Look Out France! Here I Come! Part 4--Strasbourg and Paris

April 14, 2012 Strasbourg and Paris, France

We had a few hours in Strasbourg before our train for Paris would be leaving. Rob had to run back to his house to pick up a bottle of wine that he had picked up at a winery that Linda was bringing home with him, so Linda and I were on our own for a couple of hours, and were going to meet Rob at the train station.

We walked back over to the cathedral. We hadn’t really looked at the cathedral from one of the sides, so I wanted to take a look at that side. We wound up walking all the way around it.

When we were back in front of the church, I could hear music coming from the church, so I stepped inside to listen to the pipe organ for a few minutes while Linda browsed in a nearby gift shop.

We stopped at bakery near the cathedral to get some breakfast. I got a delicious soft pretzel with ham and melted cheese on the bottom. It was so good that I wished I had picked up a few of them.

We then headed to the tram station to go to the train station to catch our train to Paris. We were hoping that Rob would have arrived at the train station by then, but we didn’t see him. We waited a short time for him near the exit from the tram, but he still didn’t arrive.

We didn’t have a lot of time before our train would be leaving, so we headed over to the area where there were some shops and cafes so we could get some lunch to eat on the train. We both wound up getting ham and cheese sandwiches.

I also bought a Twix bar to eat on the train. Twix bars are the same as we get in America, but it tasted a lot different in France. I didn’t really like it.

They were soon boarding our train, so we started to head towards the platform. Linda spotted Rob coming up from the tram station, so he made it just in time to give Linda the bottle of wine. Rob walked us to the platform. We gave him big hugs and boarded the train. The train left right on time, and we were soon speeding across the French country side on our way to Paris.

When our train arrived in Paris, we walked out and got in a cab to head to the Hotel D’Orsay. We lucked out and had an excellent cab driver. His English was very good, and he was great about pointing the sites along the way. He told us that it was his dream to visit the United States, and he had many questions for us as well.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by Gregory at the front desk. I really liked Gregory a lot--he was at the desk each night of our stay. He was always willing to offer suggestions or directions, and asked about our day when we arrived back at the hotel each night.

Check in was quick, and we were soon on our way to room 15, a superior room on the first floor of the hotel. Once again, I was surprised by the size of our room. Whoever said that hotel rooms in Europe are tiny obviously never travelled with me! There were two twin beds pushed together against one wall, and a small desk with two chairs against the other wall. There was about 15 feet of space between the foot of the bed and the wall the desk was against. There were two pairs of large windows overlooking the quiet street below.

The room was very clean, and the furnishings made the room feel very homey.  The beds were very comfortable. The room was a bit on the warm side, and even when we adjusted the thermostat, the temperature in the room never went down. The bathroom was huge and like the Hotel Gutenberg, featured a very deep tub.

After settling into the room, we were ready to explore Paris. We were originally hoping to visit the Eifel Tower this afternoon, but they were having trouble with the elevators, and we couldn’t get advanced tickets. So, we decided to head over to Montmartre area of Paris to go to see Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge. I had picked up a map of Paris at the airport, and it looked like they were both right at the Abbesses subway station. We soon found out that the maps in Paris are a bit deceiving, as they don’t put all of the streets on there, but I’ll get to that in a bit. We have to get there first.

So, off we headed to the Solferino subway station, which was just a few minutes walk from the Hotel D’Orsay. The subway in Paris was fantastic. There was very clear signage at the station so you could clearly tell which direction each train was going. There were signs on the platforms that told you how many minutes until the next train would arrive. The subway was well utilized, and clean. Despite all the lines, it was very easy to navigate. 

Soon, we were at the Abbesses station.  We started to walk up the stairs and everyone stopped. We couldn’t understand why everyone stopped, but then saw they were just waiting for the elevator. We decided to walk up the steps rather than wait in the long elevator line.

