Christmas in Paris Day 3: the Louvre

Clark and MJ truly shocked us with their enthusiasm to go to the Louvre.  Clark was particularly excited as he had just finished reading “The Da Vinci Code.”  He found the book fascinating and was so excited to see the real Mona Lisa.  While it was really tempting for Sean and I to plan the entire day in the museum we decided it would be best to pick 2 “must sees” in the museum and plan the visit around those.  For Clark it was the Mona Lisa, for me Venus de Milo and Sean wanted to see ancient sculptures (very easy to accommodate it turns out).  So, we were off.  If you go to Paris, get the museum pass at the tourist information center.  The line for the Louvre tickets by 10am (late start after a late night) was over 2 hours long and then once you get the ticket you had to stand in line with the other ticket holders.  That museum pass was awesome, by the time we finished our Starbuck’s coffee we were inside.

You are allowed to take photos in the Louvre,which is great, because that way you can just see the pictures instead of me writingabout all of the great works of art that we saw.  Clark and MJ were actually really good about how long it took to get through.  MJ, my little art lover, was the first one to tire.  After lots of statues (about 1.5 hours) she decided she was tired of white and wanted to some color, so we headed over to the paintings with the last ones on the list being the Mona Lisa and the Coronation of Napoleon.  We did let the kids listen to the Rick Steves description on the coronation of Napoleon and they finally understood, fully, what a megalomaniac he really was.  The painting shows the Pope who was there to crown him, giving his blessing while sitting down because Napoleon actually crowned himself; although the painting shows him crowning the queen.  For the complete story and history of this double coronation see the Louvre description, it is fascinating! 

The kids also spent a lot of time getting used to seeing all of the body parts on display, especially the statues by Michelangelo.  It was rather amusing when Clark asked me "why don't they just put an apron on him?"  I think that by the end of the day they were a little desensitized although they still questioned the wisdom of nudes, we didn't hear about it constantly.  

After dinner we decided we needed to get a crepes and the best ones were near Notre Dame, so we enjoyed the cathedral at night with all of the lights.  Clark pointed out the plaque in the square that is the central point of Paris, he learned about this reading the Da Vinci Code (a few nuggets of truth to be gleaned from that book).

Christmas in Paris Day 2

Dec. 25

I had worried that the day would not be special or something the kids would remember because we brought NO presents, not even our stockings.  Instead it was going to just be a day spent together.  It surpassed all expectations I had when I planned this trip.  We had been told about the American Cathedral in Paris – this cathedral is protestant and we went to the early service for the traditional hymns, a change from our normal praise and worship style of music. 

The service was beautiful and the music very comforting.  Afterward we took a tour of the church.  One very special lady was on the tour, the wife of the late President of the American University – started in the basement of that church.  The other unique story I will always remember is the one about the organist / music director, Edmund Pendelton.  He was the only person left at the church during WWII to keep the services going.  At one point the Nazis came looking to arrest his and he climbed up into the pipes of the organ, pulled up the ladder, and watched as they searched for him.  What a story! 

After our tour of the church we were off for lunch on at 58 meters up … on the first level of the Eifel tower!  The day itself was actually a little cloudy; however, the lunch was wonderful and the ice skating was great!  Both Clark and MJ loved ice skating, thought it was much better than roller skating.  Within 10 minutes MJ had the basic walking motion down and Clark was ready to be on his own in 20 minutes.  It was awesome!  We were just on that first level for over 4 hours. 

As we left the Eifel tower they lit it up and we were able to look back on it over the Christmas market and just be amazed. 

After dinner, we went back into Paris to take in the lights along the Champs Elysees; which traditionally were draped in white lights.  This year they had decided to do a very modern look, not exactly what we were expecting, but the shopping, eating, riding roller-coasters and sliding down the big slides.  It was a late, but memorable night.  A genuine reminder that it is not about the material gifts we give, but the love that is given and shared.  There is no greater love than that given to us by our Lord God and He shared it in abundance with our family that day.  For the rest of the photos from Dec. 25

Christmas in Paris

Dec. 23-24

We actually celebrated Christmas, the gift opening part on Sean’s birthday.  The next day, Dec. 23, we got on the train to spend a week in Paris.  The train ride itself was amazing.  It is normally a 5 hour drive without stopping to get from our place to Paris; however, the high speed train had us there in 2.5 hours.  The absolute fastest I have ever traveled on land. 

