Paris Recap

Sorry for the delay in posting. We are having to pay for internet since we left our Paris hotel.

Okay, so we left our hotel at 11:00 am on Saturday, but weren't getting on our train to Berlin till 7:30. We went and stored our bags at the train station so we didn't have to schlep (that's for you, Lisa!) them all over Paris. Then we went to the Catacombs. That was crazy. Millions of people found it as their resting place ... we got a few pics but weren't allowed to use flash so it was a bit tricky.

After the catacombs we went to the Rodin museum to check out the garden. Very beautiful. Of course we both got the Thinker picture taken. Rodin's sculptures are absolutely amazing.

Next we went to find the Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart) it's situated on a hill overlooking much of Paris. When we got there we looked up at it and opted not to climb the stairs as our legs were still dying from the 700 steps we climbed at the Eiffel Tower (though we did save a few Euro that way). At one of the little food stands nearby, we grabbed what I thought was our best meal in Paris (and cheapest). I will never complain for paying $2 for a soda and unlimited refills at a restaurant again!

We went on to find the Espace Montmartre (Dali Museum). We knew it was near the Sacre-Coeur, however, the area was just off our map. We wandered up & down steps (that we tried to avoid) and hills. Finally, we were able to get directions and stumbled upon it. Definitely worth the search. And since we climbed the hill, we headed back towards the Sacre-Coeur for a couple more pics. It was raining on us so we didn't get many.

After this we headed back to the train station to get our bags and wait for our train. Paris was beautiful, the architecture and history, absolutely amazing. It was also ridiculously expensive.

Next up: Berlin.

Checking out - Part duex

Okay, we are hurrying to get showered and packed up so we can check out at 11:00am. We are going to take our bags to the train station and lock them up so we don't have to carry them, as we don't catch our over night train to Berlin until 7:30. We are going to see a few more things today and I will post Paris pics as soon as we have internet again, probably the hotel in Berlin.

Love and miss you all!

The coolest thing at the Louvre.

Sorry Mona Lisa, that was pretty good, but not quite as cool as meeting James Hetfield and the "new bassist", Robert Trujillo, of METALLICA at the freakin Louvre!

Seriously. We were sitting there staring at the sculptures and resting our aching legs and I hear people speaking English, which is refreshing and Tim is doing double takes at these guys. I didn't see James at first and Tim was all, that looks like the new bassist for Metallica and that's James Hetfeild.

Very cool, nice guys. We didn't get pictures with them or autographs b/c you know, we are cooler than that. I did however try to snap a picture before everything went down. A little blurry as I was hurrying before Tim got to him & trying to be discreet, but definitely James.

They told us they usually stay in Paris when playing over here, you know they "make it their home base". Rockstars.

So, what did we do ... we left. Nothing at the Louvre was going to top that. Tim was like a kid in a candy store. Shook James' hand twice and Robert's once. He probably hasn't washed it either.

Paris

We made it to Paris about 9:30pm found our hotel and got checked in. Not many people here speak English, so tonight has been tricky getting here. By the time we got checked in and headed out on foot to see what we could find, we found the restaurants closed. It looks like the cafe/restaurants all closed at 10 or 10:30 so we didn't eat dinner. Tomorrow will be much better in day light and in the parts of town where we will run into English speakers. We have a guide book with phrases so I think we'll be able to get by. It's almost midnight better get to bed. I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

Checking out

Okay, so it's 10:30am here ... we just checked out of The Flying Pig and are off to see a few sights before we leave Amsterdam.

Of course when we arrived yesterday we stopped in at a coffee shop b/c you know, Tim likes coffee. We checked into the hostel and then went to find some food. We found a little cafe and noticed there are dozens of the same places just different names. It was pretty good. We got our tram pass and then went to the Van Gogh museum. We decided we'd had enough walking and thought we'd go home & take a short nap. Four hours later we got up & headed back out for dinner and drinks. Due to the hour, dinner turned out to be McDonald's. We had drinks in some square & paid way too much for two Heinekens, but oh well.

We leave for Paris this afternoon ... post more pics later.

We made it!

It's about noon and we just checked into our hostel in Amsterdam. We would both LOVE a nap. But are going to push on through, at least for now.

The trip in was uneventful. The train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam was the worst but overall, went well. I'm posting pics from my camera, have more on Tim's but those will have to wait for uploading.

Here we go!

Okay, this is where we plan to update our adventures in Europe to keep everyone informed on the trip.

Our itinerary:

Depart OKC for Dallas 8:30am on Tuesday May 12th
Depart Dallas for Philadelphia 10:46am
Depart Philadelphia for Frankfurt 4:15pm

Arrive Frankfurt @ 6:10am on Wednesday May 13th
Eurail Frankfurt to Amsterdam arriving @ 11:25pm
One night in Amsterdam

Eurail from Amsterdam 3:10pm to Paris @ 7:35pm on Thursday May 14th
Two nights in Paris

Overnight train from Paris 7:47pm (Sat 5/16) to Berlin 9:00am (Sun 5/17)
Two nights in Berlin

Eurail from Berlin to Frankfurt for flight departing @ 11:10am.

I know none of that was too exciting, but just so you have an idea of when we'll be where and maybe I can refer to this as well!

Can't wait to post pictures!