We started to ascend the wide spiral staircase that wrapped around the elevator. And we walked up, and up, and them up some more with no end in sight. We now knew why everyone stopped for the elevator. Each time I would reach a platform, I would think we would be coming to the street level, and I would see more stairs above. I reached the point where I would just laugh each time I would turn the corner to see more stairs. I found out later that the platform is about 118 feet in the ground (or about 10 or 11 stories underground), and there are about 200 steps from the platform to the street level.

Once on the ground, I was fully expecting to see both Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rogue right from the station because that’s what it looked like on the map, but I was mistaken. I couldn’t see them anywhere. We weren’t exactly sure where we should go, but I spotted a sign for Sacre Coeur, so we headed in that direction. Surely, we were only a few minutes away because it was so close to the station on the map, but I was mistaken.  We walked a bit, and walked a bit more, following the signs.

It had been a while since we saw a sign, and we saw a lot of people walking up a hill, so we decided to follow them. Linda spotted a building at the top of two long sets of stairs that she assumed was Sacre Coeur. There were a lot of people climbing and descending the stairs. I was a bit apprehensive about climbing the steps at first because we had just did a major stair climb at Abbesses station. I was afraid that if might not be the right place, but we figured it had to be Sacre Coeur because there were so many people.  So up we climbed, about 100 more steps to the top of Montmartre hill.

And we were rewarded with a stunning view of Paris. Although it was a bit overcast, it was still gorgeous. I bet the view would be absolutely breath taking in the evening.

We were also found out that we could have taken a funicular up the hill to the base of Sacre Coeur, which would have saved us a lot of steps. They also had a little trolley that people were riding up and down the hill. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t research something you are going to see in advance.  We hadn’t intended on visiting Sacre Coeur, so it really was a bonus attraction.

Sacre Coeur was massive. Though the outside of the building was not as ornate as some of the other churches we saw, it was still beautiful. It had a few statues and domes, and was really striking because of its size. Once again, I was awed by the thought of this building being built hundreds of years ago without the equipment that we have today.

Even more stunning than the outside of the church was the inside of the basilica. Unfortunately, they did not allow pictures inside the basilica. It was absolutely gorgeous inside, with amazing stained glass windows, artwork, and statues. We sat for a few minutes and just soaked it all in. It was by far the most beautiful of any of the churches we visited on our trip.

We then headed back down the hill. We decided to walk instead of taking the funicular. Walking down steps is much easier than walking up steps.  But we agreed that we would take the elevator down at Abbesses station to head back to our hotel later.

We were on our way to find Moulin Rouge using the crappy airport map. Sacre Coeur was about a 10 minute walk from the station. The Moulin Rouge was on the opposite side from Sacre Coeur, so we walked back to the station an headed in the opposite direction, hoping we were going the right way.

We walked a bit, and stopped to look at the map again to see if we could find any of the streets on it. We were about to give up when I spotted a tour group walking down the hill. I figured that the tour group must be heading somewhere worth seeing, so we started walking down the hill. We walked past a Moulin Rouge official gift shop, so we knew we were in the vicinity of the Moulin Rouge.

Sure enough, when we got to the bottom of the hill, we saw lots of people standing across the street taking pictures. So we crossed the street, and saw Moulin Rouge ourselves. I absolutely love the movie, so it was really cool to see the building in person. Of course, I had to be the tourist and have my picture taken in front of it.

We decided to head back towards our hotel. We wound up deciding to walk a different way to Abbesses station to see if there was anything else interesting around. I wound up spotting the Pigalle subway station, which was on the same line as Abbesses and Solferino. It saved us from having to walk back up the hill to Abbesses. 

We took a short break at our hotel, and decided to walk to the Eifel Tower. Though we probably could have a shorter walk by walking through the downtown streets, we opted to take the more scenic route along the Seine. It was a longer walk than I expected, and it took us a long time to get there, but it was worth the walk because we were finally able to get a close up view at one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

The tower wasn’t as tall as I expected it to be, and it was actually kind of ugly, but it was still a famous monument that I dreamed about visiting for years. I was surprised that the tower was brown--I always pictured it as being silver. We checked the line to see if there was any chance we could get tickets, but the line stretched really long, and neither of us felt like waiting in it, so we skipped it.

