Road Trip, Day One: Verdun & Reims

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218 Km, 3 hours, 3 minutes

So, on day one of our giant road trip through Northern France, we headed for Reims, in the Champagne region, stopping off at the WWI battle site of Verdun along the way.

The Memorial museum just outside the town of Verdun was really impressive.

Will thought the giant guns outside were particularly cool.

 As did Kate:


Inside the museum, which was quite busy, we found a real WWI fighter plane:

The museum also housed a ton of WWI artifacts (soldiers' belongings, uniforms, guns and weapons), and some rather gory before & after pictures of injured veterans who underwent what were probably the first facial reconstruction surgeries ever.  (No pictures of that, don't worry.)  For me, one of the most impressive displays, however, was this below, which showed what the area around Verdun looked like after the battles:

Verdun, of course, was the site of some of the most violent and destructive fighting in WWI, and many of the nearby towns were not just damaged but completely obliterated.  We learned that there were nine villages nearby that were totally destroyed, literally wiped off the face of the earth, and never rebuilt.  These towns are known as les villages détruits of Verdun.  Each town is marked with a sign, but for most of them not a stone remains:

How sad to think an entire town (or 9!) could be completely erased from the map and never rebuilt! We also learned that in 1919 a law was passed that gave each of these destroyed villages a municipal commission with a president who functions like a mayor for these "ghost" towns.   I'm not sure what these mayors do, exactly, without a town to govern but it seems like a nice way to ensure these villages are not forgotten entirely.

For more information on the destroyed villages:

 http://www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_verdun_detruit.htm

After the museum, we drove by the Ossuary of Douaumont, where the bones of 130,000 unknown soldiers are interred, but the kids were ready for lunch so we didn't stop:

Since it was a beautiful, sunny day, we stopped for a quick lunch at a nearby outdoor cafe.

They were definitely enjoying the sunshine!

The kids had their usual -- Will a Croque Monsieur and Kate an omelette -- because, for some strange reason, they had no interest in ordering the Andouillette:

The description in English:  Pork Intestines filled with stomach of ruminants.  Yum!

It must lose something in the translation, don't you think??  Coincidentally, a salad I ordered later in the trip was adorned with this particular sausage and, though I knew what it was, I gamely tried it.  And instantly regretted it.  I'm a pretty adventurous eater and will try anything once, but this was...not good.  It tastes exactly how you'd imagine intestines filled with stomach would taste.  

After lunch we drove over to the nearby Bayonet Trench memorial:

 This memorial marks the spot where about a dozen soldiers' bodies were found in a trench after the war, their bayonets sticking out of the ground in a line.  The soldiers, all "unknown," were probably killed by a sudden bombardment and were buried in the trench where they lay.

After visiting this memorial, we got back in the car and headed off to a less solemn destination, Reims (which, incidentally, is very hard to pronounce in French:  RANCE, with that tricky French "R" at the beginning and just a hint of an "N").  Reims is known for two things:  1) Champagne (it's the capital of the region) and 2) its magnificent cathedral:

  

It really is impressive, from all sides:

The cathedral is adorned with many statues, but this smiling angel is the most famous.  

The kids and I played "who can spot the angel first" and we had a bit of confusion since there is actually more than one smiling angel:

She's still smiling, despite the missing wing.  But I think the angel in the first photo is the famous one.

The weather couldn't have been better and the kids had a blast playing in the courtyard in front of the cathedral.  Will even posed for me... reluctantly:

This is Kate's dramatic pose.

Posing for photos is okay as long as you're allowed to punch your sister in the head.

While Kate was splashing in this fountain, a little French girl ran up to her, pulled out a tube of sparkly pink lip gloss, applied it to Kate's lips and then promptly ran off.  Kate thought that was just about the best thing ever.  Guerilla makeover!

After the kids had their fill of splashing and running about, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed a glass or two of something bubbly:

A perfect end to a wonderful day...

Girls' weekend in Paris

One of the many benefits of living in Luxembourg is that Paris -- which is at least my 2nd favorite city in the world -- is only a two-hour train ride away.  Since Kate loves Paris as much as I do, we decided to take a little weekend trip there, just the two of us.  (Well, us and Lulu, Kate's constant companion of the moment.)


Bright and early Saturday morning, we boarded the train:

Doesn't she look excited??

...and arrived in Paris just two short hours later.  Then it was a quick metro ride to the hotel.... 

