Quigley European Trip (1st Third) -- France

Today was a big day for our family. We finally embarked on the epic journey that we have been planning for more than a year and dreaming about for many more. We flew out today from Marrakesh, Morocco. As many may know there are some crazy airlines here in the African continent and "EasyJet" is only one of them...but it is cheap. We got up early, loaded the gelcap and drove down. A wonderful man (John Gooch) agreed to watch our car. He has a great "work" here in Morocco letting people stay in his home while on breaks from thier work in the country. As a family we decided to travel light and bring on the basics so as to be stealthy although I do believe that our bags could have been much lighter. Personally Collin is not much a flyer these days but took the plunge with Brenna by his side. One Side Note: Due to a tragic moment we lost about 100 photos off the camera..........what you see is a limited number from the first half.
We arrived and stayed on a small hotel on the outskirts of Paris. Nice and small but what we needed. The subway system in Paris is great and easy to get around. We bought a pass for two days and had no problem getting around. We only had two days in this massive, sightseeing mecca so we limited our time to the big ones (Louvre, La Orange(?), Eiffel Tower, food, Notre Dame, etc.). Tiffany was feeling under the weather to we took it slow but had a great time. The Louvre is much too big for a day or a week for that matter. We spent the day enjoying the sites of this place along with others (Mona Lisa, Monet, Rembrant, etc..). Exhausted and hungry we found a nice little park each day to each the traditional backpackers fare (bread, meat, cheese, water). The second day was the tower, river, and ND. We were sad to leave but the trip was going to be long and needed the rest.

On the third day we booked a car. This was nuts. I was told that trying to drive in Paris was like like doing a rubics cube blindfolded but could not believe the mania. Luckily a good friend (now even better) loan me his GPS before leaving Casablanca. I thought "I will not need this". Let me tell you that I will never drive in Europe without one. It saved my bacon. It started by not even being able to find the rental place. Of course the name changed, the road was not there, and the French hate to speak engish if they have too. Luckily there was a McDonald..........but oh wait they do not have coffee, or bacon, cheese sandwiches. No matter, I have not had pork in ages so this is just normal for a Moroccan. Find the car, get the family and off we go to Bayeux. France to see the Normandy beaches.

Now, there are some strange things about hotels in Europe. First of all they rarely believe that families should have 4 kids. They show you this by never allowing you to sleep 4 to a room. Only triples. If you want to squeeze 4 in a room you can pay $6000 euros for a sheet on the floor. Again, we are a family that travels, sleeps together so this is a minor setback. I did, however, realize that the kids are not 5 years old anymore and the slight ruffle in the bed at night is not cute baby but rather a 120 pound teenager that wears deodorant.

Bayeux is a beautiful town and we stoll to find shops of bread, french cuisine, coffee, and of course Gelato. This does not quite compare to the gelato in Italy (as you will see) but close. Brenna and I embark on the laundry duty in town (one load 4.50 euro -- $6.50)......and have some gelato and a sandwich along the way. We also stop to get dinner and breakfast. The guide picks us up in the morning and we have a great day touring the sites (American Cemetary, Omaha Beach, Pointe De Hoc, farmhouse hospitals). It was not only moving but impacing to see the last of the vets visiting this place. Collin was especially proud to get his kids to this place. While we were there they placed taps to honor a found vet and the vets that are dying by the hundreds. Soon there will no longer be these men alive to honor. Our guide was a local whose grandfather fought in the French resistance alongside our grandfathers. He was very thankful for what the americans did for his country. The next day we drove back to Paris returned the car (another nutty story of lostness).

Our food fare was like this.........breakfast was primarily breads, juice, and dainsh material. Lunch was frenchbreads, salami & turkey with cheese. Dinner we would get a nice meal or two but we are snacky in the way we eat so had lots of different items along the way. it was nice to have the kids with thier French. They really helped with directions, menu items, and communication. I was pleasantly surprised at what they learned. One funny moment was in Paris when we were looking for a special theatre. Sheldon says "let me do the talking". He proceeded to walk up to the information booth and quietly ask "do you speak English".

We then boarded a nighttrain to Rome. The train was very nice and clean and we shared our 6-person bunk with two nice young ladies from Sweden. Luckily they spoke good english and our conversations were about America, thier travels, and ours as well. I also met a filterless smoking Italian from Paris who was train-ing to Sicily to meet his family. Evidently he will not fly and his family insisted they go ahead. He as hilarious but smoked like a train. The probblem was ......................yes.............the train was not 7 hours behind as we were waiting in the station to leave. We felt lucky in that we did not have any connections to make. More to come in Italy.

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