After picking-up our subway and museum passes we headed out to Joe’s house, a Westtown classmate, to find out about taking care of Chiedel, their whippet, while they took a vacation in Italy.  It was great to see Joe and meet his wife and 2 sons.  Chiedel, their dog was very easy to take care of and it was a great exchange.

Our first day for sight-seeing was on Christmas Eve.  We had planned a half a day walking tour of the original city of Paris, located on the island in the middle of the Seine River.  The morning was spectacular and after getting our Starbucks coffee next door to the Louvre we headed out of the New Bridge (Pont Neuf), which is the oldest bridge in Paris.  All along the way Sean read to us about the history and events that were significant.  We saw the park where the Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned at the steak on Friday the 13^th thus it become a day known for “bad luck”.  Then we headed to Place Dauphine followed by Le Concierge, which is now the Palais de Justice

Le Concierge: this was the original palace of Paris (1284-1314) before the Louvre was built.  In 1391 it became the first prison of Paris and would hold it’s most famous prisoner Marie-Antoinette.  Her original cell was turned into a chapel; however, they have recreated her cell and it offers a true juxtaposition of her room at Versailles.  The grand ballroom area was turned into an art gallery and they had an interesting modern art of animals display at the time.  MJ found the art fascinating and the rest of us found the history intriguing.  We really need to find an art lover to wander around with MJ because she is definitely out numbered when it comes to where we want to spend our time.  After a leisurely and delicious lunch …

Notre Dame: the line for getting in seemed really long; however, it was actually really short compared to the length of the line we would see every time we came that way again.  It is magnificent and inspiring.  We really didn’t think about the fact that it was Christmas Eve and that we were entering around 4pm.  We did however, take it ALL in … looked at every alcove, talked with the kids about all of the saints, treasures, and rituals that go into Notre Dame.  Visitors are only to go in one direction and as we came around from the back to start walking up the left side, we noticed that the lights were dimming on the manger scene and the organ and choir were warming up.  As we came around the corner I was surprised to see that every seat had been taken, the lights were on, the organ was playing and the choir was singing “O Come All Faithful” (Latin).  We just stood there, watching the processional of the catholic hierarchy coming down the center isle with a “Baby Jesus” in their arms.  It was amazing.  It was incredibly moving and I stood there with the tears rolling down my checks as I felt the presence of the Lord moving through me.  Even amongst rituals, foreign languages and thousands of people God can still find us, touch us and remind us that it is love and relationship that are all that really matter.  I was in the right place with the right people to celebrate and fully remember why we celebrate the birth Christ.

We finally left Notre Dame and realized that while we had seen only a couple of things on the list of "must do’s" of Paris, we had truly taken in Paris at Christmas.  This link will take you to all of the photos from Dec. 24.

Baden-Baden, Germany

My mother came to visit for a few weeks starting in November and leaving December 14. Unfortunately we have discovered that this is not a great time for company. The days are short with little sunshine, the kids are in school and don’t get the Thanksgiving holiday because Germans don’t celebrate the American Thanksgiving. Plus it is a very, very busy time of year for a doctor in the ICU.
I had done a lot of research on Christmas markets in the area and really wanted to go to a little town in the Black Forest; however, we didn’t have enough time and with the weather being cold and rainy we decided we would go to Baden-Baden, also in the Black Forest, which would provide us with public transportation instead of driving in nasty rain. So, we hoped on a train on Fri., Dec. 3. Upon our arrival we decided to not navigate the public transit while trying to find our hotel – so we paid about 22€ for a taxi to take 5 people about 5km; we did navigate the public transit for the trip back to the train station.
Fortunately our hotel was right near the bus station and also a walking path into the old town. The rain had finally slowed down to a mere drizzle (think Seattle) and we were bundled appropriately for the walk into town. They did have a children’s cookie baking tent so the kids got to make roll out Christmas cookies. I find this to be the perfect solution to making our own sugar cookies, they make just the amount they are interested in and I don’t have to do the rest . They also have “stained glass windows” of the Christmas story done by children in the local schools – some of them were really beautiful
Baden-Baden is famous for their baths which means the richest people in the country/world come there and the shopping is geared toward that crowd. I saw boutiques in the town that are normally in Paris and 5^th Ave NY, NY. Some of the most beautiful and odd window shopping I have ever done! The diamond encrusted dog stroller was the topper. The actual Christmas market was medium – large sized. They did not have the hand-carved items from the black forest that I was hoping to find, but they had some really cool toys, alpaca wool items and great food.
Some of the more interesting parts of the city are focused around the hot springs they have there. They have a hall which is presently used as the TI (tourist information) center that was once a place where pharmacies could come set up and utilize the hot water running into the building. MJ was shocked at how warm it was, as was Sean …
 
