Europe - Day 19

Up early and another pretty good breakfast. We were in the coach a ton today as we drove to Paris. We did our surveys for Patrick – I guess he is graded heavily on what we say in our surveys. We stopped in the morning for restrooms and snacks and then stopped at a rest stop for lunch. We saw hamburgers and fries on the menu and ordered 4 of those. We didn’t realize that they didn’t have them ready – they had to cook them for us. It took a fairly long time to cook. Finally, we got our burgers, but unfortunately, the burger was really rare. I just couldn’t stomach it. Steve suggested I go back and ask them to cook it more. I did (after some language barriers) and then they gave me another burger. I went to the table and cut into it – same. Super rare and bloody. Ugh! By then, it was time to get back on the coach. Steve wanted me to go back and get a refund. I just wanted to eat the fries and go, but I guess the burger had been like $16, so, Steve wanted to get something for it. He went to talk to the lady. Language barriers again. He was saying “give me some sodas instead”. Finally, a manager came over and Steve left to go to the bathroom. I explained to the manager and he asked what I wanted. I told him I wanted a refund. He did it, gave me the Euros and we walked out to the coach.

 A few more hours on the coach and we had another stop. Then, we pulled into Paris. We checked into our hotel and had some time to relax. Then, we got dressed and went back on the coach. We went on a driving tour around some of the sites in Paris. Then, we got off the bus and took pics at the Arc de Triumph. Then we walked down the Champs de Elyse - past the Louis Vuitton flagship store outside of which had a line down the street. Apparently, you are taken in a few at a time and you are expected to know what you want to buy and there isn't really any "shopping" taking place" - to our restaurant. It was outdoor, but covered.

We had a great meal and then walked further down the street to meet our coach. We took a little, driving tour and then wound up at the Eiffel Tower. Our tickets were for 9:00 pm. I thought it was late, but then I realized that we would be able to see the tower in daylight and go up on it and be able to see the city, but by the time we left, it would be dark and the tower would be all lit up. Brilliant!

The tower was beautiful. We walked around the grounds while we waited for our scheduled ticket time. It started to rain, but we didn't care at all. Reagan was in heaven. She has been waiting for Paris and, more specifically, for the Eiffel Tower, our entire trip. When it was our ticket time, we went through another security and then boarded the elevator. We went up 2 levels and then looked all around. The view was gorgeous!!!

We walked down to the lower level where there was a different view somehow. Then, Cole decided that he wanted to take the stairs down, rather than the elevator. We acquiesced and followed. It wasn't many floors before he was frowning and commenting "This isn't as fun as I thought it would be." I don't know how long he thought the walk would be, but it exceeded his expectation :)  Oh well - once you are halfway there, you might as well just keep walking down stairway after stairway.

We finally made it down, headed to the gift shop to get some things for Reagan's friends and then we left the security area. As we were walking, it turned 10pm. At 10pm, the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle - seriously - like a Christmas tree. It looked great!

After we boarded the coach, we took another driving tour. We were able to see more sites and then some of the same, but at night. It was gorgeous. We went back by the Arch de Triumph as well as the Champs de Elyse and even the restaurant where we ate dinner.

I don't remember if I posted about this before or not, but when we were at the Colosseum in Rome, Patrick arranged for a photographer to take a picture of our entire group. We posed out in front of the ruins and Patrick had it printed and put in a paper folder. He gave it to us today. The only problem is that Patrick, Richard and Jiva aren't in the pic. They were at the hospital because the pic was taken just an hour or two after Richard fell. Patrick said he would have the photographer photoshop in the three of them. So, we'll get an updated picture later.

After our nighttime, driving tour, we returned to the hotel and hit the sack. We were tired. Well, Steve, Cole and I were tired. Reagan was pumped up. This entire trip, she has been waiting to get to Paris and to see the Eiffel Tower. She was all smiles and LOVED this day!

Europe - Day 18

We were up fairly early today and had a great breakfast. Then, we headed up to Mount Pilatus. It is the highest peak around. It is named after Pontius Pilot and the rumor is that his soul is trapped in that mountain as punishment for what he did to Christ. Interesting. There are dragon decorations everywhere and Patrick said that the dragons are supposed to guard his soul from escaping.

We saw it from the lake cruise and Patrick pointed out that there was a hotel and restaurant up at the top. Steve asked if we could go there and Patrick said we would.

