The Carousel
Jefferson's 1st ride
Jefferson Driving!
Riding the Antique Cars
The Boot-Scootin Ride with Daddy
Jarrett even slept for and hour in that heat!
Jefferson and Mommy on the Mini Mine Train - Take 2!
Jefferson Riding the Tea Cups
Monday, July 21, 2008
Six Flags
On Saturday we took Jefferson and Jarrett to Six Flags. I know what you're thinking and yes, we are crazy! It was so hot, but we had a great time! There were plenty of things for Jefferson and Jarrett to ride. Jefferson liked the rides that made his tummy feel funny! I think he'll love the roller coasters when he gets tall enough. We rode the Mini Mine Train twice. He thought it was great.
The Carousel
Jefferson's 1st ride
Jefferson Driving!
Riding the Antique Cars
The Boot-Scootin Ride with Daddy
Jarrett even slept for and hour in that heat!
Jefferson and Mommy on the Mini Mine Train - Take 2!
The Carousel
Jefferson's 1st ride
Jefferson Driving!
Riding the Antique Cars
The Boot-Scootin Ride with Daddy
Jarrett even slept for and hour in that heat!
Jefferson and Mommy on the Mini Mine Train - Take 2!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Last Day in Paris
{Sorry it's taken so long to post the last full day of our European trip... we are yet again out of town!}
July 13
Today was our last day in Paris, so we made the most of it! Our first stop was the Louvre where we saw untold millions of dollars (euros) worth of paintings and sculptures. At this point in our vacation, we were so tired that we ended up just doing the touristy stuff at the Louvre - Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, Napoleon's Coronation painting, the crown jewels of one of the Louis's... you know, the usual. The only other art that we got to see was the art between Point A and Point B. I almost felt bad that of all of the other priceless pieces of art at this museum, only a handful of pieces get the most attention.
I found interesting (possibly even more so than the art) was the museum building itself. It was the former palace to King Louis XIV before he moved everything and everyone in it to Versailles. The buildings that housed these precious works of art was, in my estimation, the overlooked crown jewel of the entire museum. I was unable to find very much history on it, but it was fantastic!
One thing that you always hear about the Louvre is the sheer size of it... I will tell you that it is so large that there is no way you would be able to see everything there is to see in several days' time, much less one day... or as in our case, a couple of hours. Our "tour guide" Rick Steves (http://www.ricksteves.com/) said in his book on Paris that you could spend all day every day for several weeks and still not see everything there is to see at the Louvre. After spending a few hours there, we barely scratched the surface!
We then headed over to St. Chappelle Chapel. This chapel is famous for the unbelievable stained glass. As most stained glass does in any church, this stained glass depicts biblical stories. What makes this most interesting is that this little chapel (it is quite a bit smaller than the cathedrals we have been seeing) chronicles some 1,000 Bible stories. We were unable to shoot any good pictures of the inside of this chapel, but it was absolutely breathtaking. It's worth making a little detour to see.
Our original plan from this point was to head over to the Orsay Museum, but Beth and I had agreed that we were pretty much museum-ed out... we were totally exhausted. The last thing we needed was some soothing Impressionistic Art.... I'm sure we would have fallen asleep standing up! We instead decided to go over to a little lesser known attraction - one of the original Statues of Liberty. A rough draft, if you will, to ours in the US. We got the idea to go by watching National Treasure II in the airplane on the way over. This statue is significantly smaller than our Statue of Liberty that sits in New York Harbor. This instead sits on an island in the Seine River facing east, and BTW - it is nowhere near as busy as it is depicted in the movie. In fact, we and only one other American family were the only people even there. Still, it was good to see.
From that point, we hopped back on the train to Dustin and Amanda's house in The Netherlands, as we fly home tomorrow from Amsterdam. We are indebted to them for their gracious hospitality and opening their home to us. They not only made our trip less expensive by giving us free room and board for several nights, but they were superb tour guides while taking us on our daily excursions to Belgium, Germany, and touring The Netherlands... sights that they have seen many times over! We thank them dearly from the bottom of our hearts, and hope that someday soon we can return the favor!
We hope you have enjoyed reading about our journeys as much as we have enjoyed chronicling them for you! Keep checking back to see what we are up to!
Brett and Beth
The entrance to the Louvre
Good ol' Mona
St. Chappelle's Chapel
The "Impostor" Statue of Liberty :)
Our phenominal hosts: (L-R) Dustin, Amanda, Jacob with us in a picture before we left for the airport
July 13
Today was our last day in Paris, so we made the most of it! Our first stop was the Louvre where we saw untold millions of dollars (euros) worth of paintings and sculptures. At this point in our vacation, we were so tired that we ended up just doing the touristy stuff at the Louvre - Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, Napoleon's Coronation painting, the crown jewels of one of the Louis's... you know, the usual. The only other art that we got to see was the art between Point A and Point B. I almost felt bad that of all of the other priceless pieces of art at this museum, only a handful of pieces get the most attention.