We then headed right down to the bank of the Seine to start the walk back towards our hotel. We found a little stand that sold gelato, so we got some to eat while we walked. We wound up crossing the river to the other side of the Seine and walked back towards out hotel at street level. We were able to get some nice pictures with the Eifel Tower. It was a really pleasant walk.

We wound up going to the Café Solferino, which was right around the corner from our hotel, for dinner. We both got the steak au poivre, which was served with pomme frites and salad. Neither of us was impressed by the steak au poivre here. My steak was very tough, and it just didn’t have great flavor too it.

We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. It had been a long busy day, and our feet were aching from walking over 10 miles, but it was a great start to our stay in Paris.

Look out France! Here I Come--Part 3 Strasbourg France and Kehl Germany

Friday, April 13, 2012
Strasbourg France, and Kehl Germany

After a solid 12 hours of sleep, I was up and ready to explore Strasbourg some more.  When Linda, Rob, and I were ready to go, we went to a nearby bakery called Paul to get some breakfast. I got a delicious apple tart.

We then headed over to the weekly farmers market to browse around at the stands. There were several rows of stands selling food, clothing, jewelry, and other merchandise. Linda bought herself a pink scarf. We also brought some bread and cheese for lunch later in the day.

I was very amused to see Super Mario painted on the side of this buidling

We then headed over to the Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg. The cathedral was absolutely stunning. The intricate detail of the façade was incredible. There were so many statues carved into the building. They started building this cathedral in the 1100’s and it took over 600 years to complete it. It amazed me to realize that this cathedral was built hundreds of years ago without the equipment we have today to help create it.

The inside of the cathedral was just as stunning as the outside of the church, with even more statues. It was just a few days after Easter, so there was an elaborate table set up for the last supper. An impressive pipe organ hung from the rafters, and I was a bit disappointed that we were not there for services. The stained glass windows were stunningly beautiful and detailed.

Rob told us a story about the little dog that was carved into the pulpit. There was a priest who was known to bring his dog to mass with him. When the preacher gave long sermons, the dog would fall asleep at his feet, so the dog was carved into the pulpit as a remembrance.

The church was cleared out shortly after we arrived so they could get ready for the astronomical clock presentation, which required admission. We got our tickets to the astronomical clock presentation, and spent some time looking at the side of the church. There were some impressive looking gargoyles and stone horses on the side.

We were soon allowed back into the church, and joined hundreds of others for a 22-minute film about the history of the astronomical clock, which was presented in French, English, and German.

The clock itself was very impressive.  It was several stories tall, and had amazing details. Each day at 12:30, statues of Jesus and the apostles process around the clock, and we were able to watch it. It was very cool.

After the astronomical clock presentation, we went to catch a bus to spend a few hours in Kehl, Germany. I mostly wanted to go just so I could say that I’ve been to Germany. We took a tram to a bus stop, and then transferred to a bus to Kehl. It was a short ride over the Rhine River to get there.  

There was a nice shopping area in downtown Kehl. I was surprised to see a Woolworth. It reminded me of the old Woolworth store in Boston, which closed many years ago. It was fun just walking around and browsing in the shops. I was very amused to see familiar games and books with German packaging.

I had a stuffy nose during my trip, and was going through my pocket packs of tissues at a quick rate. I only had a package and a half left when we passed a DM store in Kehl that had a huge 30 pack of tissue pocket packs on display out front. They were charging 3 euros and 50 cents for the package, which is about $5. I know a bargain when I see one--I had paid 50 cents for piece at CVS before leaving on my trip. So, I went into a store, and I wound up buying a 15 pack of pocket pack tissues for 95 cents (which is about $1.30). It was definitely my bargain of the trip! And I’m still using them two months later! So, if you are ever in Germany, make sure you stock up on paper goods at the DM stores because their prices are fantastic!