We took 4 person gondolas part way up the mountain. Then, we all climbed into a tram and took that the rest of the way up. After that, it was a 10 minute hike to the tip of the mountain. Crazy. From up there, we could see that Lake Lucerne was in the shape of a cross.

We could see other mountains, the valley below, clouds below us, etc. It was magnificent.

After we had about a half hour up on the top, we caught a train down. It is a single track (very steep) train. There were other groups, so, we jumped in a car and then 4 Chinese people jumped into our car. We tried to communicate the best we could as we made our 40 minute journey down the mountain.

By the time we reached the bottom of the mountain, Cole was in tears. His ears had not popped as we came down and he was in pain. We gave him gum and asked him to swallow or yawn or chew in order to pop the ears. He couldn’t get them to pop. Some of our group were going to shop around town. We stopped and dropped them at a shop and then we went to the hotel. We had a couple of hours before our picnic and carriage ride. Steve and Reagan went for a walk to see if they could find a snack. Cole and I went up to the room and then realized that Reagan and Steve had the room keys – ugh!! So, we went back to the front desk and asked for another key. When we explained his tears to the front desk, one of the men at the desk suggested he plug his nose and blow – trying to pop his ears. We walked back up to the room and Cole tried what was suggested. It hurt his ears so bad that he fell to the ground. The good news is that it did help a bit. We went into Steve’s and my room and Cole just fell on the bed. I turned on the tv and tried to get a show that would divert his attention. All I could find was Care Bears – ugh. Oh well. Steve texted and they had found a McDonalds, so, they were going to pick up some food and bring it back.

Steve and Reagan returned and we ate. Then, Reagan and Cole wanted to watch their iPads, so, they went to their room. Steve and I sat on the bed and checked our emails. Before long, we had both fallen asleep. We were SO tired. I’ve been getting up at 4:30 or 4:45 each morning and we’ve been going and going and going. It was so nice to have a couple of hours to just stop. Good thing I set my watch because it went off and we had to rush to get our shoes on, brush our hair, grab the kiddos and meet the coach.

We drove out into the country. It is a city that is a quiet, little farm area. We went to the house of Hans (not Hans our driver). They live on farm that has a farmhouse that is 400 years old. Crazy! It is a sort of museum now. We saw the cows out in the field. I guess they usually go for a carriage ride, but one of the carriages was broken. They were going to cancel the whole experience, but Patrick thought we could just switch off with lunch. So, some of our group piled into the horse drawn carriages for a ride through the town while the rest of the group went to the farmhouse to meet Hans’ wife. She had meats and cheeses set out and little pastries. They have apple orchards on the farm and she had some apple juice that she had made – it was great.



Since Patrick went on the carriages, our driver – Hans – led us to the farm. He got a bit lost, but then found his way. Our host didn’t speak much English and I guess neither did Hans because when I asked if we could walk to the barn, they both just looked at me. We just walked around a bit and then we heard the bells on the horses and the carriages were back. We switched into the carriages and Reagan and Cole were able to ride up front with the driver – Freddie.

We set off through the little town. It was beautiful. We saw where the new river was and the dyke. I guess the river used to run on the other side of town and at one point, it overflowed and the town was destroyed. After that, they built the dyke and re-routed the river and re-built the town. We stopped at the 400 year old church in the town. It was really pretty. We took some pictures there and then walked through the little cemetery at the back of the church. The headstones were amazing – they were usually made of stone, but with wooden carvings on them. Patrick said that they were very expensive headstones and that families had to pay a lot for those headstones. There were beautiful gardens on the homes in this little town. We waved at some of the people who were outside in their yards. Then, we finished our carriage ride at the coach and the other part of our group met us there.

We piled back in and returned to Lucerne. Again, we dropped some people off at the shopping area and the rest went to the hotel. It was about 4pm. Steve suggested we rest for an hour or so and then head out to eat dinner. Cole suggested we rest – aka watch iPad – for 2 hours before we go and eat. It was definitely closer to Cole’s estimate for Steve and I crashed again. Dead asleep. At about 7, we headed out toward the train station to see what was available to eat. We wanted to just pick up something to take back to the hotel. We ended up getting pizza from a take out place and going back to the hotel. We ate while we watch some news and then we hit the sack.

I guess we should have gone and walked around the town a bit to see some more of Lucerne, but we were so tired that it was a welcome break to not have somewhere to have to be or something to have to do. We slept well that night. Tomorrow, we leave for Paris!