Our Last Stop...Paris!

Our last stop this trip is Paris. Our flight leaves at 1:30pm from Paris on August 19th. It's been a good run but now we have to get back home and face the bills. Here are some pictures from the things we tried to catch up on that we didn't get a chance to see the first time around. This time we did actually climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which was wicked packed and took forever to get to. Sunset may not be the best time to visit. We almost missed our train again but thanks to Josh's sprinting skills we ran to catch the train. We had like three transfers, talk about STRESS!!! Here, I'll let the pictures tell this story.

(This was towards the end of the walking tour that we had taken that day. I'm standing at the end of the Tuileries Gardens, near the Champs-Elysees.

(This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI, this is the eternal flame that never goes out. Well ok, so it's been blown out twice since it's erection. Once I think was a prank, then another time some tourists decided to cook hot dogs over the flames. Each person was deported back to their home country never able to return to France.)
Napoleonic Arc de Triomph

(The Arc de Triomph is accompanied by two other Arc's in paris both equal distances away. The Arc de Triomph is the second largest arc in Europe.)

(It is estimated that every 1/2 hour that is a car accident in the round about that circles this monument.)
( This is right before we climbed the tower. We looked at the long lines and asked ourselves "Is it worth it?" We decided yes.)

(This picture was taken directly at the bottom of the tower while waiting in line. There are three areas to buy tickets to go to the top.)

(The city from the top of the Eiffel Tower at night.)

(Every seven years the Eiffel Tower is painted, it is currently being painted at the present time. Paris hired a team of Italian painters to hand paint the entire tower. The color changes from time to time but is currently a mixture of brownish grey. Three separate colors of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top.)
( The G. Eiffel intended for the Eiffel Tower to be built in Barcelona but Barcelona declined. Many Parisians called the Eiffel Tower an eyesore. It was erected in the 1800's for the World Fair and was only intended to be in Paris for 20years. One man tried to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal every few years and a few rich people actually paid to take down the tower. When they realized it was a scam they didn't tell anyone they just took the loss. The scam went on for about ten years before this con was caught.)

(At the very top of the Eiffel Tower, don't let this fool you there were about a hundred people surrounding us. This is also right after I used the bathroom at the top, the tower sways so much that it felt like I was on a boat.)

(Eiffel Tower, at the top of every hour there is a light show that you can watch. )

(Eiffel Tower at night right as we are about to leave for the train, Josh is telling me to hurry cause it's late)

Brush strokes to Giverny

Why look at a painting when you can be in one? So for those of you who aren't familiar with Giverny, France this is where Monet lived. Earlier in the blogs you may have remembered us talking about Monet's paintings and the ridiculous amounts of pieces we've seen. Well imagine looking at his paintings and imagining what he was thinking, where did he get his inspiration, what did his subjects look like, smell like? In a sense we were able to dive into his paintings and see the actual gardens, fields and lilies that inspired his paintings. It's one thing to look at a painting and appreciate impressionism, the brush strokes and his use of color; but to actually look at what he saw brings a whole new sense of appreciation. If you like any of Monet's work I highly suggest taking the extra expense to travel outside of Paris to see where he lived and worked.




We couldn't have asked for a better day, not too hot, not too sunny a perfect day for a picnic and tour of Monet's garden. The pictures don't do it justice. By far one of our most inspirational days!



We left for Paris in the nick of time, we had to return the car by 6pm and it was an hour drive. So we packed it in and assumed that we could make it back alright. We felt confident that we could at least make it to the city. Keep in mind, no phone and no maps. This again amazes me, we made it into Paris without a problem! Granted we came close to not having a enough money for the tolls but we made it. Well that is until we got stuck in traffic and needed to find a gas station to fill the car. We took some side streets through the city, figuring we would have to drive by a gas station eventually. And we did, although for anyone traveling in Europe most of the machines that take credit cards require you to have a smart chip which we don't. So we couldn't get gas anywhere, no gas attendants were even working. So bizarre! Two hours later, we were able to find a gas station that would take cards. When we returned the car, we parked in the wrong garage, and were two hours late. Hertz actually tried to charge us for an extra day but luckily Josh was able to argue our way out of it. Technically we did run in and ask them where there was a gas station before our check-in time. Although since we were so late getting in, meant that we were also late in getting to the grocery store to pick up supplies. We got to the store literally as they were locking the gate. The kicker was, that had we not looked for a grocery store in Paris, we would have made it in time to go the Carrefour right next to our hotel. The same hotel that we stayed at the first time we were in Paris, and as luck would have it we had the same room too!

Which way to Chartres?

We missed our train Sunday morning to Paris, so we spent the next two hours in the hot waiting area charging my phone. We reserved a car with Hertz so that we could drive around the outside of Paris. For those of you who may not know, my dad is a Chef who studied in Chartres, France. While here I figured it would be pretty neat if we could stop by and have dinner. Instead of getting an expensive hotel room we decided to rent a car and sleep in the car that night. So up to this point everything had gone to plan, we got a cute little car and thanks to the directions on my phone we got to Chartres in record time.

