Echternach, Luxembourg

The Luxembourg Wine Route is just beautiful. That’s the drive that I took today. The Mosel River is on the border between Germany and Luxembourg, and on the Luxembourg side, there is just vineyard after vineyard. It was a beautiful day today, with weather in the 70’s and not a cloud in the sky, which made the dive that much more enjoyable. I chose not to stop at a vineyard today, but after driving through this breathtaking country, I stopped in a small town called Echternach – what a quaint place and apparently (according to Wikipedia anyway) it’s the oldest town in Luxembourg, dating back to 698. There is a lovely church there too, but I didn’t go inside because there was a wedding about to happen. Echternach’s culture seems to combine the French and the German, but unlike the places that I’ve visited in both countries, the people I encountered spoke little English, and I left feeling like an obnoxious American who needs to learn some languages. Otherwise, I enjoyed Echternach thoroughly and may make it back there. I’ve posted a couple of pictures, even though pictures just can’t do justice to the amazing landscapes that I saw in Luxembourg.

Luzern, Switzerland

I took a day trip with the USO to Luzern, Switzerland yesterday. I had to meet the bus at a location that is about a 45 minute drive from where I’m staying at 4am. As the alarm clock chimed at 2am yesterday morning, I began to wonder why I ever thought that signing up for this trip was a good idea. Well, now I know. As a result of my visit to Luzern, I have absolutely fallen in love with Switzerland!

The city of Luzern was founded in the 700’s, when a group of monks started a monastery there. The medieval influence is everywhere in this city’s buildings and bridges. I absolutely loved the old water tower and covered bridge, the city wall with its clock tower and the elaborately decorated Jesuit church that we visited.

The day started with a bus ride across the border to Switzerland. When we arrived in Luzern, our group was greeted by a tour guide who rode with us to Bertel Thorvaldsen’s famous carving of a dying lion. The monument was created to commemorate the loss of hundreds of Swiss soldiers who were massacred in 1792 while guarding the French Royal Family during the French Revolution. The carving was dedicated in 1821. The tour guide told us that this carving was the first time the lion was used to depict bravery and courage as a human characteristic.

We then went on a 1 hour walking tour of the city, and saw the Chapel Bridge, which was originally constructed in 1333. Much of the current bridge was reconstructed after a 1993 fire, but some of the original paintings from the 17th century remain inside. This is a beautiful, covered bridge with flowers decorating the entire length of it. The bridge originally connected the part of town on the other side of the river to the Jesuit church that sits on the lower side. The inside of this church was incredibly ornate and decorated with many windows and light colors, which was a departure from the traditional way of constructing churches in the 17th century and meant to represent the soul’s entrance to Paradise.

After the walking tour, we boarded a boat for a 1 hour ride on Lake Luzern. Even though it was an overcast (and eventually rainy) day, I was impressed by the beauty and majesty of these mountains, and enjoyed watching the many sailboats, which were taking advantage of the wind. Touring on this boat below those imposing mountains was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

We were then on our own for 4½ hours. After a nice lunch with a woman who I met on the bus, I took advantage of the remaining time to go view the towers along the old city wall. Although my thighs are sore today from climbing many steep steps, I would not skip that part of the adventure if I had it to do all over. These pictures are of part of the rampart walls that were built in 1386, and the wall is still almost entirely intact! I climbed up two of the towers, one of which contains the oldest city clock. The tour guide told us that because of it’s status, it has the privilege of chiming one minute before all of the other clocks in the city.

Another thing that I learned from the tour guide is the Switzerland contains the two cities that are ranked as having the highest standards of living in the world – Zurick and Geneva. I think I could detect this influence in Luzern. Everyone I saw there was dressed well. It didn’t matter how young or old and whether physically challenged or not, everyone was dressed fashionably and the quality of their clothing and bodily upkeep was easily observed. This high standard of living was also evident when shopping. Even though 1 Swiss Franc is currently equal to .91 US Dollars, the prices on merchandise were quite high.

If you read this far and haven’t already detected my enthusiasm for Switzerland, let me tell you: I enjoyed every minute of my day in Luzern and did not want to leave. It was worth every penny spent, every minute of sleep lost and every ounce of energy expended!

Bonjour!

