Yeah. I took that photo. :0

One excited American in Paris at that! By boy, getting here…you are probably tired of hearing about our days in transit, but this is the end of the trip so there will be far fewer after this! So for the first time in 3 weeks of getting places, we needed a reservation to get to Paris. My Dad and I expertly took care of that and the helpful woman at the window made everything seem so simple! It was too good to be true. We stopped in a little town on the border of Belgium and France and none of us paid any attention because we weren’t to our connection city yet. However, after sitting on the train for several minutes and after everyone else got off, we were informed that we were supposed to make an extra connection here that we had no idea about. Now, flustered and rushing we sped to the next platform. There was an unlabeled train about to pull away, unsure what we were supposed to do, we didn’t get on and the train left. Moments later, we realized that that had been the one. Shoot. Lost, confused, and annoyed we met a lost, confused and annoyed couple that was in the same situation as us.  Leaving my mom to guard the bags, my dad and I went off to figure out what was going on. Alright this story is getting boring- basically it was way too difficult but eventually we got the info we needed and shared it with the couple. Left now to stew and wait we struck up conversation with the young couple and vented together. Conversation led us to find out they were an Australians traveling for 2? 3? months together and then living in England. It was very pleasant to sit and share stories of hostels, restaurants, and many experiences similar as well as vastly different. Not to mention comforting to have someone else in the same situation as we were.  Finally we made it to Lille, France and bid farewell to our new companions. Of course, since this was the only time we had reservations, we had missed our train and had to deal with getting new spots. To add to the fun, there are two train stations (10-15 minute walk apart) in Lille. Joy.  Some pacing and utilization of my French skills got us on another Train to Paris.

Our tiny hotel! Ours were the 4th floor two open windows on the right!

The day’s delays did not keep us from the plan. After squeezing into our tiny (smallest yet) hotel room, the Eiffle Tower called. Well it’s been calling for about 10 years but, now, I finally got to respond. There was one more delay to tend to, which was my tummy, calling louder than the tower. But hey, we’re in France, how could one not prioritize bread!?

The view was magnificent! We had (again) impeccable timing, or at least as good as it gets at a world attraction. We got in line just before it got insanely busy and got our elevator passes. There was a lot of pushing and jostling and signs for pickpockets on the several jaunts to the top. I was amused by one particular warning video with the pick pocket shown in all red.

See him?

Nice of them to dress in such a way we could keep an eye out for whom to avoid. “Attention, Ladies and Gentleman, pick pockets are active in the tower, please watch your luggage.” They’re active. Beware. We got to the top, with all of our belongings and it was wonderful. Windy and crowded but a view of all of Paris! We were able to stay as night fell and to witness a proposal and watch as the city lit up; followed by the tower lighting up and we could hear the gasps of spectators below.
We took the stairs to go back down and enjoyed the lit up architecture from the inside which, honestly, during the day and from up close, is not the pretty.  Down down, down, we got closer to the ground and I went to bed in disbelief that the next day, I’d begin visiting the sights we just saw from the top.

So many pictures of the view!

Also, two many pictures of the tower after dark!

Good morning! No time to waste,  Rick Steves, Notre Dame and my parents were up, ready and waiting. We subwayed (I needed a new verb) to the church and got there with the morning sun shining just right. We had an audio tour to listen to, but my dad forgot his mp3 player, my mom’s ipod died and so mine was our only hope. Turned out, Notre Dame was the only audio guide that didn’t finish downloading on my ipod. So we had nothing but the notes in the book. Oh well! I stood on the center of Paris out front and visited Sainte Dennis who holds his head. I also tried to get a head count of all the people on this intricately decorated exterior, and got lost after a tiny section with more than 100 statues.  The inside was beautiful as expected and after a good hard look; we walked around to the outside to have coffee with a view of the gargoyles.

Magnificent!

Can you find St. Dennis?

The center of Paris. I shall have you know it was extremely difficult to get a picture of this without someone standing on it!