We stopped in a plaza near a small brick church to have our picnic lunch of French bread, cheese, and quiche that Linda bought at a little bakery in near the tram stop in Strasbourg. Everything was delicious.

God give me the strength to lift this church.

We continued to browse around the shops in Kehl as we made our way back to the bus stop. Rob found a neat little spinning bench that we stopped to take a spin on.

We then made our way back to the bus stop. We just missed the bus, and Rob thought it looped around, so we tried to find another stop, but couldn’t, so we made our way back to the original bus stop, and waited for the next bus.

When we got back to Strasbourg, we decided to get some dessert. I got a chocolate croissant at a little bakery near out hotel, and then we headed over to a gelato shop near the cathedral. Even though I had the croissant, I decided to get a Gelato as well. They let you choose as many flavors as you wanted to, and they laid thin strips of it out on the cone so that it looked like petals of a flower. I got banana, vanilla, and dulce du leche gelato, and it was excellent.

We went back to the hotel for a short rest, and headed over to La Petite France, a beautiful area of Strasbourg on the River Ill. There were lots of shops and restaurants along the river, and it was just a beautiful area to walk around. Most of the shops were closed by the time we arrived, but it was still fun to walk around and window shop. The buildings in the area were absolutely gorgeous and quaint. We were there at the perfect time to get some great pictures of the buildings reflecting off the water.

We headed back towards are hotel, and wound up stopping at Maison La D’or Chaine for dinner. They had a reasonably price three course meal, and the restaurant was packed, so we figured it must be good, and it was. Our waiter Yannik was fantastic, and he spoke excellent English. He reminded me of Kevin Bacon, both in his looks and his personality.

I started off with the carpacio of beef with pesto. It was a thinly sliced rare beef. It was perfectly chilled, and very tasty.

For my entrée, I got steak au’ poivre, which was served with French fries and salad. I soon learned that there was only one kind of salad sauce served in France, and it was nothing like the French salad dressing we get here in the United States. For my New England friends, it reminded me of the salad dressing at the Hilltop Steakhouse. Good thing I liked it, because I would be eating that salad sauce many more times on this trip.

The steak was a bit on the tough side, but the sauce was fantastic. It was bursting with flavor, and had a bit of a kick to it. The French fries were excellent as well.

For dessert, I got the crème brulee, which was the best crème brulee I have ever tasted in my life. It was even better than the crème brulee I had on the Mousefest cruise in 2008, the infamous night of three desserts.

After dinner, we decided to walk back over to the cathedral so we could see the way it was lit at night. It was well worth the walk because the cathedral by night was even more breath taking than it was by day. It had kind of a gothic feel to it.

We went back to the hotel exhausted after a full and fun day wandering around Strasbourg and Kehl. We had walked over 10 miles, and my feet definitely felt it!

Look out France! Here I come!--Part 2--Arrival in Strasbourg

Thursday April 12, 2012
Strasbourg, France

When we got off the train in Strasbourg, Rob was waiting for us on the platform.  We hadn’t seen Rob in over three months, so, of course, it was great to see him.

After giving Rob big hugs, he lead us to the tram station so we could get to our hotel. Strasbourg has a fantastic tram system with five routes that service downtown Strasbourg and the outlying areas, where you could find buses to other locations. The tram system was fantastic. The trams ran frequently, and electronic signs posted the time until the next tram. The trams were also clean, efficient, and well utilized.

We got a bit lost on our way to the Hotel Gutenberg, but soon found it. We were greeted by a kind woman who spoke perfect English. She handed us the key to room 109 on the first floor (which would be the second floor to us Americans). There was a tiny elevator just big enough for me and our suitcases, so I rode up with the bags while Linda and Rob walked up the stairs. There was a small flight of stairs that lead up to the doorway to our room and room 110. 

I had been warned by everyone that hotel rooms in Europe are tiny, so I was prepared for the compact size of our room (which was smaller than a room at a Disney value resort to give my Disney friends an idea of the size). The room was spotless, and surprisingly modern in this old town. There were two twin beds pushed together, and two chairs, one of which had been opened into a small twin sized bed.  There was a small desk and closet against one wall.