The town is by far one of the cutest towns I've seen with lots of little cafes and stores. The Notre Dame de Chartres is the reason that the town is even on the map.
When we drove into the town it almost looked as if the cathedral was floating on the hill tops. Before dinner we walked around the town and listened to a violinist in the cathedral. For anyone visiting Chartres keep in mind that parking is super difficult! Later that night we went to the restaurant, where I had the best dinner of the trip. It's a four star restaurant so you can just imagine how good it was, especially after eating Gouda cheese and salami for the past two weeks. We started out with appetizers (a crab spring roll and shrimp with chilly), dinner (lamb shank and Penni pasta), followed by dessert (tiramisu and a raspberry thing). Ok so I'm not very good at their French names but it was pretty DELICIOUS!! After a million pictures and a few glasses of wine we decided to high tail it out of there and find a place to park the car and sleep. By this I mean we decided to try and drive to Giverny but we got so irritated with the directions on my phone because France can't name a road one name so we pulled over to sleep it off. Eighty steps for an hour drive, seriously! Luckily for us we found a parking area that was free with a nice large bathroom (hmmm, I mean tree). To our surprise the car was much more comfortable then the tent. We slept so well that we didn't realize how late it was when we got up. Ok so now back on the road! Oops, did I mention my phone was about five minutes from running out of battery life and was the only map we were using for directions! For some reason no stores outside of Paris sell maps. So there I am writing down 80 steps of how to get to Giverny. With the help of our trusty Carrefour (the Walmart of Europe), we were set for the day, breakfast and lunch done. Our hour drive from Chartres to Giverny would take like three hours. The phone was dead, we were lost and a this point guessing which direction to go in. For some reason, we let our noses lead us and guess where we ended! Right exactly where we wanted to go, imagine that, not even a map!!!!!

Never say Nevers

Lyon was pretty amazing despite our short visit. It's too expensive to stay in the hotels there, so instead we hopped a train to Nevers, France. If you picture the country and point directly to the center that's where Nevers should be, right along the river.

Camping is currently our cheapest option with less than 6 euros per person a night. Although we're still sleeping on the ground but the sand seems a little more comfortable. We are getting the hang of this camping thing, except we still don't have electricity or internet. At this point we're only surviving on what we can buy at the grocery store and wine. Oh yeah and Kababs (I think we're becoming regulars at the one place) and if it's not Kababs then its McDonalds cause they have free Wifi. Oh and it's like $9 for a value meal, super expensive!!!!! Nevers is even smaller than Lyon which means that even less people speak English. The town is really cute and easy to walk around, old castles and antique looking buildings.

My favorite part of Nevers would be the canoe trip that Josh and I took. We went down the river that I can't remember the name of, it was really quiet and relaxing. The water was pretty shallow because in most parts we could stand in the water and walked the whole way. The water here is so clear that you can see all of the fish, even from the top of the bridges. Had we had our fishing poles we may have given it a try.

Our days in Nevers were spent walking around town while we spent our nights laying on the beach drinking wine and watching the meteor shower. AMAZING!!!!! We saw so many shooting stars. We tried finding constellations but the only two I know of our the Big and Small Dippers. We also discovered that if you look closely you can see the satellites circling the earth. I of course was determined to take a picture of a shooting star so I sat with my camera the whole time taking pictures of all the stars, probably about a few 100 or so. I think all I got was the tail end of one. Oh well there's always next time.

In a day we will be off to Paris to finish up the trip, I can't believe it's almost over. :(

Asunta and Roma

Eating Pizza in like the only restaurant in town.

In Asunta's apartment!

Hear the Roar of Lyon

Ok so it's been awhile since I've blogged. For some unknown reason there's like no place that has wireless, which makes it very difficult to update pictures.

Barcelona treated us well, especially since we got such a good deal on the campsite. It was almost like we didn't pay anything at all. Of course we had the grocery store, beach and pool. So it was almost like we never had to leave. Although, after I finished my book we decided to go on a quest to find another book for me to read on the beach. Who knew that in all of Barcelona not one book store sells a book in English. So being the handyman that Josh is, he took the knife on our corkscrew and cut the binding of his book. So now I'm reading the first part of his book while he reads the second. Yay for big books!!!!

On August 9th we left for Lyon, France which actually means Lion in French. We kinda figured that out when we noticed all of the lion statues. Lucky for us our hotel was right next to the train station. So we sat in the park across the street and walked the flea market since it was Sunday. It was super cute cause they have little puppies for sale along the one side. Super super cute!!!! Lyon is a little different than Paris, especially since no one speaks ENGLISH!!! However, we did manage to buy a chicken and potatoes for lunch from the flea market. We sat under a huge tree to have lunch.