I found interesting (possibly even more so than the art) was the museum building itself. It was the former palace to King Louis XIV before he moved everything and everyone in it to Versailles. The buildings that housed these precious works of art was, in my estimation, the overlooked crown jewel of the entire museum. I was unable to find very much history on it, but it was fantastic!
One thing that you always hear about the Louvre is the sheer size of it... I will tell you that it is so large that there is no way you would be able to see everything there is to see in several days' time, much less one day... or as in our case, a couple of hours. Our "tour guide" Rick Steves (http://www.ricksteves.com/) said in his book on Paris that you could spend all day every day for several weeks and still not see everything there is to see at the Louvre. After spending a few hours there, we barely scratched the surface!
We then headed over to St. Chappelle Chapel. This chapel is famous for the unbelievable stained glass. As most stained glass does in any church, this stained glass depicts biblical stories. What makes this most interesting is that this little chapel (it is quite a bit smaller than the cathedrals we have been seeing) chronicles some 1,000 Bible stories. We were unable to shoot any good pictures of the inside of this chapel, but it was absolutely breathtaking. It's worth making a little detour to see.
Our original plan from this point was to head over to the Orsay Museum, but Beth and I had agreed that we were pretty much museum-ed out... we were totally exhausted. The last thing we needed was some soothing Impressionistic Art.... I'm sure we would have fallen asleep standing up! We instead decided to go over to a little lesser known attraction - one of the original Statues of Liberty. A rough draft, if you will, to ours in the US. We got the idea to go by watching National Treasure II in the airplane on the way over. This statue is significantly smaller than our Statue of Liberty that sits in New York Harbor. This instead sits on an island in the Seine River facing east, and BTW - it is nowhere near as busy as it is depicted in the movie. In fact, we and only one other American family were the only people even there. Still, it was good to see.
From that point, we hopped back on the train to Dustin and Amanda's house in The Netherlands, as we fly home tomorrow from Amsterdam. We are indebted to them for their gracious hospitality and opening their home to us. They not only made our trip less expensive by giving us free room and board for several nights, but they were superb tour guides while taking us on our daily excursions to Belgium, Germany, and touring The Netherlands... sights that they have seen many times over! We thank them dearly from the bottom of our hearts, and hope that someday soon we can return the favor!
We hope you have enjoyed reading about our journeys as much as we have enjoyed chronicling them for you! Keep checking back to see what we are up to!
Brett and Beth
The entrance to the Louvre
Good ol' Mona
St. Chappelle's Chapel
The "Impostor" Statue of Liberty :)
Our phenominal hosts: (L-R) Dustin, Amanda, Jacob with us in a picture before we left for the airport
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Back to Paris
July 12
The organ in King Louis XIV's personal cathedral. This cathedral was the ONLY example of any kind of worship of God and not of man.
The stunning Hall of Mirrors
Marie Antionette's village estate on the premises of Versailles
A look across a miniscule portion of the grounds to the back side of the palace
The man-made canal inspired by Venice, Italy. King Louis XIV thought, "Why go to Venice? Let's bring Venice here."
Napoleon's tomb. It's hard to see just how big it really is... to give you an idea, those white statues surrounding it are about 10 feet tall.
Napoleon's frock coat and his famous hat
By taking my life into my own hands, I stood in the middle of the Champs Elysees to get this picture!
Beth in front of the Arc du Triomph
France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI under the Arc du Triomph.
This morning, we headed to the train station at around 8:30 bound for Versailles. Having only heard about how big and opulent it is, I was excited about seeing this palace for Kings Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. The only thing I knew about it was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.... and even at that, I didn't know any of the details!
I was totally astonished by the level of luxury exhibited that I could not help but to gawk at all of it. We were told on our tour that this palace was so big and so exorbitant that entire industries were created just to build and furnish it. All of the floors and pillars, etc. were marble. The lavish art work that adorned the walls and ceilings (and sometimes actually were the walls and ceilings) was astounding. It was a profound example of human-worship.
King Louis XIV built Versailles on many thousands of acres - only a fraction of the original parcel is still used today (almost 2,000 acres) for this palace and grounds - as a getaway from the stresses of palace life in Paris. It eventually became the only palace for the King and all of his ministers. He moved his entire governing cabinet here and held them captive with luxury. That allowed him to run the government the way he wanted to with all of the other ministers distracted by anything and everything they could ever desire. Interestingly enough, as I understand it, Louis XIV began a serious art collection at his old palace. This old palace kept the art as a start to a new museum - The Louvre!