The bathroom was huge and ran the full length of the room. There was a deep tub and  heated towel racks ( not that they seemed to actually work). There were lots of toiletries in the bathroom.

Our room overlooked a quiet street that saw very little vehicular traffic. We were able to open our windows to get some air into the room, which was a blessing since the room wasn’t very cool. We were impressed by how soundproof the room was when the windows were closed--we could barely hear a sound from outside when the windows were closed, though we could clearly hear the band and the clock tower at the cathedral a few blocks away when we had the window opened.

After freshening up in the room, we headed out to find something to eat to hold us over until dinner later that evening. We wound up going to a place called Flam’s, where we shared a Greek salad and a ham and onion flatbread. The food was very tasty, and just enough to hold us over until dinner later that evening.

After lunch, we walked around downtown Strasbourg for a bit. Strasbourg is absolutely beautiful. It’s right on the German border, and you can definitely feel the German influence in the architecture. The town has gone back and forth between French rule in German rule (it was actually ruled by Hitler at one point). It is the capital of the Alsace area of France, and home to the European Parliament. It is very quaint, clean, and safe.

This is the European Parliment building

Rob had to head back to his host family’s house to get the things he needed for the weekend, so Linda and I decided to go with him so we could see where he was living. We took a tram, and a bus to get there, followed by a ten minute walk to the small apartment complex where he was living with a kind woman named Beatrice, who had several grown children and grandchildren.

Beatrice invited us in for tea, and it was really nice to meet her. She spoke a bit of English, so we were able to talk to her a bit about our plans for our trip to France. She seemed really nice, and it was great to see the apartment where Rob was living.

After saying goodbye to Beatrice, we walked back to the bus stop, and headed back to Downtown Strasbourg. We wandered around a bit more, and headed to an Italian restaurant near the Strasbourg Cathedral for an early dinner. I got spaghetti with Bolognese sauce, which was excellent. The sauce was meaty and had a lot of flavor. Linda got lasagna, which she enjoyed. Rob got a seafood dish that he really enjoyed.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Rob wanted to go practice his saxophone, so he headed out to the Strasbourg Conservatory. It was now 8:00 Strasbourg time, and we had been up for nearly 36 hours, so Linda and I went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel. We need to rest up because there was a lot to see the next day.

Look Out France! Here I come! Part 1--the Journey to Strasbourg

April 11-12, 2012

Time crawled at a snail’s pace the day of my departure for France. Despite the excitement of my first trip to Europe, the day dragged on and on as I waited for 4:00 to come so I could leave work and head to the airport. You would think that a seasoned traveler like myself would learn that you don't plan on working a full day the day you are flying out of town for a vacation. Nothing stops the clock at work like the anticipation of a vacation. 


But somehow I made it through the day, and out the door just a few minutes after 4:00 to head to Logan Airport, where I would be meeting my sister Linda for our 7:45 p.m. flight to Paris! I was just bursting with excitement as I made my way to the subway to head to the airport. After months of researching and planning, I was finally on my way to France!


The journey to the airport took a bit longer than expected, and I had the grumpiest driver ever on the Silver Line. He yelled and screamed at passengers for blocking the aisle, or boarding the bus at the backdoor. He had everyone on that bus stressed with is grumpy demeanor. 


When the bus finally pulled up at terminal E, I was one of the first ones out the door, and found Linda near the Air France ticketing counter. We soon checked in, and made our way through security. We grabbed some sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich, and exchanged some U.S. dollars for Euros. 


Soon, we were able to board our plane, and take off for a week in France! The flight was uneventful. There was a little bit of turbulence here and there, but overall it was a relatively smooth and quiet flight. 


