Mary and Gary
Mary and Gary are off on a much dreamed about time in Europe. This trip will include a stop-over in Iceland and time in Amsterdam, Germany (Berllin, Munich for Oktoberfest, and the Rhine and Mosel river regions), Czech Republic, France (including a wedding in the village of Parthenay, Paris and the Normandy coast), Belgium and Luxemborg. Two months of experiences!!Wilgocki
Travel Blog Posts
20th October a very special dinner at a local restaurant
Published: October 21st 2010Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Connelles
October 21st 2010
Next door to our time-share is a highly rated, gourmet restaurant in a country hotel. Last night we celebrated our trip and my birthday with a special night out. The restaurant-hotel is set in a restored 1600's mill over the Seine River. It is considered one of the true treats of France. We began with a walk beside the Seine River on a clear evening with stars and a bright moon. We were greeted by Pierre and seated in easy chairs in front of the fireplace for our appertifs. I ordered a kir royale and Gary had a martini; they were delivered with a tray of cheese puff-pastry. After deciding on our dinner choice, we were shown to our table in the dining room. This room seats 20 to 30 people and is decorated with crystal ... read more
October 20th 2010
Louvre Ahhhh! As we stood in the main entry of the the Louvre I am sure that my mouth just hung open. It is a shock to the system to know that you are in one of the largest museums in the world. As we went up the escalator, I knew that we would see only a fraction of the whole. Of course this first visit needed to include the famous three women... Mona Lisa, Venus, and Winged Victory. Yes, the Mona Lisa is smaller than I thought but it is beautiful. Venus is perfect and Winged Victory invokes the imagination of times of battles past. As we moved through the statues at the end of our visit, there were medallions from the Roman times. Gary found one that peaked his interest. d'Orsay As Rick Steves ... read more
World War II and the D-Day Beaches
Published: October 20th 2010Europe » France » Upper Normandy » Connelles
October 19th 2010
With a husband who loves WWII history, of course our trip has had several visits to World War II locations. One of our first days in Europe was to visit the Anne Frank House. While in Berlin we spent time at the Reichstadt, Brandenburg Gate, Check-point Charlie, and the many memorials. Later we visited Terezin in Czech Republic and the Jewish Ghetto. Of course while we were in the Munich area, we spent time at Dachau. Later that week we were in southern Bavaria and saw Eagle's Nest (Hitler's country getaway and the documentation center at Ober-Salzburg. A week or so later we were in south Belgium and stayed in Bastogne, learning more about the Battle of the Bulge. This Monday was spent at the Beach (D-Day Beaches to be exact). We headed out to the ... read more
October 19th 2010
A strike in France can put a damper on one's plans. The strike is mostly affecting the national fuel supply and the delivery system. Therefore, there is very little fuel at the gas stations. It is only a good idea to conserve in order to be sure to make it out of France at the end of the week. Yesterday, we were able to fill up and decided to visit the D-day Beaches. As we drove on the freeway, we saw the smoke from strikers burning tires in Caen and the 45+ minute lines to buy fuel at the few stations that still had some petrol. Gary remembers that his late brother Frank was in Paris during 1968 when there were student protests and national strikes that lead to the fall of the DeGaulle government. The ... read more
October 11th 2010
The wedding was phenomenal ... Before we came to Europe I would dream about the wedding and what it would be like to be in the French countryside attending the wedding, enjoying wine, champagne, & food and meeting new people. The reality was so much more than I had dreamed. Max's mom and dad have a chambres d'hote on the upper level of the medieval village of Parthenay. It has a great side yard and garden and a view over the whole lower village. On Thursday evening we all went out to a wonderful 4 hour French dinner at a very small restaurant in the village. All the courses and all the wine options and dessert and cheese and appetizers -- WOW! We left the restaurant at about 12:30am and walked through town. Each pub, tavern, ... read more
October 4th 2010
Reims is noted for several things -- Champagne, May 7th 1945, Reims Cathedral, & part of the Joan of Arc story. We started this morning with a visit to the museum that commemorates the signing of the terms of the Nazi surrender to the Allies. The museum is in the actual building that housed first the German occupation forces and then Eisenhower's headquarters. The room where the signing took place has been preserved as it was that early morning. It was the map room for the Allied Forces and the maps are still on the wall just as they were shown in the pictures of the signing meeting. Our next stop was an 11am champagne house tour and tasting. I am beginning to actually understand the differences in the types and processes. Of course Gary found ... read more
October 3rd 2010
I guess I have a lot of reporting to do. We are now in Bastogne, Belgium. This is the area of the WWII Battle of the Bulge. We found a nice little private older hotel for the night and our room has it's own bath. Our dinner was at a restaurant founded in 1945. Last night we stayed in a great city - Trier on the German border. Unfortunately, we had not made any reservations and ended up at a newer “Americanized” hotel - elevator, hallway and formal registration desk. The hotel was nice but shouldn't be anything to “write home about” ha!ha! Trier has some Roman ruins from the 1st century. They are well preserved and are easy to find since they are right beside some of the downtown area's main streets. What would we ... read more
September 24th 2010
Let's see -- We have been in the Munich area for 4 days so far... We met our friend Joe at the airport and had dinner with him in Moosberg. A small town just north of the airport but might as well be a different planet, it is rural and has a great cobblestone street atmosphere. The next day we did OKTOBERFEST!!! It is the 200th anniversary. Liters of good German beer, sausages, radiches, sauerkraut, and of course a pretzel. Will we, in America, ever learn to make a good pretzel roll? We went back to Moosberg met some of Joe's family friends from California for dinner. Gunther and Sita are from Germany and come back here at least every other year. It was fun to have someone that speaks fluent German help us with the ... read more
September 17th 2010
We went to the Berlin Cathedral to start our last day in Berlin. What an absolutely beautiful church. It has a dome, stained glass, majestic organ and inlaid gold. There are several statues that are on pedestals around the lower rim of the dome among them are Calvin and Luther. There are 6 memorials to members of the Kaiser Wilhem family. The oldest of the six died in 1499. The alter has a crucifix that is intricately carved and appears to be ivory. As we sat there, we were awed by the fact that this fairly new church (finished in 1905) was not damaged in World War II. In comparison, yesterday we saw the bombed out shell of the Kaiser Wilhelm Cathedral. All that is left is part of the steeple and the entry way. After ... read more
September 17th 2010
OK - let's call it exhaustion!! I have not been able to hold a computer mouse let alone think clearly enough to write a blog entry. We have walked our old fool feet off and by the time we get back to the hostel it is all I can do to make it up the eight flights of stairs and flop on the bed. So here is an update on the stuff we have done in Berlin... First we are staying in a room for two at the East Seven Hostel in Berlin... It is wonderful and clean. I can see why they have won awards for Best Hostel in Germany. Each morning you can buy a cup of coffee (made by order from their espresso machine) for .50 euros. I have fallen in love with ... read more
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