I spent this past weekend in Paris! Prior to planning the trip, I was given advice and warnings by numerous people, who I told about my plan, but the one consistent thing that they told me was that it takes 4 hours to get there. I’m not sure if they all know something that Linda (the person I traveled with) and I haven’t learned, but it took us 6 1/2 hours to get there and 5½ to get back. Okay, so we ran into serious traffic, rain and had to detour b/c of construction on the way there, and we probably wasted about 1/2 hour stopping on the way back, but I still don't think you could make it in 4 hrs. Anyway, the drive through the French countryside was so pretty, which caused me to become more and more excited, so I didn’t even care that it took so much longer than we had planned to get there. Driving through those mountains allowed us views that looked like paintings.

Because we arrived in Paris so late, we were not able to take in any sights on Friday evening. However, I was up early Saturday morning and ready to hit the streets! We decided to have breakfast at a café, and my salmon crepe was delicious! After breakfast, we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral, since it was only a short walk from where we had eaten. What a gorgeous place! The stained glass is beautiful and the intricate designs on the cathedral itself are breathtaking. Because we wanted to fit as much into this trip as possible, Linda and I opted not to wait the 1½ hours it would have taken to get in to climb to the 2nd story to see the gargoyles.

We then decided that to see as much as possible of Paris, we should take a bus tour. We got on to an open-air bus and were able to see various sites this way. The opera house is a lovely building and the Louvre is huge. I would have loved to have seen the inside of both, but time did not allow. The height of both the Arch de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower were awe-inspiring. Finally, on Saturday evening, Linda and I enjoyed a quaint little French restaurant called Le Cosi, pronounced “cozy”, and it was just that. You could easily have a conversation with your neighbors, as they were seated so close, and the entire restaurant was quite small. Linda and I agreed that we enjoyed the best meal we’ve had since arriving in Europe 2 weeks ago.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Paris, aside from the sites that we’ve all heard so much about. What I didn’t expect was to feel so at home there. It reminded me of the French Quarter so much more than I would have imagined – the architecture and narrow streets, the fact that I recognized so many words (Lafayette, St. Germain, St. Bernard – a street name in Paris) and that I was able to pronounce the French words that I read quite easily. I’ve always known that the French Quarter was settled by Frenchmen, but I guess I didn’t realize that there are still so many similarities. Paris is also a very tourist-oriented city, and that was somewhat disappointing. It makes sense, but I guess I just haven’t ever thought about this fact. As the day went on, it became so crowded that I didn’t even want to be out there. I’m glad I was able to get to Paris, but I’m not sure I want to return.

On a positive note, the food was great. There are pastries and coffee on every corner. Since I’m such a “foodie”, I definitely enjoyed that. Also, parking on the street in Paris in August is FREE! Learning that little tidbit was a nice “Welcome to Paris”!

Idar-Oberstein

Visited the German town of Idar-Oberstein today. What a quaint downtown area! There are numerous cafes and places to sit and have a coffee, ice cream or meal, and there were people out everywhere. Today, there was some kind of jewelry market happening on the main street - with tents everywhere selling handmade jewelry. The town has a several hundred year history of mining and gem cutting, and there are many jewelery stores there, testifying to that fact.

Upon arrival, Linda and I decided to grab a bite to eat from a local, outdoor vendor. We had the most delicious pea soup, brattwurst (pork) and mettwurst (beef). The man working in the booth was so friendly and spoke great English. He convinced me to try the pea soup, even though I don't like peas. Since he was so friendly, we asked him to take our picture eating our first brattwurst since arriving in Germany, and he did. He told us that the building in front of which we were sitting was the oldest one in town (from the 1400's), that he had grown up there and that his brother now owns the restaurant that is there. Meeting him was a fun way to start our day.

Felsenkirche, the church we visited at Idar-Oberstein,

was built into a natural niche in the rocks back in 1484. The church sits high above the rest of the town, and is a symbol of the city. You can see the church in the center of the picture to the right.

Finally, we spent 2+ hours in a grocery store, which is much larger than any store here in Baumholder. The upstairs reminded me of a Wal-Mart, but without all of the advertising. The products are just there, not really displayed for marketing the way that things are in America. Anyway, it was tough shopping in a place where you have to dicipher so many things. It gave me a new appreciation for what people who immigrate go through when they go to the U.S. and what those with other kinds of limitations experience. All in all, the people were very patient with us and most spoke at least some English, so that we could communicate with them.