Our flight attendants came by with a menu with our dinner options. The choices were either chicken in wine sauce or salmon shepherd’s pie. We both opted for the chicken, which was served with noodles. It came with a side of rice with flaked tuna, rice pudding, montery jack cheese, and cranberry orange cake for dessert. It was better than I expected considering it was airplane food (it wasn’t like the nasty cube steak I can remember getting on my first flights to Orlando in the 1980’s). 


We passed the time watching movies on the in flight entertainment program. I wound up watching “The Descendents,” which was very good. I tried to doze off on the flight, but just couldn’t fall asleep. I was hoping that I would catch a couple of hours of rest, but it just didn’t happen. I did finally doze off while watching one of my favorite episodes of “Glee” (Preggers from season one for any Gleeks who may be reading this), but the rest didn’t last very long as I was woken up by the sound of the flight attendants getting ready to serve breakfast. 


Breakfast was pretty nasty. It was the a mini blueberry muffin, plain yogurt, and orange juice. The muffin was barely edible, and I don’t like the taste of plain yogurt, so I skipped that, but I did drink the juice. 


Soon, we were on the ground in Paris! I was so excited to finally be in Paris, a place I have been wanting to visit for years. Our plane taxied so long to get to the gate, I thought for sure we were halfway back to the States by the time they turned off the fasten seatbelt sign. 


We were soon off the plane, and on our way to customs, which was quick and easy. We grabbed our bags, and headed towards the TGV train station. We were heading to Strasbourg, and there was a train directly from the airport at 12:30, so we had a few hours to kill at the airport. 


Since I didn’t eat the nasty breakfast on the plane, I decided to get a ham and cheese sandwich at a little café in the train station. The sandwich was delicious. The thick slice of ham had a lot of flavor, and the baguette was crusty and chewy. 


While we were waiting for the train, I had to use the rest room at the train station, and was greeted by a cashier demanding 50 cents to use the facilities. It made me think of the Broadway musical “Urinetown.” When you gotta go, you gotta go, even if it means paying for peeing. 


We passed the time reading, and taking turns wandering around the train station.  I even dozed off for a few minutes here and there (since it was now 3:00 a.m. Boston time, and I had been up for 22 hours). 


Soon, it was time to board our train. We brought out bags down the escalator to the platform, and boarded the train. We were in the first class car. When we got on, we were trying to figure out where we could store our suitcases, and a sweet little old French lady pointed to a small luggage rack behind a seat where we could put our luggage. 


I was very impressed by the TGV trains in France. They ran on time, and were clean. I liked that they assigned seats to you so that you could have seats with the other people who were travelling with you--I wish they did that on Amtrak here in the United States. 


I wound up using the restroom on the train, and I was very amused by this sign above the toilet: 

In France, you are not allowed to put apple cores in the toilets on trains. OK, so I know that wasn’t exactly what they were going for when they created the sign, but that’s what it looked like. I don’t know if it was just because I was overtired, but the sign struck me as funny, so of course, I had to go back with my camera and take a picture. Aren’t you glad you are reading my trip report so you can hear all about my bathroom adventures? 


One of my travelling companions on this trip was a cardboard cut out of James Marsden’s head, which was given to me by my friend Cristen. Now, if you found your way to this trip report via my facebook page, you know that I love, admire, and adore James Marsden, and think he’s dreamy. What’s not to love about an actor who has played the charming journalist in 27 Dresses, Prince Edward in Enchanted, Corny Collins in Hairspray, and Cyclops in the X-Men movie?  So of course it makes perfect sense that I would bring James to France with me and take pictures of him everywhere we went. 


James made his first appearance in France on the train from the airport to Strasbourg. The sweet little old lady sitting across the aisle smiled at me and started to giggle when she saw me place him on the seat so I could get a picture of him. Maybe she is a James fan who gets giddy at the sight of him, just like me. Or maybe she just thought it was strange to see an adult woman taking pictures of a cardboard head. I’m going to go with the former--James Marsden is the new Jerry Lewis--the French love him, especially little old ladies who can’t speak English!

Our train arrived in Strasbourg right on time just before 3:00, and as we got off the train and started looking for the tram, we saw something that made us smile.