Later we walked to the tourist office while it rained, a welcoming site after being in Barcelona for over a week with nothing but clear skies! My sunburn thanks you rain. We would have been able to enjoy the sites a little more had we learned a little more French. All of the signs and information were in French. The city is super cute! But if you ask me, I wouldn't go on a Sunday, there wasn't a store or shop open. We walked all the way into the not so touristy side to find a grocery store.

The next day we spent enjoying sleeping in an actual bed instead of on the hard cement like sand. Talk about HEAVEN!!!! The sites were cute, the old town was amazing! We hiked up to the top of this hill where there was a cathedral and Lyon's own Eiffel Tower (now known as a TV tower). Ok so from that view we realized Lyon is much bigger than I had thought.

Kabob's and Gelato were for dinner and a nice walk through town was in order. Hopefully I got some cute night pictures of the city.

Next stop, Nevers!!!!

~cheryl

Barcelona

¡Hola¡
¿Como estas?

Yeah, Yeah.... thanks to four years of Spanish as it turns out none of it was too useful in Barcelona where apparently they speak some other dialect. It sounds more French then it does Spanish.

So we arrived in Barcelona a few days ago, July 31st to be exact. We took a ferry from Roma to Barcelona, a 20 hour ferry ride. Oh and by ferry I mean a cruise. The ship was equipped with a casino, spa, restaurants and entertainment. I got a pedi then sat on the deck to finish reading my book. Talk about a vacation, it´s the best sleep I´ve gotten yet. The sun warmed me when the wind cooled me, the weather was perfect without a cloud in the sky. I was even able to see the sunrise over the sea. Although, Barcelona is HOT!!!!! This time I´m prepared, fan and sunblock in hand! Let´s see the sun get me now! My sunburn is doing much better these days, in fact my relationship with Josh has reached a new level, he´s been peeling off my skin for me. Sooooo super gross, I feel like a snake now! It´s kinda funny though, cause the only part of my body that´s burned is the front.

Since the 31st, I can´t say we´ve done much. For anyone ever visiting Barcelona, it is super expensive. The city tried to have free walking tours like in Berlin and London but the tour guides were getting things thrown at them in the street. The cheapest hostile we could find was 20€, so of course the cheap travelers we are; figured we could try to sneak a person in since we´ve done it in other hostiles or hotels and there were extra beds in Josh´s room. It would have worked had the guard not asked for our key cards. After we had no explanation the manager came down and was convinced that Josh was sneaking me in for umm... other reasons. The manager was extrememly upset with Josh and sent him to his room telling him if he didn´t go he´d call the police. Once Josh left the manager offered me a room and a lecture. Keep in mind his English wasn´t very good, but I think he may have thought I was a prostitute. He gave me a room next to his office and walked me to bed. I´m pretty sure he slept outside my door, which wasn´t too good because my suitcase with everything was in Josh´s room. No worries though, I was greeted with hellos the next morning, Josh and I made it a point not to check out together. Haha... wow!

So now, we´ve made it to a campsite right outside of Barcelona which is much cheaper, however there is no internet making communication with the outside world pretty difficult. The last few days we´ve made little trips to Barcelona, but no need to travel much since the beach is right next to the campsite and a grocery store about 2 minutes away. In fact Josh and I maybe the slowest shoppers in the entire world. We spent like 3 hours buying dinner at the Carrefour (Europe´s Walmart) and really not buying much. In fact we were so hungry and tired after shopping that we stopped at the McDonald´s next door to have a hamburger off the euro menu. Camping has been a little bit of an adventure with our 20€ tent that I bought in Rome. Since we don´t really have a sleeping bag or pillows, we had to take out all of our clothes and lay them on the ground then put our fleece blankets on top of them. It has to be the worst sleep I´ve ever gotten (Josh is a selfish sleeper taking up our entire tent)! I´ve never been so sore, it´s like sleeping on concrete. Dinner has been extremely difficult since we don´t have any supplies. Yeah we bought food and everything, but we didn´t have coals, lighter fluid, forks, plates, aliminum foil, and a sapatula. So we gathered sticks and twigs for a fire that wouldn´t light, used a branch as a spatula, and tried to recover whatever hamburger meat that didn´t fall between the grill or on the ground. No worries, we´ve been living off of bread, cereal, muffins and Nutella (which Josh swears if see´s me eat anymore of it with my fingers he´s going to vomit!) But it´s sooo good!

Sleeping on the ground is getting easier, we´re getting better at cooking, and we´ve made some friends with some French guys and by we I mean Josh. (I think one of them has a crush on him) Actually, there are more French people at our campsite then Spanish, go figure.

Our day´s consist of sleeping on the beach, reading by the pool (which we snuck into last night and had the whole pool to ourselves!), guitar (I´m trying to learn Free Fallin still) and drinks at night. Now this is the vacation we needed from vacation! Josh is now sitting next to me at another computer planning our next stop with the help of Christina! France, here we come!

(Pictures to come once I get to WiFi area!!!)

¡Adios!

~cheryl