It was a church-y day. We had two more to visit by 4pm. But first, a moment at the WWII French deportees’ memorial.  The memorial is under ground at nearly water level of the Seine. It was designed to give you the feeling of being closed in, or trapped, and it succeeded. Inside there is a room, or rather hall way, that has a little light for each deportee that did not return. I felt that the simple but impactful memorial was well done, and I was grateful to understand enough French to read some of the engravings in the stone. It is not permitted to post pictures on the internet (though you can google image “La Mémorial des Martyrs de La Déportation”) but the most striking quote for me etched into the stone was:

Pardonne
N’Oublie pas…

We emerged back into present time Paris and headed to Sainte Chapelle. I’ll admit, trying to follow the walking tour on a hand drawn map in a book got us lost. Once we found it we got into the line for security. My Dad set off the detectors and held up the line while taking everything out of his bunches of pockets until finally it was discovered that it was only his passport causing commotion. You’ve got to look out for those sneaky little books trying to sneak in without being x-rayed. Thanks to his trouble, my mom and I knew to take ours out.

Brief and chronologically accurate pause to include another Water Closet story:  You get what you pay for. We weren’t exactly sure where to go because there were no signs to be found. Once the entrance was located, there was still no sign of which (or if) side was designated for which gender. I finally noticed a PENCIL stick figure on the outside wall wearing skirt. Decided that was where to go. OH! I should have listened to Rick Steves’ suggesting that in Paris you carry extra toilet paper just in case. Because there wasn’t any. And I had just emptied my pockets of napkins and things in security. A nice lady shared, no wait, she “rationed” her tissues to those of us desperate.

Inside the church was absolutely breathtaking. I love stain glass but this exceeded my expectations. Unfortunately there was restoration going on and scaffolding up inside while we were there and so the view was a bit obstructed. On the bright side, we were lucky enough to see the before and after difference of the work they were doing. The after product was incredibly cleaner and brighter and over all clearer to enjoy to intricate story it portrays.

This is the area that was not restored yet. You can see the grime build up.

This picture can’t do it justice.
But fun fact:
Boustrophedon – a way of reading from the bottom upwards; alternate lines are read in opposite directions, right to left then left to right.

Two churches appreciated, one to go. Saint Sulpice! This was one of the destinations in The Da Vinci Code for my fellow fans. It was also really neat because it was the Paris Meridian, or better known, the Rose Line.  Feeling pretty cool, I set my compass down on the brass line along the floor to see it point to “True North”.  As I was taking a picture, I was also amused by the other tourists not-so-sneakily wondering what in the world I had found to take a picture of on the floor.

North is that way. For sure.

He is looking at the organ (still in Saint Sulpice)

My friend Helena, the Brazilian dancer I had met at SIBA, was in Paris at the same time we were.  The previous night, I’d made plans to meet up with her and together tour the Musee d’Orsay! It was so exciting to be re-united and have a new face in our trio! Good company and good art is an understatement. After our tailored self tour we parted ways for the evening.

Mom: “This place looks like an old train station!”
Dad: “It is.”

On our way “home”, my parents and I were almost trampled by a group of young men sprinting past us in the Subway station carrying rings of (stolen?) Eiffel Tower key chains, pursued by the police. Not sure what had happened, we were left feeling unsettled and regretted not tripping the group as they hoped the gates to the underground transportation.  The least we could do was point the officers in the right direction and not buy a key chain from the random vendors on the street with only the ring of key chains shouting “One Euro!” to everyone that passed.

We got off the Subway by the Tower in search of Crepes and lo and behold the perfectly located stand presented me with the most glorious crepe of my life! Nutella and banana and strawberry, next to a carousel at sun set, under the Eiffle Tower. Heaven?

My crepe. I will always remember that snack.

We digested our food in The Place du Trocadero with the monument towering above us in the distance.  While waiting for the light show we attempted to take funny pictures until better entertainment ran by. Literally. Some sort of work out class chose the steps by where we sat to run/hop/jump up and down to loud music in bright colors amusing many spectators accepting the interruption as a preshow.

As the sun was setting. The lighting just kept getting better!

Finally, the tower lit up and flashed and sparkled as we “ooo”ed and “awww”ed and took pictures of the people at the top taking pictures of us reversing roles from the previous night.

All of Pairs now, “oooo, aaaww!”

Wow. I just scrolled back up as I typed this, and I’m really not sure how we did all of that in one day. Super tour-ers!

Okay, take a snack break and rest your eyes….

Next day:

L’Arc de Triomphie! Another interesting vantage point to look at the city, the Eiffel Tower and down the famous street we were about to explore, all while learning a bit of history.