As crazy-big and luxurious the palace is, the palace gardens are probably what Versailles is most famous for. Louis XIV harnessed the power of the Seine River to power some 1200 fountains (only 300 are still around today) across the length and breadth of the grounds. It was something like holding your finger over a water hose to make the water come shooting out. The water would come out of the fountains by using steadily shrinking pipe, thus increasing pressure... at least that's how I understood it. He was also very well known for keeping a grove of orange trees in chilly France... he did this just to show off mostly, but it was to also prove that he was the "Sun King." He is the only one who could have done this. He was extremely full of himself, but he had the charisma and that "it" factor that truly endeared him to the people. He was also known for being available to the masses.
Also on these grounds, Marie Antoinette built her little getaway from the getaway many years later... a working village so she could experience "common life." Of course, her village had all the trappings of a real village, but she didn't have to do any of the work... she could just delegate. I guess it made her feel a little more at home since she was from a small Austrian village before she married Louis XVI.
After Versailles, we toured the Military Museum which is attached to Napoleon's tomb. We went through the newly opened WWI and WWII portions of the museum. It was a bit insulting from an American's standpoint to hear the French version of WWII. It was almost as if there was some big, huge war going on, and, oh yeah, the Americans helped out. When it was all said and done and the Allied troops liberated Paris, they called Charles Degaulle the great liberator! Arrgh!
From the Military Museum we went over to Napoleon's tomb. Can you say, "Little-Man Syndrome?" The tomb itself was HUGE! The hall in which it is housed was gilded with 24 pounds of solid gold directly above the gargantuan sarcophagus housing several coffins in which lie Napoleon Bonaparte. It was surreal! Surrounding his gloriously dead body were all of his gloriously dead military big-wigs. It was a little much... but it was interesting.
From there we trekked on over to the Arc du Triomph via the legendary Champs Elysees (See yesterday's blog about driving the rent car). I assure you, it was much more enjoyable to walk this than to drive it. The Champs Elysees houses many different very expensive shops, as well as car dealers displaying the best of what they have to offer - including concept cars on display. I even saw a Tour de France store... turns out, the Tour de France ends on the Champs Elysees.
We finally get to the Arc, and we get ready to take the stairs to the top. Bear in mind our legs are pretty much jello from all of the stairs we have been climbing over the last week, not to mention all of the walking we have been doing. It took some convincing, but we finally decided to just do it. I mean, how many times are we going to have the opportunity to climb to the top of the Arc du Triomph?!
Tomorrow finishes our time in Paris. We still have several things to do, and time is dwindling, so I'm sure we'll get yet another early start for another big day!
Brett and Beth
The organ in King Louis XIV's personal cathedral. This cathedral was the ONLY example of any kind of worship of God and not of man.
The stunning Hall of Mirrors
Marie Antionette's village estate on the premises of Versailles
A look across a miniscule portion of the grounds to the back side of the palace
The man-made canal inspired by Venice, Italy. King Louis XIV thought, "Why go to Venice? Let's bring Venice here."
Napoleon's tomb. It's hard to see just how big it really is... to give you an idea, those white statues surrounding it are about 10 feet tall.
Napoleon's frock coat and his famous hat
By taking my life into my own hands, I stood in the middle of the Champs Elysees to get this picture!
Beth in front of the Arc du Triomph
France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI under the Arc du Triomph.
The Longest Day
(Again, please remember that this is being "posted" on July 11th) :)
The title of this blog is not necessarily a reflection on this portion of our trip... it is instead a bit of a tribute to this excursion by using the title of one of the more famous movies made about the D-Day landings at Normandy.
Last night Beth and I rented a car so that we would be able to make the day trip to the beaches of Normandy. I was most nervous about driving in Paris. We planned on leaving our hotel so early this morning so we picked up our car late last night. That meant that I had to drive it back to our hotel in the heart of Paris... YIKES! If we hadn't had some GPS support, we would probably still be driving around trying to find our way back to our hotel. Those GPS machines are amazing.... I really don't know how we would have found our way around without the one that Dustin and Amanda let us borrow.
The only problem with them is that they don't always pick the best route... Sarah (as ours has been named) led us to our hotel by taking us down the Champs Elysees (the busiest and most famous street in Paris) and around the Arc du Triomph where twelve streets converge into one ginormous traffic circle. To make it even a little more fun, it was dark and Paris drivers don't believe in obeying traffic laws. If you are in their way, then they just go around you, whether it is their turn to go or not. I was in the right turn lane and someone from behind me (on several occasions) whipped around me to get in front of me.
