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...

Another Road Trip

This time from Luxembourg, through the Champagne region in France to Normandy, then Brittany, back through Normandy and finally home to Luxembourg.


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1,622 km     18 hours, 57 minutes

It was a good one.

Back with details soon!

Eernewoude, Holland

So my plan of getting caught up on this blog isn't going too well.  Lately it's been derailed by my obsessive planning of our next getaway, a road trip from Luxembourg through France to Normandy and Brittany.  And when I say "obsessive," sadly, I am not exaggerating.  The planning may or may not have involved multiple Excel spread sheets, several potential Google map itineraries, hours (days?) spent reading hotel reviews on Booking.com and scouring travel forums for the very best places to visit.  (No one has ever accused me of being spontaneous.  Or underprepared.)  But it's all planned and booked now, which means I once again have time to write about our past adventures!

During the kids' spring break, we spent a few days in the north of Holland, an area we'd never visited before.  It was the wrong time and location for seeing tulips, but we'd already done that so we didn't mind.  Even better, we went with some Dutch friends who knew the area well and did an excellent job of playing tour guide for us.

That, I have decided, is the best way to travel.

The tiny town we stayed in, Eernewoude, is in the province of Friesland way up in the north of Holland.  I knew nothing about it before we went but it is a beautiful place that seems very proud of its identity.  They have their own language (Frisian) and their own flag too:

We rented a bungalow in a lovely national park that was crisscrossed with canals (some bungalows even come with a boat!) and beautiful nature trails to explore.  It was gorgeous.

The view behind our bungalow

The bungalows

Lots of houses in the area were topped by these decorative....things (I've forgotten what they're called), many in the form of swans.







One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to a farm that produces cheese.   First we watched cheese being made in the factory. The curds/whey start in a giant vat and then are separated by machine and scooped--by hand--into round molds.

They make many different kinds of cheese.  On the day we visited, the cheese had cloves mixed in!

The molds are then stacked three-high and pressed down by machine so that all the whey drains away.

Kate found the whole procedure fascinating.

Then the cheese moves into the next room to be coated, aged and sealed in wax. 

Will didn't really like this part of the tour.  It did smell pretty bad.

After touring the factory, we got to visit the farm and see the cows that provide the milk for the cheese. 

Will skipped most of this part too.  According to him, it didn't smell much better than the factory.

Naturally, we bought a ton of cheese in the gift shop, and Kate and I made a pretty good dent in it before we even left Holland.

I also really enjoyed driving around the cute little villages in the area.  Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures but did manage to snap a few photos of the thatched houses that seemed to be everywhere!

Interestingly, many of them were only half-thatch, half-tile.  

When I asked about the half-thatched roof, my friend told me that the back part of the house used to be the barn and was tacked on to the originally very small farmer's house much later.  More info on Frisian farmhouses here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_farmhouse

It was a very relaxed vacation.  We spent time just wandering around the park, chatting, letting the kids play together, drinking coffee.  Though our friends kept worrying that we would be bored (one of them referred to the area as "the Oklahoma of Holland") we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  It was so nice to discover an area of Holland we may never have thought to visit, to enjoy the picturesque villages and countryside (the kids were particularly delighted by the adorable lambs that were everywhere) and for me, just this once, to leave the planning to someone else.

No obsessing necessary...


More tourist info on Friesland

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!

Canary Islands

Back when it was -15 degrees C here, we were desperate to get out of the cold and see some sunshine.  So we headed off to the Canary Islands for a week.

So nice to see the sun!

While it wasn't too hot (around 20-21 C / 70 F), it was a vast improvement over snowy, icy Luxembourg.

The beach was gorgeous:
 



The kids built sand castles,

splashed in the pool

built elaborate canals,

and enjoyed the local wildlife:

Unfortunately, we all got nasty colds while there but if you have to be sick, it's not so bad to recover while lying by the pool or beach with a good book.

Will, sick and feverish on day two

Kate, sick & feverish on day three

My view as I recovered

Fortunately, by the fourth day we were all sufficiently well to take a little submarine ride.  We saw some great fish:

Kate was really impressed!

Will was so impressed he forgot to hide from the camera!

We also visited a local market 

where Kate picked up a pretty Spanish dress

to wear to the hotel's nightly "Mini Disco":

One day we rented a car and drove around the island, which is literally covered with volcanoes:

We also got to see some very cool Spanish windmills:

It was really windy!

Will wasted no time in climbing to the top of the windmill:

But the highlight of the day -- if not the trip -- was the sand dunes of Corralejo:

Check out the pattern:

And isn't it amazing something can actually grow in that?


These dunes were incredible.  They seemed to stretch on for miles:

The kids deemed them perfect for climbing up and sliding  or rolling down:

Or, even better, having Dad race down the hills, dragging them behind:

They may still have some sand in their ears.

Well worth it, I'd say.