View of the Eiffel Tower from the top of L’Arc de Triomphie. (You can see the arc from my picture from the top of the tower)

Humming “Aux Champs-Elysees!”, the cheery song stuck in my head, we trekked toward the Louvre.

We were almost cornered by some obnoxious kids, and could have been pick-pocketed. Luckily, my dad recognized their behavior from his reading and scared them (and made me jump) before they had the chance to scare us. Only harm to anyone was a momentarily increased heart rate!
Our stops included a shiny, no a SHIIIINY staircase in a random store on which I felt compelled to have my photograph taken, a caffeine excursion, and a Disney store (where a grouchy guard scolded me for taking a picture and a friendly guard made friends with my dad as he professionally blew bubbles). Running behind as expected, we were about to be late for our next rendez-vous with Helena when she showed up behind us. What crazy luck! Perhaps our supply of serendipity was not completely depleted after finding each other in Vienna weeks prior.

Surrounded by gardens and statues, I had an amazing, inside-out grilled cheese sandwich lunch thing called a monsieur croquette. The perfect fuel before our reader’s digest version of touring the Louvre. It being the end of our trip, I think we all appreciated Helena’s fresh presence, decisive attitude and sound sense of direction as she assumed the role of tour guide for the day. Hitting the highlights was a wonderful way to experience this huge, famous museum.

Picture perfect.

We stopped to rest and hydrate at a café somewhere deep inside. I ordered just a small Coca-Cola. One look at the bill quickly enlightened us. THAT is where the Roman statues we’d viewed downstairs lost their fingers.  After decades of Toy Story like Nights in the Museum those poor thirsty statues ran out of gold.  Makes me wonder what the ARMless statues ordered at the café.

This famous statue was really thirsty.

Well, Ms. Mona, awaited.  Needing a game plan to fight the tourists, I suggested we just sort of squat and squawk like chickens if the crowd was too difficult. I figured this would confuse people enough to clear a path, but alas, it was unnecessary. There were indeed a zillion people but I did manage to make it to the front where the famous portrait smiled for the camera. I really saw her. Woah. As mainstream and unoriginal as it sounds, that was one of my Paris highlights.

Evening was arriving and our feet aching. We headed back to the hotel to prepare for our final day together. On the way, Helena decided to test out the fancy outhouse-like street Water Closets. Story:  The door was automatic. It worked fine for the person ahead of us but when it came to Helena’s turn, it would not close. No matter what we did the toilet was exposed. After various attempts it did shut, but only long enough for one to be convinced it finally had worked before bursting open again! It teased us several more times before Helena gave up.

Paris is a big city. Big cities are quite different than small fairytale towns. The hustle and bustle is extremely exciting and there is a never ending supply of things to do, but I didn’t realize just how worn out I could get just navigating the population.  It gave me more appreciation for the dinky places we stayed and more excitement to settle down in a smaller, less touristy place as fall arrived.  As an additional random note, I also had no idea that I actually don’t care much for underground trains, especially when there are interesting things to see!

The final destination of our traveling time together was Versailles. Tired and emotional, I enjoyed the tour of the Chateau less than I may have at a different time. It was too crowed and slightly difficult to use their provided audio guide. Nevertheless it was a wonderful conclusion.

The Sun King’s Palace and a tiny glimpse of the golden gates to the left.

Upon arrival at Louis’ Golden Gates my breath was taken away. I enjoy the way that Rick Steves presents historical information and learned a substantial amount about the Sun King, his reign and the following crowned kings/queens.

“There’s a long line-a wimins (women), that must be the water closet” –My Dad. Oh the truth in that.

The highlight for me, as for many, was the hall of mirrors and the two rooms at either end (war room and peace room). There was also an, almost distracting, modern art display throughout the castle including huge high heel shoes made from cooking pots!

Cooking pot, modern art, shoes in The Hall of Mirrors.

Fresh air and sunshine welcomed us to the magnificent gardens. Because it was Saturday, we had to pay a bit extra to get in, but it was worth it to see the fountains turned on! I was amused by my parents interacting with the French ticket people. My dad greeted one woman and after completing the transaction she said “Merci” as we began to walk away, and my dad turned back and waved saying, “Beaucoup!”  Then turning to me, he said (almost proudly); “I don’t know what beaucoup means, but I said it to her!” I laughed and explained that it translates to “a lot” and explained that it didn’t make much sense in the context he used it in.