After we got back to the hotel, we really wished that we had filmed the trip through town as it would have made for some good laughs later. The only problem was that I needed Beth to watch "Sarah" and navagate for me so we wouldn't make a wrong turn.
We left the hotel at 7:00 am this morning for Normandy. We arrived at the Visitors' Center and Cemetary at around 10:00. It is a very well put together visitors' center (it's more of a museum, really) and we spent probably 3 hours in it before we exited into the cemetery. The visitors' center had three main themes - Competence, Courage, and Sacrifice and each was given a substantial amount information with which to unfold.
After touring the visitors' center, we walked out to the cemetary. The cemetery is the permanent resting place for 9,387 of our military heroes, most of whom died during the landings on the beach on June 6, 1944. Click here for a great intro to give you a taste of what we saw: http://media.oaktreesys.com/abmc/video/normandy_promo.wmv
It was a virtual sea of white crosses. On the cemetary grounds is a chapel and several other symbolic monuments. It is nestled adjacent to Omaha beach where most of the American casualties came on the morning of the D-Day landings. I was particularly moved by General Mark W. Clark's statement, "If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it would be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest: all we asked... was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead."
When we went down to Omaha Beach and walked where so many young men died for their country, it was hard to imagine the brutal fighting that went on there as now it is a very beautiful, peaceful, and serene place. Fortunately we caught the beach at low tide, so it gave us a very realistic view of what the soldiers would have seen since they landed at low tide to avoid the traps set by the Germans. There was so much beach to cover in order to get to any kind of safety from the enemy fire. There was nowhere to hide.
We then travelled a couple of miles along the coastline to Pointe du Hoc. This was the point that allowed German fighters to rain fire down on both Utah and Omaha Beaches since it overlooked both beaches, so it was a priority to take out the defenses here. The US Army Rangers were equipped to scale the sheer 100 ft. cliffs, but as you can imagine were slaughtered in the process while trying to gain the higher ground. They eventually scaled the cliffes and fought the Germans for 2 1/2 days before relief arrived. By this time the Rangers were only left with 90 combat-effective men out of the original 225.
Pointe du Hoc looks today as it did on D-Day with impact craters and bunkers. It has not been restored in any way. Some of the bunkers were the recipients of direct his from Allied Battleships, so they have been totally destroyed. There is now a monument in the shape of the Rangers' dagger having been plunged deep into the ground to commemorate this achievement.
This was by far the most moving experience for the both of us on this trip. I wouldn't say we had a "good time," but this experience is a MUST for any patriot. This day alone would have been worth the trip overseas.
On our way out, we stopped at a German WWII Cemetery. It is much more subdued with two soldiers to each headstone and 5 black crosses in periodic groups around the cemetery. It is definitely lacking the hope and purpose of the US Cemetery. It was actually pretty depressing.
"Tomorrow," we will head to Versailles, Napoleon's tomb, and the Arc du Triomph.
Brett and Beth
Our rent car - a Renault Twingo.... it felt more like a Tonka Toy, but it got around 50 miles per gallon!
One of the memorials in the Visitors' Center
The seemingly endless fields of crosses
Marker for an unknown soldier
The view from the enemy vantage point
The view from the US soldiers' vantage point
The monument at Pointe du Hoc. We could get no closer as there are sheer cliffs beyond the marker.
The bunkers - both destoyed (in the foreground) and intact (in the background)
The German Military Cemetery. Notice the crosses.
A German grave marker. Notice the two names per marker. BTW - Dates in Europe are in dd.mm.yy format.
The title of this blog is not necessarily a reflection on this portion of our trip... it is instead a bit of a tribute to this excursion by using the title of one of the more famous movies made about the D-Day landings at Normandy.
Last night Beth and I rented a car so that we would be able to make the day trip to the beaches of Normandy. I was most nervous about driving in Paris. We planned on leaving our hotel so early this morning so we picked up our car late last night. That meant that I had to drive it back to our hotel in the heart of Paris... YIKES! If we hadn't had some GPS support, we would probably still be driving around trying to find our way back to our hotel. Those GPS machines are amazing.... I really don't know how we would have found our way around without the one that Dustin and Amanda let us borrow.
The only problem with them is that they don't always pick the best route... Sarah (as ours has been named) led us to our hotel by taking us down the Champs Elysees (the busiest and most famous street in Paris) and around the Arc du Triomph where twelve streets converge into one ginormous traffic circle. To make it even a little more fun, it was dark and Paris drivers don't believe in obeying traffic laws. If you are in their way, then they just go around you, whether it is their turn to go or not. I was in the right turn lane and someone from behind me (on several occasions) whipped around me to get in front of me.
