Living in the Rhein Valley of Germany near Heidelberg, we are not far from the border of France. The Alsace-Lorraine area of Germany is nearby. In fact, when I drive over the mountain into Heidelberg, I like to tune into French radio. My kids get a kick out of trying to imitate what they are saying. The biggest French city in the area is Strasbourg.
Strasbourg is another fortified city. It was built on a bend in the Ill River, and an adjoining canal formed a river ring around the city. A number of fortifications are along the river. Strasbourg is know for a couple of things. It hosts the congress of the European Union (EU). And it has the Cathedral of our Lady which was that tallest building in the world up until near the end of the 19th century. Personally, I think the door was probably bigger than 90% of most buildings back then.
In addition to the church, Strasbourg has a beautiful old town center. Its is a treat to ook down at the town from atop the CathedralThe buildings are half timbered, with intricate carvings, and tile roofs. Many are crooked with hidden patios on top. they also have an amazing Christmas market and shopping district. Lots of tourists come here, and it seems all they eat is Flamkuchen...a cream chese type thin pizza cooked in a wood oven. That is like a half French, half German word (Flame Cake). It is everywhere. Its common to find snails on the menu too!
Just in case you did not know. Strasbourg and the entire Alsace and Lorraine regions changed hands between Germany and France a few times in the not so distant past.
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| Getting ready to board the ICE for a 200 MPH+ trip to Paris |
France is a big place, and for me, there are not too many other places that are convenient to drive to. But being truly in love with my wife, I had to take her to Paris. And I'm glad I did. We took the German bullet train, the Inter-City Express (ICE) from Mannheim Germany to Paris. And yes, it did go well over 200 miles per hour, but it was smooth as silk. We arrived in Paris at about noon, after a three hour ride, fully rested and ready for an adventure.
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| In our tiny, but perfect room! |
We had planned a two day, one night trip. the train trip cost about $300. We stayed at the Hotel Royal Phare near the Eiffel Tower for lest than $125...which is cheap in Paris. The hotel was everything we wanted: cheap, clean, in the middle of Paris, and right next to a Metro Station.
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| Parisian girl singing Lady Gaga's hit, "Bad Romance" |
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| "There it is!" |
After checking in, the first thing we did was head straight to the Parc du Mars, which is where the Eiffel Tower is. As we walked around the corner, Denise said, "There it is"...and it is a pretty tower. Surprisingly, the parc was packed full of young locals, sipping wine, hanging out, playing guitars and singing, and just plain relaxing.
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| Lovers...Oh, that is us! |
It was really nice to see the culture of Parisians right off the bat. Nearby, a batchelor party showed up with a box full of wine. A bottle for each guy. It seemed everyone was relaxing and enjoying the sunny day. Denise and I could not resist the momen, sitting at the base of the Eiffel Tower, surrounded by young lovers and people enjoying their weekend. After a quick smoooch session, we lay in the grass, looking up at the Eiffel Tower, and fell asleep.
After waking up from our afternoon slumber, we decided we'd better do some sightseeing. We walked under the tower and down to the Siene. It really is a pretty place. There is lots to see and lots of activity going on in Paris. We were getting hungry, so we went to look for a place to eat. Rue Cler was nearby our hotel. It has a combination of cafes, restaraunts, bars, bakeries, gourmet shops, and a market. We picked up some food from a bakery and ate while we walked. After walking a few miles down the river and having some food, we decided to relax and get ready for the evening. We went back to the room for a nap, took showers, and got dressed to go out.
Being a former military officer, I have an interest in history, especially military history. And Paris is full of history. But I have to admit, I don't know a lot about Napoleon. A trip to the Arch d' Triumph changed that. We took the Metro/Subway to the Arch for just 1.80 Euros each. Arch d' Triumph has the French version of the tomb of the unknown soldier, and on the walls list each of Napoleans subordinate generals, and evey campaign they ever fought. he also lists the cities he conquered along the way, One of the cities is Amberg, Germany, which is where I lived for over three years. You can read about Amberg on my Germany page. I really enjoyed seeing the Arch.
After seeing the Arch d' Triumph, we walked back toward downtown. A concert was going on at a giant glass dome building. the lights were fantastic. We saw a Paris bike rental station. members can use bikes for free for up to 30 minutes, and the bike stations are available all over town. I think it is web enabled to ensure bikes are available. A few times a day, a truck comes around and redistributes the bikes. You can pay with a credit card if you are not a member. I thought that was really cool. On the way back, we saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up. What a sight! We asked some tourists to snap out picture.
We headed back to cute little Rue Cler, had a coffee, a snack, and a couple glasses of wine at a Cafe. We chatted with a Mom and her daughter from Boston. At about midinght...a new record for us parents of two kids, and went back to the hotel and crashed.
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| Notre Dame |
Our train leaving Paris was not until 5PM on Sunday, so we decided we needed to do some more relaxing. First we went to another cafe for an incredible omlet. Then we grabbed some chees, bread, strawberries, ham, olives and wine from the market. With our treats in hand, we jumped on the Metro. We arrived near our destination, Notre Dame. Yes its pretty, but it is just like most big churches in Europe. It is nowhere near as impressive as the cathedral in Strasbourg. We drank a toast to Notre Dame and headed over to the Luxembourg Gardens.
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| You just can't beat a meal like this! |
At Luxembourg Gardens, we learned that it is on the grounds of the French Senate building. It was cool to see the police with their flat top hats guarding the building. the park itself was full of joggers, badminton players, tennis players, all enjoying the facilites. We found a bench under some big trees, and spread out our gourmet meal on some chairs. We tore at the bread and cheese, washed it down with wine and relxed in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens.
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| The Pantheon |
After a few hours lounging, and seeing the flowers, trees, statues and fountains, we walked back to the Metro. On the way, we looked up the road and saw the Pantheon, which is a really impressive name for a fancy building that has to do with something important. I better go to Wikipedia and look that up!
We were actually tired from all the walking, so we hopped on the Metro and headed back to our hotel. ut we weren;t ready to leave. Royal Phare held our bags in the lobby so we could run around. We bought some water and headed back to our local neighborhood Eiffel Tower. Back at the park, we found the softest gras we could find, and celebrated our final moment in Paris by falling asleep...again.
We grabbed out bags, jumped on the Metro, and went back to the train station for our relaxing 2 hour ride back to Heidelberg. One last bit of adventure occured as the German police came into the car to inspect passports. Apparently they waited until we crossed the border at Saarbrucken to bust someone. We arrived home safe and sound, thanks to Deutschebahn!