Lunch was great, walking through the beauty was great and best of all, watching the fountains or leading my parents through rows and rows of tall hedges with the map upside down in search of the next fountain and shade was great.

This was not the part that we explored. We were to the right of this on the main path and in the maze of bushes finding fountains. But I was just rather pleased with this photo!

After another heavenly crepe, unfortunately the end of the evening was spent unpacking, organizing and repacking with a bit of sitting on my suitcase and saying goodbye to my new rubber ducks. As I climbed into bed for the last night, my racing mind was too tired to do much worrying or anticipating or anything and I snoozed off thankful beyond expression for the recent adventures (for lack of a better one word summary) and bonding that changed my life.

Au Revoir,
Emily

Well we’ve traveled far and wide and covered almost all forms of transportation. Really!  Let me list them: Plane, shuttle van, walking, public bus, fast train, slow train, tram, gondola, bike, taxi, funicular, tour bus, little boat, big boat, car, subway, elevator, and even those moving path things in airports and train stations.

When we arrived in Arnhem, I had totally forgotten that we were in the land of my ancestors! Finally! I’ve always wanted to visit and now was my chance, and even closer to their actual land than I had anticipated.  I was curious to see how Dutch was different from German and practiced saying dank u wel as soon as I got there. The very first thing I noticed about the people was their height. As I had been told, they were oddly tall and many fit nicely into this stereotype.  The houses are also tall and skinny with the steepest, narrowest stairs I have ever seen. The house our room was in, was built in 17?? And was very typical.

The front door   

Having limited time here, we rushed off to find the Open Air Museum and buy museum passes. This was one of the most interesting museums in terms of lay out and the way the information was presented. I found it to be a wonderful way to learn history, but had to wonder if a similar type of format would survive in America – where museum artifacts are behind glass.  The idea was to show how the Dutch lived thought the decades as realistically as possible. I really felt like I was walking through time. The authentic barns, houses, workshops and gardens we open for guests to wander around inside to look at all the artifacts as they would have been left not tucked away in a display case or merely models. Another opportunity I took advantage of was watching dressed up workers/actors going about their daily business as if in another century.  Unfortunately, we ended up having to rush through even the few main attractions we chose to focus on. I’m glad we fit in the time we did because it was special to see firsthand how my family lived and to explore the iconic windmills, play with old toys, eat bread and enjoy chocolate! I even bought slippers that looked like the famous Dutch wooden clogs.

One of many old houses we ducked into, and my Dad standing in the doorway as his ancestors would have.

Aren’t they wonderful? Slipper clogs.

The following day we borrowed free bikes and rode out to another museum. We biked through the park; heather, trees and sand for 10 kilometers to get in. Inside the Kroller Mueller Art Museum, we got to see a lot of famous art. Outside, my mom and I (getting fatigued) were amused by the modern art sculptures. Feeling guilty for being amused by what I assumed to be serious art, we suppressed our giggles at very obvious titles such as “Squares with Two Circles” or “Rocky Lumps”. I appreciated one artist in particular who had given permission for guests to climb around on his work. We entered up through a secret door and wandered around on a large piece of Dr. Seuss-y art.

“Rocky Lumps”
I’m not kidding.

Behind me, in that thing…is the staircase down, under and out!

Alas, we departed on our free bikes through the fresh air and bustled off to the joy of public mass transportation.

Arrival in Amsterdam = instantaneous, pure overwhelment. Yep. I needed to make up that word to describe the feeling.

Amsterdam
“Are you getting somewhere? Or did you get lost in Amsterdam?” – Guster

Amsterdam! (From the top of the Library)

Dear Guster, we did get lost in Amsterdam but we also certainly got somewhere. More than once if you ask my Dad and I who were often convinced we were going in circles. It all looks the same! Good thing we had my mom/ “our tour guide” along to escort us through the city!

Up and at it, croissant in hand we began our first full day. Only to be sent back home for rain jackets. This time, armed and ready to brave the weather, we changed the order of our plans and retreated to museums while the city got drenched. On the way to the Van Gogh museum we stopped for huge Dutch pancakes and coffee! There was some fascinating, large, rock sugar for the coffee, which I found picture and noteworthy.