After we got back to the hotel, we really wished that we had filmed the trip through town as it would have made for some good laughs later. The only problem was that I needed Beth to watch "Sarah" and navagate for me so we wouldn't make a wrong turn.
We left the hotel at 7:00 am this morning for Normandy. We arrived at the Visitors' Center and Cemetary at around 10:00. It is a very well put together visitors' center (it's more of a museum, really) and we spent probably 3 hours in it before we exited into the cemetery. The visitors' center had three main themes - Competence, Courage, and Sacrifice and each was given a substantial amount information with which to unfold.
After touring the visitors' center, we walked out to the cemetary. The cemetery is the permanent resting place for 9,387 of our military heroes, most of whom died during the landings on the beach on June 6, 1944. Click here for a great intro to give you a taste of what we saw: http://media.oaktreesys.com/abmc/video/normandy_promo.wmv
It was a virtual sea of white crosses. On the cemetary grounds is a chapel and several other symbolic monuments. It is nestled adjacent to Omaha beach where most of the American casualties came on the morning of the D-Day landings. I was particularly moved by General Mark W. Clark's statement, "If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it would be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest: all we asked... was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead."
When we went down to Omaha Beach and walked where so many young men died for their country, it was hard to imagine the brutal fighting that went on there as now it is a very beautiful, peaceful, and serene place. Fortunately we caught the beach at low tide, so it gave us a very realistic view of what the soldiers would have seen since they landed at low tide to avoid the traps set by the Germans. There was so much beach to cover in order to get to any kind of safety from the enemy fire. There was nowhere to hide.
We then travelled a couple of miles along the coastline to Pointe du Hoc. This was the point that allowed German fighters to rain fire down on both Utah and Omaha Beaches since it overlooked both beaches, so it was a priority to take out the defenses here. The US Army Rangers were equipped to scale the sheer 100 ft. cliffs, but as you can imagine were slaughtered in the process while trying to gain the higher ground. They eventually scaled the cliffes and fought the Germans for 2 1/2 days before relief arrived. By this time the Rangers were only left with 90 combat-effective men out of the original 225.
Pointe du Hoc looks today as it did on D-Day with impact craters and bunkers. It has not been restored in any way. Some of the bunkers were the recipients of direct his from Allied Battleships, so they have been totally destroyed. There is now a monument in the shape of the Rangers' dagger having been plunged deep into the ground to commemorate this achievement.
This was by far the most moving experience for the both of us on this trip. I wouldn't say we had a "good time," but this experience is a MUST for any patriot. This day alone would have been worth the trip overseas.
On our way out, we stopped at a German WWII Cemetery. It is much more subdued with two soldiers to each headstone and 5 black crosses in periodic groups around the cemetery. It is definitely lacking the hope and purpose of the US Cemetery. It was actually pretty depressing.
"Tomorrow," we will head to Versailles, Napoleon's tomb, and the Arc du Triomph.
Brett and Beth
Our rent car - a Renault Twingo.... it felt more like a Tonka Toy, but it got around 50 miles per gallon!
One of the memorials in the Visitors' Center
The seemingly endless fields of crosses
Marker for an unknown soldier
The view from the enemy vantage point
The view from the US soldiers' vantage point
The monument at Pointe du Hoc. We could get no closer as there are sheer cliffs beyond the marker.
The bunkers - both destoyed (in the foreground) and intact (in the background)
The German Military Cemetery. Notice the crosses.
A German grave marker. Notice the two names per marker. BTW - Dates in Europe are in dd.mm.yy format.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Americans in Paris
(Please indulge us and imagine this was posted on July 10) :)
Today we took a train into Paris to spend the next few days. Our hotel is only a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, and we can actually see the top of it from our hotel room window!
We are exhausted from our adventures earlier in the week, but we shall persevere! Our first stop was to go to Notre Dame. We wanted to see this phenomenal cathedral. It is dedicated to, and named for, the virgin Mary... Our Lady = Notre Dame.
We discovered very quickly that when you look at the map of an unfamiliar town, you need to carefully look at the scale. It is very easy to let your eyes get you into trouble... from our hotel, it was only three inches to Notre Dame Cathedral. That's nothing for a pair of spry young adults, right? Let's just say that we were wrong. Very wrong. It was about two miles to walk. But even for as far as we had to go, it was worth it to walk along the Seine River and to walk alongside such famous sights as The Louvre Museum, The Orsay Museum, seeing the amazing architecture of the buildings along its banks, and trying desperately to avoid the scams of passing gypsies.
