Southern France --> Spain --> Paris

Hey everybody!

I guess it just hit me that the trip is wrapping up and I am really backlogged in my posting.  (close to a month behind, oops!)  I will be doing my best to rectify that situation.

After taking the train to Stuttgart we caught the train the next morning back into Italy through Switzerland.  Thanks to a couple incredibly dirty windows very few of the pictures turned out but we really enjoyed the stunning views of the Swiss and then Italian Alps.

We spent the night in Torino Italy after 12 hours on the train, then got up and took a train to Nice Ville France.  Honestly as much as I enjoyed the Alps I thought that the scenery between Italy and France to be even prettier.

Even this little station where we missed our train (it was canceled actually) in France was amazingly beautiful.

Then, after much ado and almost two full days on the train we made it to this Nice place. (tehehe)

All the wonderful things you have heard about the south of France are justified.  there is a reason Billionaires bring their entire companies on vacation here (glad we missed that fiasco)  it was warm, gorgeous, and the people were all very friendly (yes i know... the french!?)  The water is even bluer than the camera can show.

We spent a good bit of time in Nice, just relaxing and enjoying the warmth.  However we also ventured out to Monaco, which was just a 30 min train ride away.  It was really pretty and warm there too.

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One of the big reasons i wanted to visit was because one of the most famous Formula1 GrandPrix races is held there... two weeks after we left. but the Prices also shoot from do-able to astronomical at the same time.  But we did get to experience some of the race atmosphere, walk the track and generally enjoy ourselves.

They also are in love with "Princess Grace" there.  Me too!

The Harbour is right next to the Formula1 route so we got to see both at the same time.

Simply opulent.  (BTW, check our the size of the black sailboat compared to the mega yachts...)

Another opulent shot... when the boat inside your other boat is nicer than any boat I could dream of owning...

There were some nice cars there too, but I wont bore you with more than one.

We also visited Cannes one of the days we were there which was lovely, but forgot the camera, so you will just have to go there and see it for yourself.   We left Nice rested and relaxed, and headed for Spain.

We went to Barcelona first, and enjoyed some local cuisine, some delicious paella.

We also saw the famous cathedral Sagrada Familia there designed by Gaudi.  It is actually kinda freaky.

And it is also rather covered in cranes and scaffolding, which is a real shame.  It is certainly one of the most unique looking cathedrals we saw, but not my favorite by far.

It also rained a good bit of the time we were there.  Sorry for the few pictures.  I found this really pretty tree in a courtyard though, so enjoy.

We only had one full day in Barcelona before we headed to Madrid.  We wernt originally going to make it to Spain so we didnt have much time but i am so glad we went.  Just stunning.

And green.  So nice after being about 2 weeks behind warm weather wherever we went.

We found these sweet hedges.... here is Grace looking amazing...  reserved, cool, collected...

However I wasn't so cool or collected.
I quite lost my head...

I had to do community service to make up for it.  The sign was pretty straight forward.  Am i doing it right?

Not sure what this is, but thought it was really pretty.

We enjoyed Spain very much but spent more time enjoying than taking pictures...  We headed from Madrid up to Paris which look less time than to get from Nice to Barcelona... (I guess thats what the TGV high speed train will do for you)

Again, absolutely loved the French countryside.  It was by far my favorite. Though, I am not sure how biased I am because it was lush and green, when others hadn't greened up yet.  Plus the Rapeseed fields were in full bloom...

So, you get to Paris... what do you you see first?  The Eiffel Tower of course!  What they don't tell you is that it is right next to the Australian embassy... I thought it was a funny juxtaposition.

All kidding aside now...

It was honestly a lot bigger than I thought it would be.  It was really awesome.  The one thing that could make it even better?  The fact that I was there with this beauty.

And there was this awesome double decker carousel right between the tower and the river.

What else to do.... oh yeah... Notre Dame!

As you can tell it was pretty rainy while we were in Paris... sheltered from the rain in the church... absolutely amazing...  There are some things that you wonder "Why is this famous?" this is not one of those things.

Then just as we came out of Notre Dame the sun came out for us.

We also went to Montmartre which was absolutely wonderful with the lack of rain, the narrow streets, artisanal shops and views like this:

We also went to the Louvre.  When they say "the wait is two hours to get Tickets," they mean it.  You can see Grace at the back of the line, which is actually the line that gets you into the actual line. (confused yet?)

