....Or, really it was 4 countries in 6 days. And 2 of them were just for a few hours. But it kind of felt like we went around the world. And I'm still amazed that we can drive through that many countries in less time than you can drive across the state of Texas. ((Crazy, right?! Or is that only weird to me?))
Last week we finally went on a trip that Brian and I have been talking about for over a year. And I'll go ahead and tell you...it was perfect. The entire week -- in all it's craziness, wonderfulness, and touristy fun -- was absolutely perfect. And I am so glad we waited and didn't rush into this trip because everything came together so well that I wouldn't trade a single moment of it. Ever. In fact, I would go back and do it all over again if I could. It was amazing!!
So...Paris. Oh, Paris is a fascinating place. The street vendors, the street performers, the food, the driving, the buildings, the sightseeing. Everything. It's all just fascinating!
And somewhere in Paris, in case you decide visit, you'll find the craziest bus driver ever. Like seriously. We opted to do this hop-on/hop-off bus tour in Paris and one of our drivers was just insane. When he wasn't pulling the bus over to yell "Pickpocket! Pickpocket! Gypsies!"at random people or stopping in the middle of traffic to have conversations with drivers through his window...he was pulling the bus over to try to pick up hookers. But sadly, he didn't want to stop to let the tourists off to see all the awesome French stuff...which is the whole point of the bus. ((We were pretty sure we had been taken hostage by a deranged Frenchman who just wanted to drive us in circles around Paris and someone might need to call Liam Neeson to negotiate our rescue.))
But we did get to see the sights....once the bus driver set us free.
The Arc de Triomphe
My sweet babies (finally) at the Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame
((which we didn't get to go into because it was closed on the only day we were in Paris...sad!!))
We did see a lot more. A way lot! Those are just the big highlights. We also saw the Place de la Concorde, the Academie Nationale de Musique, the Grand Palais, the Champs de Mars, the Ecole Militaire, a lot of the Seine River, a lot of random but very beautiful buildings, and a lot of the Paris Metro trains.
We had a lot of fun in Paris.
Once our time in Paris was done, we hopped in the car and drove into Germany(!!!). Eeek! Germany is an amazing place. It's gorgeous, the food is amazing...and my favorite part of Germany...we got to see old friends. (In case you can't tell, Germany was my favorite part.)
But seriously, look at this...
Isn't that gorgeous?!
One of the biggest reason for our days in Germany was allowing me to visit a friend I haven't seen in entirely too long! She and her husband are 2 of the the most amazing people you'd ever be lucky enough to meet. Our time with them was unbelievably wonderful, but far too short. (That's the only downside to our trip...not enough time with them.)
Having them as our wonderful German tour guides was extra awesome because they knew all the great stuff to show us. ((Plus, they could translate everything when we out places. Bonus!! lol) But aside from all the great food they introduced us to (because it was super yummy!...if you've never had German breakfast, you're missing out!)...Aside from that, they took us around to see some really amazing places.
The Köln Cathedral....jaw-dropping, breathtakingly gorgeous!!
The Imhoff Chocolate Museum
The kids got to learn about the history of chocolate & how it's made
The Praetorium...Roman Ruins in Germany that weren't discovered until
the 20th century. Super fabulous!!
The Palace of Benrath
Not only is it beautiful(!!) we found Disney Princess here. Fun! Teresa and I took the kids on a Princess Hunt to get pictures of the kids with as many of them as we could. Awesome!!
The Neanderthal Museum
Hint: That is not a real person she's standing with. It's a statue. It took us a while to figure that out.
The Rhine Tower...which btw...is really high up off the ground.
Sometimes pictures can be deceiving, but this one is not. That tower is really high!!
They also showed us that the Love Locks aren't just in France anymore.
On the Left: Love Locks Bridge on the Seine River in Paris
On the Right: Love Locks Bridge on the Rhine River in Dusseldorf, Germany
Köln (or Cologne) and Dusseldorf are beautiful cities, and if you're ever in Germany you should definitely visit them. Again, there are a lot more pictures...so many more! (Seriously...we had over 900 pictures from our trip.) And I do wish we could show you everything because those cities are phenomenal places.
I know I said it before, but I really am glad we waited to do this trip the way we wanted. I'm glad we were able to plan it out perfectly so that everything fell into place exactly as it should. ((And later on...you can ask me about staying in a hostel...because that happened to.))
And you're probably wondering about the other 2 countries. I'm not actually sure if they count or not, but we did drive through the Netherlands and Belgium. And we ate pastries in Belgium. (Well, we ate pastries everywhere actually. European pastries are delicious!) But we did see those countries, so I think they count. Lol
So yes. All in all, I'd say it was the most perfect vacation ever. (Hostels included.) And if I could go back and do it all over again, I would. In a heartbeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment