memories of it.  Sadly, the US Armed Forces buildings were all closed down and abandoned, but I enjoyed hearing the stories my parents had to tell about where we lived.



We walked along the Hauptstrasse checking out the shops until it was time for lunch.  Mom finally had the famous spargel she'd been longing for while Dad ordered the XXL schnitzel. James and I had more beer and brats.  We couldn't get enough of that! 



We walked along the Neckar River and up to the Old Bridge.  It was absolutely gorgeous!  When I win the lottery one day, I'm going to buy one of those houses on the banks so I can look at this view everyday.



After a little touring, we decided to get our luggage from the car and check into our hotel.  Unfortunately, we had parked in a parking garage but apparently come out of an almost secret exit, so it took us nearly two hours to find!  But our hotel (Hotel Weisser Bock) was fantastic.  It was located one block off of the Hauptstrasse and our view was beautiful.  The rooms were comfortable and nicely appointed, too. 



Heidelberg Castle was closed, but we were able to tour the outside and took the long, steep walk up to the courtyard.  I LOVED it there.  There was a restaurant that I'd love to eat at next time we visit.  Or at least get a beer and enjoy the view and the perfect weather.  Since the castle was closed and we were some of the only few people there, it was really easy to imagine what it looked like in the castle's heyday...or maybe I'm just a history nerd. :)



Mom and Dad called it a night early, but James and I went back out to the Marktplatz for a late dinner.  The meal was fantastic (another apple streudel and potato pancakes with applesauce) and our view of the Heiliggeistkirche and Heidelberg Castle all lit up at night was even better!  I wish I had been able to get a good photo of that, because it was my favorite evening of the trip.




When we were planning our trip, I requested Heidelberg as "my stop" and it definitely didn't disappoint!

Europe Day 2: Germany and Austria

Our second day was an interesting one.  We got up early and took a long subway ride with all of our luggage to pick up our rental car.  We grabbed drinks and croissants at a gas station, figured out how to change the car's GPS to English (well, James did) and hit the Autobahn south toward Austria. 

We drove for several hours on the "Alpine Road" just looking at all of the gorgeous scenery.  I really didn't expect every town to look like a postcard, but they were all picture-perfect.  We stopped and did some shopping at Oberammergau and I finally got a "smoking man" that I've wanted forever.  Dad got one of the famous wood carvings and James got a Tyrolean hat to wear for our future Oktoberfest parties.  I can see why it is such a popular stop for tourists--the setting, the buildings, the entire town was beautiful!



Next, we drove by Neuschwanstein on our way to the Bregenzerwald Cheese Road.  We started at the information center/cheese warehouse where we sampled a few cheeses and watched a short film about cheese making in the area.  Local farmers produce cheeses and then send them to the cheese cellar where they are aged.  





Next, we drove by the Bodensee and then through a bit of the Black Forest before heading to Freiburg for the night.  This was the only night of the trip that we hadn't made hotel reservations for (we had originally intended to go to Switzerland, but decided not to shortly before leaving the U.S) and we know now that we won't do that next time!  The evening was mostly a mess from then on...

1.  We attempted to find Wifi so we could look for hotels, but after about an hour search and a worthless (without a German phone number) trip to McDonald's, we gave up--but at least I got to try the Curry Chicken sandwich I'd been wondering about...and it was delicious!!

2.  We then drove around until we found a hotel with two rooms--170 Euros each!

3.  ...And one was a smoking room.

4.  It took nearly an hour to find a parking place, and we ended up being almost a mile away from the hotel and had to drag our luggage down dark, cobblestone streets to get back.

5.  We still hadn't eaten supper (at 10:30 pm) so we walked to the nearest (not very!!) restaurants, just to find out they all closed at 11 pm...



At this point, James ate the $8 minibar chips and beer and we hoped for a better day the next day! :)

Europe 2014: Day 1 (Munich)

Better late than never, I hope!

Last month, James, my parents, and I visited Europe for about two weeks.  We packed A LOT into our time, so I'll split my posts up by day.  I had originally intended to split up by country, but there was so much to write about my first day alone that I've decided to do it this way. :)

We took a flight from Little Rock to Charlotte (with P. Allen Smith and his crew!!!) and barely caught our flight (literally, the whole family running through the airport with our two-weeks of stuff crammed into a carry-on each) to Philadelphia before barely catching our flight to Munich.  