The sugar!

Skipping the line (with our handy museum passes!), we wandered the arm museum and the Doctor Who episode about Van Gogh played in my head as I read about his dark, up and down life and looked at his masterpieces that couldn’t bring him fame in time for him to enjoy.  I drank my dose of paintings and noticed how his art changed as his life did and began to wonder what would happen if I picked up a paint brush.

Finishing in up in the gift shop, we got some fresh cold drinks in the fresh cold air to freshen up and cool down before tackling the Reich museum. Thank goodness some of it was closed. Here, I was honored yet again to see art that was so old, so impressive, and so famous.

Reich museum

After a long day on our feet, the perfect idea was a boat ride on a canal as night fell on the city. We experienced the sun set and lighting up of Amsterdam’s night life as well as the tour in at least 4 languages. It was a quick and helpful way to get oriented to the wet, half moon shape that didn’t make much sense to me on the map.

On the second morning, we got up early and rushed off to the Anne Frank house.  And because my mom is awesome and super organized, we beat the crowd for the most part and the whole experience was good. The tour was powerful since the museum is in the actual building that the history took place in which makes it so much more real and touching.  I found it really interesting in the part of the house they hid in, the secret annex, it has been preserved empty as her father (who helped with turning their house into a museum) wished. This represented the hollow emptiness left behind when so many people were taken away to never return.  Before I knew that, I was wondering why they had just created models to show how it had been, and after learning that I appreciated his decision. “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” –Anne Frank

After leaving the house, we went down the street; ok we paced like 4 streets and even stopped at the cheese museum for free samples, before settling on a hole in the wall breakfast place. Luck again! We just beat the rush and enjoyed delicious Dutch pancakes again.

YUM!

With full bellies and a bit of caffeine, our day evolved into wandering and following the walking tour Rick Steves provides. As distractible as we are and as confusing as Amsterdam roads are, the few noted spots took us the rest of the day. After dinner (which was bizarre because we ate in a tiny café hidden in a huge department store) we braved the streets of the red light distract. I was there. I had to see it. I suppose I’ll just say, this was an eye opening experience that started out semi-uncomfortable and a drastically different tour than that morning.

So, on our last morning we finally had to do laundry at a mat. It was not as expected. The point was to leave your clothes, let them do it and come back in an hour. My mom and I, being the control freaks we are, didn’t quite catch on to that and stayed and micromanaged the process. But eventually with clean and either damp or shrunken clothes we began our jouney to Brugge, Belgium.

My mom and I folding Laundry inside. My dad…. well…doing his own thing.

This trip was not as hot as previous days of travel (luckiy!!) but there were a lot of tired and grouchy people around. Me, sitting next to them, quietly reading seemed to be as much of a nuisance as burnt toast for breakfast. I had an encounter with a conductor that I will not forget. It is stressful enough not knowing when they are coming and having to find my Eurail pass and hoping I filled it out correctly, no need for an added layer. The novel I am enjoying currently has been a good companion on the train, especially when split from my parents as I was in this case. I was sitting alone with my bag next to me, deeply engrossed in the turmoil of the characters’ lives. The main character, a young woman, had just been left alone for a few hours and was not looking for trouble when she was suddenly captured by the enemy, suspicious of her identity, and taken away to be locked up and questioned. This is when “the ticket guy” as I refer to them, came along and made me jump. He took my pass and looked at it intently. Then glanced and me and mumbled in French before leaving abruptly…with my pass! I nervously sat and fumbled with my bookmark contemplating my fate. When he returned, he continued to grump at me in French about my ticket, but in a language I barely speak with background train noises and with my anxiety levels already above comfortable, I had no idea what the problem was. He did a lot of pointing (at my ticket) and more explaining accompanied by glares and open ended questions.  I began to try to explain I had no idea what was wrong and that the part he was fussing over has been fine on every other train when he gave up, apparently fixed the problem, and then huffed off. *exhale* I survived. I was in fact questioned by the suspicious but at least not captured by the enemy! What a fiasco.

(P.S. One of my Amsterdam souvenirs was the next book in that mentioned series that I bought in the famous English book store!)