The water is  cooled from 68°C (154.4°F) to between 30-40°C (98-105°F) depending on the bath. The thermal water was discovered and being used for “health” purposes over 2000 years ago and the Roman bath ruins are limited because the present day baths are built in the same places.
The 2^nd oldest item in the town was a small church with an “Ölbergruppe” from the 15^th cent. It was great for a moment of reflection and remembering what is truly important in our lives.
We also saw some of the most decorated buildings there that we had seen in all of Germany:
  Plus the bicycling Santas!  It was a fun weekend and I’m really glad we went, but next time we will head there in the spring or summer so we can enjoy the gardens, castles (2) and cathedrals.

Fahren - Driving

Because Sean is heading back to Philly next week to take the next round of all-day tests we are not traveling for a couple of weeks, so I thought I would take this time to just write about some of the other aspects of living here …

Fall colors of my walking/running trail

As I listen to the news reports about the snow socking in the east coast, I am thoroughly enjoying our little “Indian summer” as it were.  The days have been climbing into the low 60’s, the trees are ablaze with red, yellow and gold; and the days are definitely shorter now.  We fell back this past weekend (Oct. 30) so the sun is coming up around 7:15 and setting 5:15ish.  I know that by the time Dec. 21 rolls around it will be dark more than I really like, but that is ok – just need to remember that the summer days will be long, really long! 

So onto driving!  There are some aspects to driving that are harder to get used to than others: 1^st 4-way intersections.  You don’t pay attention to who got there first, but rather is there someone on your right?  The person to your right has the right-of-way, ah, yes, it can be confusing if there is a car at every entryway, then it is the person who is turning right, but only if they are to your right. Right? Right!  You can also wait for many cars to go until every car to your right has gone.  So, I have pulled up to an intersection, been there first and noticed another car entering who is to my right and yes, I do sit and wait for them to go first, mainly, because they don’t slow down until they are in the intersection checking to see if there is someone to their right. 

Autobahns or highway – no yield signs.  Speed up and get in.  The first time I tried to slow down a bit I was almost hit by the guy behind me who was speeding up to 120-130kmH for the merge.  That was a bit of a shocker and the last time I put my foot on the brake when entering the Autobahn.  Now, everyone hears that there is no speed limit on the Autobahn.  True!  There is a suggested speed when traffic is moving over 130kmH (81mph).  In construction areas they will post lower speed limits and when a lower one is posted 99.9% of all the drives adhere to that speed.  The real incentive to not speed, if you are in an accident and found to be going over 130kmH you are automatically at fault, no discussions.  Because a lot of accidents do happen at these speeds the insurance you carry here is HUGE!!  Bodily injury = 7.5 mil. Euros per accident and property = 1 mil. Euros per accident.  That equals $10.3 mil and $1.4 mil.  Pretty good coverage if you ask me.  The best part about driving here is that using your horn is considered rude, actually, making any loud noises is considered rude, so honestly unless there is a serious situation that needs immediate attention you don’t hear horns.  The people who tailgate are generally other Americans.  I can be in very heavy traffic and everyone is giving a nice cushion of room unless you are going under 50kmH which is about 31 mph.  So, it is really a very pleasant driving experience. 

Entrance to walking trails

I don’t know what it is going to be like driving in the winter weather.  We have ordered snow tires, because it is illegal here to drive in the winter with all-weather tires unless they have a snowflake on them.  Yes, we do have the snowflake on our tires, but we have heard that once the snow starts to fall we will have it on the ground up here until March, while at the bottom of the hill it will melt and the streets will be clear.  So, we figure get the real deal and better be safe than sorry. 

The area for driving reminds me of Pennsylvania.  We live on the side of mountain, an Appalachian size mountain.  So, I understand why German immigrants would have felt very comfortable settling in PA, it would have reminded them of home.   Major differences - the hillsides here are covered in windmills, and the houses (more than 50%) have solar panels on their rooftops.  Germany is transitioning from fossil fuels and nuclear to all renewable resources. 

Bingen

Gate to Burg Klopp

We are fast running out of warm weekends to go and explore the towns around us.  I had remember Bingen as a town that I passed on my way to Mainz from Koblenz and decided I wanted to know a little more about it.  The first thing I relearned is that traveling with 2 kids and only 1 adult, not really advisable. Although Clark and MJ are older now, they still will get into mischief and make a lot of noise.  Noise in the US is not nearly as much of a problem as it is here in Europe.  It is not that children should be seen and not heard, it is more of everyone should be seen and not heard.  There is something about everyone living in small, close towns (I mean the houses are really close together here) that inculcates whispering.  Something that really requires 2 parents reminding 2 kids to keep their voices down. 