Kate and Lulu in the metro

...which was adorable.  We stayed here and I would highly, highly recommend it.  It was perfectly located, just a few minutes' walk from Chatelet and the Louvre but tucked away on a tiny, very quiet side street.  The room was small (as are most hotel rooms in Paris) but beautifully decorated.  As Kate said, "It looks like a princess lives here!"

Kate and Lulu testing out the bed

After we dropped our bags, we headed off for some shopping.  (Well, Kate and I did.  Lulu stayed at the  hotel.)  Galeries Lafayette and Printemps were just a short bus ride away.  Last time Kate and I were in Paris together, we shopped for hours -- and she was only three then!  So this time, now that she was a very grown-up five, I was sure she'd enjoy it even more.  And she did!

We really didn't buy that much.  I just made her carry everything. :)

 It was fun, but exhausting:

After our shopping marathon, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a little while and then freshen up for dinner.  I'd made a reservation at  this place  because it was a short walk from the hotel and I'd heard it had authentic French food at reasonable prices.  It was excellent.  Kate ordered a goat cheese salad and an omelette and I had roast pork.  Delicious!  The staff was extremely kind and attentive and addressed Kate as "petite princesse" throughout dinner, which she loved.  I was so proud of her because she even ordered her own dinner in French.  Such a big girl!

Once again Lulu stayed at the hotel.  But after seeing other dogs at the restaurant,
Kate was rather annoyed that we didn't bring Lulu.

The next morning we got up bright and early and walked through the Tuileries to the Musée de l'Orangerie where we got to see Monet's waterlilies, among other Impressionist works:

Then we headed across the Seine...

We couldn't have had better weather!

... to the Musée d'Orsay.  I was glad we'd bought a combined Orangerie/Orsay ticket at the Musée de l'Orangerie because the line at Orsay was very long, but with our combo ticket we were able to walk right in.  Of course the museum is a treasure trove of incredible art, but we also appreciated the architecture of the building itself.

And Kate particularly loved the clock.  Behind her is a gorgeous view of the city.

This was Kate's favorite statue:

A couple of hours in the museum and my intrepid little traveler was starting to flag.  So we had a quick pain au chocolat in the museum cafe and then wandered back across the river to our hotel.  

And then, all too soon, it was time to catch the train home.

Kate and Lulu boarding the train home

One very tired little girl heading home:

Kate loved our trip so much that she asked that we please go back again before we move and do exactly the same thing all over again:  same hotel, same shops, same restaurant and museums.  I don't know that we'll have time for that but I do hope to make this an annual excursion!

Amsterdam

Since there was no school this week and Roger had to work in Amsterdam for a couple of days anyway, the kids and I took the train from Luxembourg and met Roger there.  We managed to do quite a bit despite the fact that I'm still nursing a fairly bad knee injury and had to hobble around the city like an old lady.  I suggested to Roger that we rent one of these bikes so he could pedal us all around, but he  didn't like that idea.  I can't imagine why.

Anyway, it was beautiful.

Kate and Roger were happy to pose on the bridge with all the bicycles

Will was not so cooperative.

I have about 100 pictures like this

But finally I got a good one... or at least one with him in the frame.

He lost a bet with me (that we'd see at least 10 houseboats on our walk back to the hotel) so he had to pose nicely with his sister for at least one picture.  He was not happy but he did it.

We also took a canal boat cruise...

...and hopped off at the NEMO Science Center.

Wow.  The kids thought that was the. best. place. ever!  It's a lot like the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and the kids could touch, experiment and play with things as much as they liked.





Fortunately for us, all the exhibits were labeled in both Dutch and English so we could even understand everything.  Unfortunately for us, we had less than two hours there and I think we could've easily spent an entire day.  Next time!

We also stopped by the Van Gogh Museum for a quick visit.  I'm the one who wanted to go since I love Van Gogh, but I thought Will would also like it since he studied Van Gogh in school last year and recreated his Sunflowers:

His painting was even selected to hang in the library in our town!

I was mildly right. The kids thought it was "fine," but they were much happier after we headed over to the nearby Vondelpark.

There we fed some ducks... 

...walked over picturesque bridges...

 ...and explored the playgrounds.

We actually went there two days in a row... thus the different clothing.

It was such a great trip. On the train ride back, Kate said, "I already miss Amsterdam.  When can we go back?"  Very soon, I hope!