The landscape through Belgium was very nice. We drove in just as the sun was starting to rise. The land is very flat for the most part with rolling hills now and again. Every few km there is a small village with a stone church poking up from the middle. All the homes seem very old but well-kept. They all seem to be built of stone. The fields were very green. I could see corn growing in a few of them. I saw some cows and sheep as well. We’ve had a drizzle of rain a good part of the trip so far. We are hoping Paris is dry. But as Holli pointed out, rain probably means less tourists (not necessarily true as it turns out).
Today is a German Holiday. I forget what holiday. But we suspect there are more travelers on the road, especially from Germany, taking advantage of the long weekend. The traffic has been solid but not enough to slow us down.
Holli is up in the driver’s seat trying out the few French words he knows. Liz knows a little more.
The Autobahn isn’t as scary as I anticipated. People do drive very fast but so far all the drivers we’ve encountered have been very courteous. If someone needs a lane change, everyone seems very willing to let them in. Apparently there is a speed limit in Belgium and France. But they all seem to be driving as fast. We frequently drive as fast as 160 km. Holli was happy to find that I was not terrified by his driving. The cars here seem to be much newer, modern and cleaner than in the US.
We just came to our first Autobahn toll I’ve seen. You pick up a ticket from an auto-dispenser. Apparently there is another check-out point somewhere where we’ll have to pay a fee. Holli isn’t too sure either. He’s looking at the ticket with a somewhat confused look on his face. (It ended up costing 15 Euros one way).
I didn’t sleep much last night so I’m a bit concerned how I will fare today. I want to try to experience as much Paris as I can. I finally took a Tylenol PM about 2:30 AM hoping I could at least get a couple hours rest. But we were up at 6:00 AM. So I’m not sure how much sleep I actually got.
So far France is more populated with more frequent smaller towns. But each town still has the token stone church.
After about an hour of trying to find a place to park, we finally came across a paid parking lot that looked fairly secure. Luckily a metro station was only a few blocks away.
My first impression of Paris was that is was far more culturally diverse than I anticipated. It seems like there are folks from all over the world living there, and seem to be in a fairly mixed environment. Even though there are lots of Blacks, Asians, Caucasian and Middle Eastern people, they all seemed to be living harmoniously walking down the street together as friends or business partners. Or sitting next to each other as strangers on the subway. I wasn’t sure who was the “real” Frenchman. And, of course, there always seem to be little groups of tourists everywhere you look. But the locals do not seem to mind. Just a part of Paris life. We never saw any “rude” French people. Liz says they are actually very kind, especially if you try to speak a little of their language rather than breaking into English expecting them to comply.
We decided to take in as much as possible in the short time we had. Here is a quick rundown of some of the more notable places we visited (no guarantee on the spelling):
The Lourve (outside only)
Notre’ Dame Cathedral
The Pantheon
Basilique Du Sacre-Coeur Church
The Seine River
The Moulin Rouge
The Arc of Triomphe
A quaint Creperie for lunch
The famous street with all the expensive shops
The Eiffel Tower
We walked and walked (I’ve got a couple blisters to prove it). But it was the best way to see Paris. Walking down side streets where the real local folks live was just as interesting to me, if not more than the typical attractions. But truthfully the whole experience was awe-inspiring. Holli told me to quit shaking me head in disbelief; that I was going to get a sore neck.
The Eiffel Tower was spectacular. We got there just as the sun went down and just as they illuminated the tower with a beautiful blue light…and just as the crowds began to form. There were lines to get to the top but that really didn’t distract from the “coolness” of being at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It gave me a chance to chat with the British man standing behind me along with his wife and mother. Nice folks. The weather up that high was much cooler than below. A little snow even started to fall as we as we stood atop the tower. Liz became very excited. Snow means Christmas is coming.
About 11 PM as we worked out way back to the car we were exhausted but very pleased with ourselves at all we were able to see in one day.
The experience ended well for me as I finally got my first experience at driving the Autobahn. Holli was very tired but I was just catching my 2nd wind since I’m still not quite on European time. I was able to drive through France and across most of Belgium cruising at speeds of up to 140 km/hour. Once we were back in Germany we could drive much faster since there is no speed limit. France and Belgium actually do have a speed limit. But I never saw it enforced, or used.
Home by about 4:00 am and directly to bed, very satisfied.
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