Burg Klopp

Any rate, the trip, we decided to take the train even though it was 2 hours on the slow moving train, it was beautiful.  I love looking at the towns along the way and seeing the modern houses mixed with the old sometimes in the same building.  Our arrival in Bingen was a little more confusing than I had expected … forgot the paper that gave me our itinerary (tour) and came into the wrong train station – on the opposite side of town.  So, the restaurant I had picked out was no longer 2 blocks away.  Needless to say we found a different spot to eat and did a more spotty tour.

Saw – Burg Klopp, the Roman ruins, Basilica, Mäuseturm,ruins of Ehrenfels castle and the convergence of the Rhine with the Nahe river (linked to photo album with larger photos).

Missed  -  Drususbrücke – one of oldest stone bridges in Germany ( wooden in Roman times, stone 11^th C. (middle ages) rebuilt 1955) in the right bridge pile there is the bridge chapel, in which travelers for centuries prayed for a safe journey. Der Alte Kran, the old crane which was used for loading boats in the 15^th century.  We also didn’t make it to the museums with exhibitions on instruments of a Roman physician and Hildegard von Bingen. She was one of the most important women in the Middle Ages. 

Basilica St. Martin's

The items we missed were actually more historical than those we saw, with the exception of the Basilica.  It was first mentioned in 793 as an abbey.  In 883 the Roman construction was destroyed and newly dedicated in 1220. When fire broke out on 14 August 1403, the church was almost completely destroyed. Three decades later a new Gothic-style St Martin’s church was finished.  It was expanded in 1505.   After the bombing in 1944 the vaulted roof of the main nave and a part of the high altar collapsed.  Today you can see some of the art and treasure from over the years and the original crypt.  It is really amazing to witness these things.  From everything I can figure out it is not possible to tour the Mäuseturm, or ruins of Ehrenfels castle.  Fortunately, it was a wonderful day to play in the park and tour the town. 

 ruins of Ehrenfels castle

Mäuseturm

I have to give kudos to Clark for picking the best meal on the menu today.  We are always trying new dishes.  While many of the restaurants have the same or similar menus, today we came upon a restaurant that had a very creative and diverse menu.  In other words, we had NO idea what we were ordering.  I did figure out that MJ had order a sandwich with smoked salmon (lach); she took the salmon off the bread and ate it on her salad – the dressing on the bread was not a 7 year olds favorite flavors.  I had an amazing fresh baby spinach salad that had a smoked ham on it (most likely from the Black Forest).  But Clark, he had this awesome pork dish with fall vegetables in au jus with a side of, to die for, roasted potatoes.  Oh, I was so glad when he couldn’t finish that meal and passed it my way!!!  Thank you Clark!

We wrapped up our day spending the evening with Dad in Ramstein village at their Oktober fest.  Festivals are outdoor shopping and eating.  We bought MJ a hat that has built in earmuffs and then we got some organic soap that smelled wonderful (MJ went for the lily of the valley).  Instead of fudge it was almond nugget and I think we might go back tomorrow to buy a sheepskin.

MJ‘s mini-blog

I live in Germany. I go to a German school.  It is hard to make friends because I don’t know German.  Whenever I go out, I can’t speak the language unless I’m on base, where everyone speaks English.  Because that is where all of the Army people work who come from America.  But some people do speak English that are German, mostly grown-ups.  My teacher, Frau Heubner, is a very nice teacher, in my opinion.  She tries to help me to learn German a lot.  And I have another teacher he tries to teach me German too, I want to learn German as fast as I can just like all the other German people do.  I am glad to be in Germany, I really like my home.  When I go to school I feel really excited, but at first I felt a little scared.  After the first day I wasn't scared to go back tomorrow.  I realized that children were really nice and so were all the teachers and my principal.  I walk to my school and I walk home from school too.  My Mom takes me to school everyday, but I normally walk ½ or all the way back by myself.  I like both walking with Mom and walking by myself, but I feel more grown-up when I walk by myself.  Most of the kids have Mom’s pick them up but other kids walk home like the older kids.  Oh, and I teach English on Tuesdays, and my teacher doesn't always know the words in English so I have to teach her how to say them.  And I really like being a teacher of English in my class.  

as dictated by MJ