Well, I got back from my trip a few days ago, and I still haven't fully recovered yet. It was a sixteen-day whirlwind of adventure through three countries. OK, maybe I'm overselling it, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. I took about 800 pictures, so it will probably take me a few days to get them all online. I'll put a link up here when I get them ready, so everyone can see them. All in all, the trip was a great success. It started off rocky when my parents couldn't make their flight from Atlanta to Paris due to stormy weather, but they ended up getting a plane a few hours later and met up with Kyle and me in Dijon.
Dijon was a good place to start our trip. It was fairly quiet and much less touristy than Paris, so we could ease into things nicely. We saw some nice churches with great views of the city, as well as the city's own Arc de Triomphe (the first of three that I would see in Europe). We had lots of great pastries and ate lunch in the park and simply relaxed a little. We took one day trip to Gevrey Chambertin, one of the best places for French wine. My brother knows the son of one of the winemakers there, so we were able to have a private wine tasting at his winery. It was very interesting, and the wine was good too! We also took a day trip via train to Beaune, a smaller picturesque town nearby and explored its main sight, the Hotel-Dieu, an old hospital built in Burgundian style.
From there, we rented a car and drove across the German border to a college town named Freiburg. We really didn't stay there long enough, but it was still very fun. The whole town has been taken over by bikes, so we rented our own and went biking one day for a few hours. We also hiked up the neighboring mountain to get gorgeous views of the city, climbed to the top of their Munster cathedral, and visited their amazing market with the freshest fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, and flowers I've ever seen. My parents especially enjoyed the market.
Next, we headed to Paris where we really packed things in. When we first got there, we unloaded at our hotel and then dropped the rental car off right next to the Arc de Triomphe. The next morning we woke up and went right to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, as well as many other amazing works. I only wish it wasn't so crowded, but it was still a must-see. Then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower and took the elevator up for some great views of the city. We also had time to fit in a Sunday mass at Notre Dame, which was pretty cool too. The next day was Bastille Day, basically their Independence Day. In the morning we went to a huge military parade down the Champs Elysees where I got to see tanks, jets, and even the French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Then we headed to Saint Chapelle and took a guided tour of this beautiful cathedral. We ended the night with a spectacular (but crowded) fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower. The only problem was getting out of the city when the fireworks ended. Think half a million people all trying to use the metro and the Paris police shutting down all metro stops within walking distance. Anyway, my parents impressively were able to smooth talk a cop to letting us down the closest metro stop and we were able to get out of the city and back to the hotel by 1am. On our last day, we visited Napoleon's Tomb, took a tour bus around the city to catch the sights we missed ourselves, then took a metro to Sacre Coeur and also saw the famous red windmill of the Moulin Rouge. All in all, I wish we had a few more days in Paris but I was impressed with what all we did in the short stay there.
The next morning my parents flew back home and my brother and I caught a 4:30am taxi to catch our 5:25am bus to catch catch our 8:25am plane to Madrid from a budget airport an hour outside of Paris. I finally made it to Spain, and I finally was able to make use of my years of Spanish classes. Once in Madrid, we found our hostel and then slept most of the day, aside from a quick visit to Puerta del Sol and the Plaza Mayor. The next morning we actually left Madrid for Toledo, the old medieval capital of Spain about half an hour away. It kind of reminded me of Venice on a hill without the canals. Lots of small alleyways that are very easy to get lost in. The next day we spent several hours in the Prado museum, much smaller and less crowded but equally impressive as the Louvre. We also saw a midnight showing of the new Indiana Jones movie at a theater just a block from our hostel. The next day we went to the Reina Sophia museum where I saw one of my favorite works of art, Guernica by Picasso. The rest of the day we walked around the Parque Oeste and took a cable car to Casa del Campo, another park outside the city. We also saw another late-night movie, Lars and the Real Girl, a movie I would highly recommend if it interests you. Our last day we took another tour bus around the city which gave us a much better feel for this city and then hung out in Retiro Park in the afternoon.
All in all, the trip was so much fun, even though I wish we had more time in each city. Sorry I had to leave out so many details. This post is long enough without listing everything we did and everywhere we ate, but if you care to know more, just send me a line and I'd be happy to tell you the rest. Like I said, pictures will come soon. I have 800 photos I have to sort through, so it's a lengthy process. For now, it's back to reality.
Moving on
8 years ago