When we got to Munich (about 9 am), we didn't want to waste a second since it was our only day in the city.  We got a taxi ride to our hotel and after a little bit of confusion actually getting there (the hotel was on a pedestrian-only street) we were lucky that one of our rooms was already ready.  (Our hotel, Hotel am Markt, was cute, comfortable, affordable, and in a great location.  I highly recommend it!)  We dropped off our bags, freshened up, and hit the road!



James and Dad split off to explore the market near our hotel and Mom and I went directly to the Marienplatz to see the Rathaus-Glockenspiel do its thing at noon.  (I didn't get a great photo of it, but it's a huge cuckoo clock!)



Immediately after that, Mom and I took the subway out of town and then grabbed a bus to get to Dachau Concentration Camp.  The weather was appropriately gloomy.  

My family had been when I was a baby, so I of course didn't remember it, but Mom did.  In fact, Mom remembers seeing a lot of different camps, but this was the first one I had seen as an adult.  I've always been fascinated by the Holocaust and it was a strange feeling actually being there.  It is difficult to describe, really.  I expected it to affect me, but it was even more moving than I had prepared for.   There were so many empty foundations from where barracks had been and one even had reconstructed bunk beds--it is amazing just how many people were crammed in (it was at more than quadruple its intended capacity at its most crowded).  There was a photo from 1933 showing the newly-constructed camp and I was surprised at how the trees weren't all that large now.  The holocaust seems like such a long time ago, but visiting the camp made it seem so real to me and like such a recent part of history.



We had made plans to meet the guys at the hotel after that, but when we got there we discovered that they had both fallen asleep and locked us out of our rooms!  (Each room only had one key that was kept at the front desk while we were away).  We gave them a break since they both had aisle seats right by the restrooms on the 8-hour flight...and headed to the market near our hotel for a pretzel.  I also got a MezzoMix, a fantastic cola-orange soda. :)  We tried to get the guys up at this point, but didn't have any luck.

So, Mom and I decided we'd wander around the Marien Platz until the guys' second "wake-up call."  We did some souvenir shopping (a dirndl-clad stuffed bear for Natalie and a Bavarian table topper for me to use at Oktoberfest!) and spent quite a bit of time in the local department store--the cosmetics and perfume section was heaven!

We went back to the market for dinner (we'd basically given up on the guys at this point!) and shared brats, cabbage, potato salad, and beer at the bier garten.  It was perfect!!  (I had been dying to eat here from the second we stepped out of our taxi--how is it possible for a city to smell soooo good?)  We sat at picnic tables watching the locals while blooms were falling from all of the surrounding trees.  Gorgeous.  I could have stayed there forever.

By this time, Mom and I were tired and went back to the hotel to take showers and get to bed early...just in time for the guys to get up, of course!  We all got dressed and headed to the Hofbrauhaus about 9 pm.  It really was as much fun as my Dad had been telling us!  I got (yes, another--it was Germany!) pretzel as well as apple strudel and a whole liter of the Hofbrau dunkel.  The beer was fabulous, but it definitely took a conscious effort to finish the entire stein.  The good thing about going that late (and on a week night) was that it was mostly locals.  We sang some of the songs and clinked mugs and were lucky enough that the band played an up-close-and-personal "happy birthday" set for a girl at the table next to us!  I'm so glad we got to go--and I can't wait to visit again!  (Just look at that strudel!--Sorry for the blurry photo, but it was dark in there.)



I really, really loved Germany.  The mix of old and new was so interesting and foreign to me.  There were modern town houses with little lace curtains in the windows and old homes with roofs covered in solar panels.  It is hard to explain a lot of it, but the look was right up my alley and really made me envy the lifestyle.  Americans want everything new and perfect, but the combination of that with the old is just perfect to me.  I think the OCD part of me loves the idea of embracing the imperfect.

Also, did you know that German subway trains have a button you press to open the doors at your stop?  And that big "2" painted on the side of the trains...that doesn't necessarily mean it's line 2, but more likely second class.  We learned that the hard way! Ha!  :)