We finally got to the cathedral and it was stunning. Massive in its size, it is an imposing (and impressive) figure on and island in the river. It's Gothic structure matches most of the cathedrals built in Europe in the Medieval times, but it's facade was quite different opting out of the more traditional spires in front. Instead it took until sometime in the 19th century for its lone spire to be added over the center of the church.
We decided to catch the metro back to our hotel so that Beth could change back into more comfortable walking shoes, and then we headed back out again for the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to get through the line. We finally got to go up the elevator and the view was tremendous! We decided to stay and eat in the cafeteria that is housed on the 2nd deck.
An interesting tidbit: we learned that the Mr. Eiffel's design won out the competition for the crown jewel of the World's Fair in 1889 over some other interesting designs that included a huge guillotine. I think Paris made the right choice!
The Eiffel Tower is currently bathed in blue light every evening at dark to commemorate the French President serving his six month term as the head of the European Union. Also in conjunction with that occasion, there are the 12 stars of the EU flag mounted on the northwest face of the tower. At night for the first ten minutes past the top of each hour the tower "sparkles" from literally thousands of strobe lights placed on the tower. It is an amazing sight!
More to come "tomorrow!"
Brett and Beth
Notre Dame Cathedral
One of the gazillions of bridges spanning the Seine River
The view from the underside of the Eiffel
The Eiffel Tower at dusk... no, this is not a professional picture. It really is my camera-work!
The Tower bathed in blue
Today we took a train into Paris to spend the next few days. Our hotel is only a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, and we can actually see the top of it from our hotel room window!
We are exhausted from our adventures earlier in the week, but we shall persevere! Our first stop was to go to Notre Dame. We wanted to see this phenomenal cathedral. It is dedicated to, and named for, the virgin Mary... Our Lady = Notre Dame.
We discovered very quickly that when you look at the map of an unfamiliar town, you need to carefully look at the scale. It is very easy to let your eyes get you into trouble... from our hotel, it was only three inches to Notre Dame Cathedral. That's nothing for a pair of spry young adults, right? Let's just say that we were wrong. Very wrong. It was about two miles to walk. But even for as far as we had to go, it was worth it to walk along the Seine River and to walk alongside such famous sights as The Louvre Museum, The Orsay Museum, seeing the amazing architecture of the buildings along its banks, and trying desperately to avoid the scams of passing gypsies.
We finally got to the cathedral and it was stunning. Massive in its size, it is an imposing (and impressive) figure on and island in the river. It's Gothic structure matches most of the cathedrals built in Europe in the Medieval times, but it's facade was quite different opting out of the more traditional spires in front. Instead it took until sometime in the 19th century for its lone spire to be added over the center of the church.
We decided to catch the metro back to our hotel so that Beth could change back into more comfortable walking shoes, and then we headed back out again for the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to get through the line. We finally got to go up the elevator and the view was tremendous! We decided to stay and eat in the cafeteria that is housed on the 2nd deck.
An interesting tidbit: we learned that the Mr. Eiffel's design won out the competition for the crown jewel of the World's Fair in 1889 over some other interesting designs that included a huge guillotine. I think Paris made the right choice!
The Eiffel Tower is currently bathed in blue light every evening at dark to commemorate the French President serving his six month term as the head of the European Union. Also in conjunction with that occasion, there are the 12 stars of the EU flag mounted on the northwest face of the tower. At night for the first ten minutes past the top of each hour the tower "sparkles" from literally thousands of strobe lights placed on the tower. It is an amazing sight!
More to come "tomorrow!"
Brett and Beth
Notre Dame Cathedral
One of the gazillions of bridges spanning the Seine River
The view from the underside of the Eiffel
The Eiffel Tower at dusk... no, this is not a professional picture. It really is my camera-work!
The Tower bathed in blue
The Eiffel Tower's nightly light show
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 4 in Europe!
Hello, everyone! It is currently 11:28 and we just got back to Dustin and Amanda's about an hour ago from yet another very busy day of travelling. We have figured up that by the time we make the round trip home, we will have travelled more than 12,000 miles!! Somewhere around 2,000 miles of that will be on the ground with all of the day trips we have done (and will do.)
Today we left at 7:15 to head to Cologne, Germany to go to the cathedral there. This cathedral was absolutely magnificent... it is more than 500 steps to the tops of the twin spires! I was totally surprised how small I felt in such a ginormous and fantastic structure. It was awe-inspiring, and quite humbling, and it dates back more than 750 years! It was perhaps the only building in Cologne that survived WWII relatively unscathed... the church removed its priceless stained glass that dated back to the Medieval times to preserve it during the relentless bombing campaigns. Miraculously, the rest of the building was unharmed at war's end! I bougth a cool post card documenting this... so if you're a nerd like me, just let me know and I'll let you see it!
