My parents, Joan and Rick, and I spent almost two years planning this trip. My research started with tour books and moved on to the Internet. I booked "virtually" everything through the Internet, email or fax. That's from airline tickets to hotels to tickets for a German musical! We stayed in small family-run hotels (1 - 3 stars) and leased a Renault. Our itinerary included: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Monaco.
The excuse we give for this five-week driving adventure is their 50th wedding anniversary later this year. Five weeks ... one week per decade. Sounds reasonable to me!
End of Trip Disclaimer: Now that we're home, my inclination is to edit this travelogue to fill in the blanks, add more sightseeing or historical details, correct my grammar, spelling and typos and generally make everything more coherent. But I'm going to resist. What you have before you is the way it was! We created our travelogues with the excitement of the day's experiences upon us. And on foreign language keyboards! And in dark internet cafes with raucous music in the background, inhaling mysterious secondhand smoke. And we did it quickly; time is money when you're buying internet minutes. So there it is ... enjoy! JB
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Well, we're finally on our way. My brother, John, left us at the airport and, after checking in, we had supper at the Swiss Chalet (comfort food). Our flight was horrible -- teeny-tiny seats with very yucky food. However, we made it to Paris without any serious problems.
We also picked up our car very easily. We've leased a Renault Kangoo. It's silver and Dad says, "It only had eight km on the odometre. It's an ugly little car that I'm sure only its designers could love. But, you know what, we really like it. It's quick and responsive. The standard transmission is ultra smooth and runs really quietly on five forward gears. Its diesel motor is very efficient and costs less to run." In France the diesel oil was about 5.36 F ($1.14) per litre, while regular gas was about 7.50 F ($1.60).
We immediately drove through Paris and the French countryside to Normandy where we were going to spend two nights at the Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux. Mom says, "We saw lots of sheep. All the houses look the same -- old. There's very little graffiti, no litter, fabulous roads, no potholes."
We're exhausted. But tomorrow we head to the very old and remarkable Mont-Saint-Michel.
The last time I flew to Israel, the El Al airline magazine at every seat contained the following prayer:
The excuse we give for this five-week driving adventure is their 50th wedding anniversary later this year. Five weeks ... one week per decade. Sounds reasonable to me!
End of Trip Disclaimer: Now that we're home, my inclination is to edit this travelogue to fill in the blanks, add more sightseeing or historical details, correct my grammar, spelling and typos and generally make everything more coherent. But I'm going to resist. What you have before you is the way it was! We created our travelogues with the excitement of the day's experiences upon us. And on foreign language keyboards! And in dark internet cafes with raucous music in the background, inhaling mysterious secondhand smoke. And we did it quickly; time is money when you're buying internet minutes. So there it is ... enjoy! JB
----------
Well, we're finally on our way. My brother, John, left us at the airport and, after checking in, we had supper at the Swiss Chalet (comfort food). Our flight was horrible -- teeny-tiny seats with very yucky food. However, we made it to Paris without any serious problems.
We also picked up our car very easily. We've leased a Renault Kangoo. It's silver and Dad says, "It only had eight km on the odometre. It's an ugly little car that I'm sure only its designers could love. But, you know what, we really like it. It's quick and responsive. The standard transmission is ultra smooth and runs really quietly on five forward gears. Its diesel motor is very efficient and costs less to run." In France the diesel oil was about 5.36 F ($1.14) per litre, while regular gas was about 7.50 F ($1.60).
We immediately drove through Paris and the French countryside to Normandy where we were going to spend two nights at the Hotel d'Argouges in Bayeux. Mom says, "We saw lots of sheep. All the houses look the same -- old. There's very little graffiti, no litter, fabulous roads, no potholes."
We're exhausted. But tomorrow we head to the very old and remarkable Mont-Saint-Michel.
The last time I flew to Israel, the El Al airline magazine at every seat contained the following prayer:
"The Lord bless thee, keep thee, the Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, the Lord turn His face unto thee, and give thee peace. May it be Thy will, Lord of Heaven and Earth, to lead us to peace and safety, to fly us in peace and safety to our desired destination to find life, joy and peace. Guard and watch us who fly the air routes and cross the seaways and travel the overland passes. Make firm the hands that guide the steering and sustain their spirit, so that they may lead us in peace and safety. For in You alone is our shelter from now until eternity. Amen."
Amen!
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