Everyone knows that the Mona Lisa is there, as you can tell by this crowd...

There is so much famous art in the Louvre and while I got some pictures of famous stuff I thought I would share some... less famous stuff you might not have seen before.  For instance this pegasus who knows just how incredibly fabulous he really is.

My new hair style...

I think I would look like this too if I found out I was made out of plaster

The next time a child brings you a picture and you think, "what IS this?!"  just bear in mind that THIS is in the Louvre (Coptic Christian artifact)

On a slightly more serious note I was really struck by the Egyptian artifacts that they had.  They are so old and yet they are so "perfect" for all the years they have endures and the materials/methods available at the time they were made.

Can you imagine if something that you wrote or drew was on display in a museum 3000 years later?  Would it look this good?  The ink this unfaded?  Simply amazing.  This is a fragment from "The Book of the Dead"

I also enjoy this picture which turned out much better than I intended.

And in closing I thought that I would share this picture of us enjoying a ham and cheese panini and a Nutella crepe.  I love street food in Paris.

More to share soon.

Austria --> Czech Republic --> Germany

Hey everybody!

After our time in Romania we headed to Vienna Austria on the sleeper train for 14 hours, and got there at about 9 in the morning, checked into our hotel and then went out to see the city.

But first we got some Starbucks as it was a bit chilly and quite windy, and Grace posted for me in front of the Danube.

We saw the Parliament...

And we also found this sweet fountain.  The most successful (or potentially successful) trident fishing I have seen in years...

This girl seemed peeved that we were there...  "can I help you?"

We also found this adorable little elephant that Grace befriended.

It however soon grew jealous of the bond Grace and I shared and became violent.

We also were able to do a good bit of walking around and to see several museums including the Belvedere where they have a good number of paintings by Gustav Klimt, which we enjoyed.

The next day we went to Salzburg.  The view of the countryside and the Alps from the castle on the hill was breathtaking.

We also got a great view of the city

And if you know just where to look you can see one of our next stops, where you can buy flagons of ale from the monks who brew it and pour it for you straight out of the barrel.  Add a fresh pretzel and you are in business.

Then we walked off the beer and pretzels next to the river.

After Austria we headed north to the Czech Republic's crowing jewel; Prague.  At this point we were both quite sick, so I apologize for the lack of pictures.

We went to the famous Charles Bridge; and were immediately surrounded by everyone ELSE who was there to see the Charles Bridge.

It IS a pretty bridge though.

We also went to the big square, also full of people...

As we were quite parched we may have stopped for a fresh cider at the awesome easter market that was still going on.

We also enjoyed the beautiful astronomical clock they have there.

We didn't get to see as much of the city as we would have liked, but were feeling much better by the time we headed for Germany.

We met of with an old friend of Grace's that offered us her hospitality.  She was incredubly helpful and drove us all around Germany.  We got to see Frankfurt, Berg Eltz, Cologne, Heidelberg and everything else in between.  Thank you Erin!

The beautiful Berg Eltz.  Not only was it a gorgeous walk through the woods it was a very well furnished castle, so we got to see more or less how it would have been back in the day.  The chopping block in the kitchen was 500 years old.

Erin watched out for the dogs and let them swim while we explored the castle.

Grace really "got into" the castle...

Then we went and checked out the cathedral in Cologne, which was my favorite cathedral so far.  it was immense and beautiful and there was someone playing the organ.  It was amazing.

I also got to take care of this little dog for a while.  Grace thought we looked swell together... (don't be jealous Ollie, it was only for the day.)

Then we got some delicious dinner.

The spires of the cathedral looked amazing against the setting sun.

The next day we went to Heidelberg, and I think it was the first warm sunny day of the year for us, and once again just in time for my birthday.

Warm green fields never cease to cheer me up.

Here is a view of the town from the castle up on the hill.  I was told there is a Nazi Amphitheater somewhere near here, but we didn't see it.

And now, fittingly I thought I would give you a picture of the castle from the town..

I thought that the bridges were really pretty.

Thank you once again Erin for your wonderful hospitality and tour-guide skills, and for having dogs.

Then Erin gave us a ride to the train station, where we then went to Stuttgart for the night, then through the alps to France.  Which will be the subject of my next post (very soon hopefully)