Upon arrival in Brugges, it was love at first sight! After the insanity of Amsterdam, Brugges was welcoming and tourist friendly and after seeing where we were staying I collapsed on my bed in fatigue and relief.

Proof.

“…a handy gateway to Europe. It’s no secret, but even with the crowds, it’s the kind of place where you don’t mind being a tourist. Burges’ ultimate sight is the town itself, and the best way to enjoy it is to get lost on the back streets, away from the lace shops and ice-cream stands. Today this uniquely well-preserved Gothic city prospers because of tourism. Even with its crowds, it’s the kind of city where you don’t mind being a tourist. It hides some sweet surprises…” –Rick Steves

Our trip being guided by, and my writing being partially inspired by Steves, it seems appropriate to quote him. This is not originally the part of the travel book I wanted to include, but the book had to go back to the library and this was fitting. The part that you don’t get to read is a humorous note about Belgian people that helped me form my first impressions. The Belgians were much shorter, and much plumper than the Dutch. Not that I can blame them, they are famous for French fries, waffles, beer and chocolate!

Our rooms here were probably one of my top two favorite places to stay. It was very cute and the people were very nice, I liked the town and the entertainment! We got quickly acquainted after renting bikes and taking off in the countryside to see the town of Damme. (This is the part where those of you still reading will probably start to think that the European food and drinks have gotten to my head). I loved this bike ride. Quite a lot. After the big, crazy city, riding on the train, reading maps, walking and hauling my suitcase I was free in the countryside! It was absolutely beautiful and I felt like I was in a movie. I let my head completely space out and take in the view until we arrived at an old, OLD church with a cemetery and everything. This didn’t bring me back to reality of course, I just worked this scene into the movie I had fallen into.

Beautiful ride. Perfect weather and perfect scenery, and perfect exercise!

Eventually we got back to town and found restaurant row in the square. Really, one entire edge was just restaurants! Each with their menu out front in 5 languages. Our waiter also spoke 5 languages and told us so as if it were no big deal. We had a view of the bell tower, and horses pulling buggies. The sun set was accompanied by a bell concert and conversation with two interesting American women sitting at the tiny table next to us. Not to mention that I tried cheese croquets, and oh my goodness it was the most amazing cheesy thing I’ve ever tasted. I spent every moment after they were gone counting down till I got to eat them again.

View 1 at our dinner spot

View 2 at our dinner spot!

Sun rise and people rise, we hiked to the top of the bell tower that had been the previous evening’s entertainment as well. All 366 steps to the top were worth it! The bells strike every 15 minutes and we were lucky enough to be at the top looking down to where we had eaten and looked up when they played. Turning around I was impressed by the coordination of the machinery and HUGE, old bells.

It was hard to take pictures of the bells so this is a very zoomed in view from the top of the bell tower down to where we ate looking up the night before. We ate at the place that doesn’t have umbrellas.

The rest of the day was filled with touristy things such as; testing out at least 3 different chocolate shops, admiring the lace everywhere, enjoying Belgian fries and Rick Steves’ company and guidance. In the middle of the day we paused for another canal trip in the most beautiful part of little Brugge.

Where (ish) we stared out canal tour.

Afterward, it being past 2pm at this point, The Basilica of the Holy Blood was open again for visits and I got to pay about 20 cents to see the blood of Christ. That’s a long story, Google it. The final two highlights of our time here included a peaceful moment in The Church of our Lady, the church hosting Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. How in the world did he make such a beautiful statue out of that material, so long ago!?

Here we are, standing in front of the masterpiece.

“Alright, we went to church, can I have some beer now?” – My Dad. This quote is taken out of context but it fits here as a transition to me mentioning our tour of De Halve Maan Brewery. We learned the history of the area and saw how the beer used to be brewed and learned how it is currently brewed, got a great view of the city from the top of the building and then a complimentary glass of their Brugse Zot, unfiltered beer.
Dinner time. Cheese Croquet time.  Goodbye to Brugge time.

Next morning, picked up some last minute chocolate and then….. Paris bound!!! Oh la la, I can’t believe it!

(I got behind on blogging but am going to post in order. So this starts 2-3 weeks ago and we headed to Paris on the 29th ish. Next up, Paris and then arrival in Angers (where I am currently staying for my actual study abroad program))