After a brief lunch, we got back in the car to go to the castle Berg Eltz. This was a phenomenal castle, but I would have liked to get to go into more of the rooms! It dated back to the 15th century, so it was intriguing to catch a glimpse into the lives of very rich people of that time!
We completed our whirlwind tour through Western Germany with a stop in Aachen to view the Aachen Cathedral where the remains of Charlemagne are enshrined, as well as relics from Mary (her clothes,) Jesus (his loincloth from the cross,) and John the Baptist (decapitation cloth.... I know---gross.) The relics, unfortunately, were not on display. We missed them by one year. They are only on display every seven years, so I guess we will have to head back in 2014!
This will probably be our last blog until our return to the US as we will head to Paris tomorrow and will definitely lose our ability to post pictures, and will most likely not be able to post any new narrative since we would have to pay a bundle for use of a computer in an internet cafe. We'll see how things go.... Check back often as when we do get back, we will post new pics of our time in Paris as well as the day trip we will take to Omaha Beach and the US Cemetery and Military Museum at Normandy on Friday.
We hope you are enjoying the pics and our trip as much as we are! We can't wait to get home to the US... but we are enjoying this wonderful time with all the colorful people and experiences we have seen!
See you all soon!
The Side view of the Cathedral in Cologne
The Organ in the Catheral in Cologne. It was given in 1998 as a gift to the church on the 750th anniversary of the church. It is suspended from the ceiling so as to not compromise the structural integrity of the building by hanging it from the wall.
The front view of the Cathedral in Cologne. It was so big, I could not get the entire thing into view!
Beth and I infront of the Castle Berg Eltz
The Castle Berg Eltz
Today we left at 7:15 to head to Cologne, Germany to go to the cathedral there. This cathedral was absolutely magnificent... it is more than 500 steps to the tops of the twin spires! I was totally surprised how small I felt in such a ginormous and fantastic structure. It was awe-inspiring, and quite humbling, and it dates back more than 750 years! It was perhaps the only building in Cologne that survived WWII relatively unscathed... the church removed its priceless stained glass that dated back to the Medieval times to preserve it during the relentless bombing campaigns. Miraculously, the rest of the building was unharmed at war's end! I bougth a cool post card documenting this... so if you're a nerd like me, just let me know and I'll let you see it!
After a brief lunch, we got back in the car to go to the castle Berg Eltz. This was a phenomenal castle, but I would have liked to get to go into more of the rooms! It dated back to the 15th century, so it was intriguing to catch a glimpse into the lives of very rich people of that time!
We completed our whirlwind tour through Western Germany with a stop in Aachen to view the Aachen Cathedral where the remains of Charlemagne are enshrined, as well as relics from Mary (her clothes,) Jesus (his loincloth from the cross,) and John the Baptist (decapitation cloth.... I know---gross.) The relics, unfortunately, were not on display. We missed them by one year. They are only on display every seven years, so I guess we will have to head back in 2014!
This will probably be our last blog until our return to the US as we will head to Paris tomorrow and will definitely lose our ability to post pictures, and will most likely not be able to post any new narrative since we would have to pay a bundle for use of a computer in an internet cafe. We'll see how things go.... Check back often as when we do get back, we will post new pics of our time in Paris as well as the day trip we will take to Omaha Beach and the US Cemetery and Military Museum at Normandy on Friday.
We hope you are enjoying the pics and our trip as much as we are! We can't wait to get home to the US... but we are enjoying this wonderful time with all the colorful people and experiences we have seen!
See you all soon!
The Side view of the Cathedral in Cologne
The Organ in the Catheral in Cologne. It was given in 1998 as a gift to the church on the 750th anniversary of the church. It is suspended from the ceiling so as to not compromise the structural integrity of the building by hanging it from the wall.
The front view of the Cathedral in Cologne. It was so big, I could not get the entire thing into view!
Beth and I infront of the Castle Berg Eltz
The Castle Berg Eltz
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
More Netherland Adventures
Today's travels led us a little deeper into The Netherlands. We travelled a few minutes south of Voorburg (specifically where Dustin and Amanda's house is) to Delft where they are most famous for the Royal Delft Ceramics Factory and the church that houses the crypts of the entire royal family of The Netherlands as well as the mausoleum of William of Orange who freed the Dutch from the Spaniards back in the day. :)
The New Church holds the remains of hundreds of important members of Dutch society in the floor of the chancel, but most notably the remains of William of Orange and all of the past Dutch royal family in the crypt that can only be accessed through a huge, sealed stone door in the floor at the front of the chancel.
The Royal Delft Ceramics Factory creates very nice (and VERY expensive) ceramic plates, bowls, vases, etc. Included in the tour were some of the old pieces on display as well as some of the artisans displaying their talents. Our guide was wonderful and gave us a great look at all the ins and outs of making these ceramic masterpieces.
Following a brief lunch at McDonald's (it actually served us fountain drinks with more than two cubes of ice!) we made the trip Northeast to the Westerbork Kamp. This was a concentration camp that was the temporary home (only a week for most) to some 110,000 Jews, Gypsies, and Resistance Fighters. This camp's primary purpose was propaganda for the Nazi party. It was the only facility to be filmed during operation, so they put their best face forward showing outdoor games being played, wood working, variety shows, and schooling for youngsters. They even boasted a wonderful hospital facility for its "residents." Turns out, it was more of a clearing house for incoming - and then outgoing - prisoners. All but 300 of the prisoners were sent to Auschwitz never to return. Those remaining 300 were left to destroy the camp after the last train-load of prisoners left for Auschwitz... Westerbork was liberated shortly thereafter.
Westerbork is not what you would typically think of having been mostly demolished in the 1970's. The only remnants of the old camp were the raised foundations of the former buildings, a latrine, some partial building structures and a portion of the railroad leading into and out of the camp - which has since been made into a national monument. There were some giant radio telescopes erected on site before the decision was made to make this into a historical site.
Today was a little sobering, but nonetheless we are having a blast! Come back tomorrow and check to see where we go next!
Brett and Beth
The Mausoleum of William of Orange
Artisans at Royal Delft
Latrines at Westerbork
Remaining rails at Westerbork
Beth standing in front of one of Holland's most famous icons
The New Church holds the remains of hundreds of important members of Dutch society in the floor of the chancel, but most notably the remains of William of Orange and all of the past Dutch royal family in the crypt that can only be accessed through a huge, sealed stone door in the floor at the front of the chancel.
The Royal Delft Ceramics Factory creates very nice (and VERY expensive) ceramic plates, bowls, vases, etc. Included in the tour were some of the old pieces on display as well as some of the artisans displaying their talents. Our guide was wonderful and gave us a great look at all the ins and outs of making these ceramic masterpieces.
Following a brief lunch at McDonald's (it actually served us fountain drinks with more than two cubes of ice!) we made the trip Northeast to the Westerbork Kamp. This was a concentration camp that was the temporary home (only a week for most) to some 110,000 Jews, Gypsies, and Resistance Fighters. This camp's primary purpose was propaganda for the Nazi party. It was the only facility to be filmed during operation, so they put their best face forward showing outdoor games being played, wood working, variety shows, and schooling for youngsters. They even boasted a wonderful hospital facility for its "residents." Turns out, it was more of a clearing house for incoming - and then outgoing - prisoners. All but 300 of the prisoners were sent to Auschwitz never to return. Those remaining 300 were left to destroy the camp after the last train-load of prisoners left for Auschwitz... Westerbork was liberated shortly thereafter.
Westerbork is not what you would typically think of having been mostly demolished in the 1970's. The only remnants of the old camp were the raised foundations of the former buildings, a latrine, some partial building structures and a portion of the railroad leading into and out of the camp - which has since been made into a national monument. There were some giant radio telescopes erected on site before the decision was made to make this into a historical site.
Today was a little sobering, but nonetheless we are having a blast! Come back tomorrow and check to see where we go next!
Brett and Beth
The Mausoleum of William of Orange
Artisans at Royal Delft
Latrines at Westerbork
Remaining rails at Westerbork
Beth standing in front of one of Holland's most famous icons
Monday, July 7, 2008
Day 2 - Brugge, Belgium
Today we drove to the small town of Brugge in Belgium. It's about 2 1/2 hours from Dustin and Amanda's house. We got there just in time for lunch...waffles! Brett and I both had a waffle with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Very tasty! We went the Church of Our Lady where Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child is housed. We climbed all 366 steps to the top of the bell tower located in the town square. We got to the top just in time to hear the Carillon play and the hour chime at 3:00. After recovering from the burn in our legs we made our way down. Basillica of the Precious Blood holds a vile of Christ's blood. Supposedly, Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood at the feet of Jesus at the cross. Who knows if it's true, but it's a cool story. We also did some shopping. We bought some lace and chocolate. The town was very beautiful. As we headed out of town we got a snack of fritters (french fries) with mayonnaise. We had a great day after a great nights sleep (12 hours)!
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