Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
New pics!
I finally got pics posted from Versailles and I added some more pics of the Fros being cute. Now available at http://picasaweb.google.com/mattpetro!
Back in Pickliessem
After a pleasant drive, we made it back to Germany from Paris yesterday. Since then, we've taken it easy and relaxed for the most part. Peighton had t-ball practice yesterday and Rick is one of the coaches, so after we got back, they left for that.
Also, Peighton had to go and get cavities, or "sugar bugs" as the dentist calls them, fixed this morning, so she headed off with Casey in the morning, leaving Tracie and I to play with, er, watch Conner and Rheagan. We had a ton of fun just getting to spend time with them.
Peighton was very good at the dentist's office and came home feeling OK. We spent the rest of the day getting laundry done, helping Casey clean around the house and just having a great time playing with all three kids. After dinner was done and the kids had gone to bed, we finished off the evening with a several head-to-head competitions in Guitar Hero on the Wii. We're all rock stars, I'm sure of it!
Also, Peighton had to go and get cavities, or "sugar bugs" as the dentist calls them, fixed this morning, so she headed off with Casey in the morning, leaving Tracie and I to play with, er, watch Conner and Rheagan. We had a ton of fun just getting to spend time with them.
Peighton was very good at the dentist's office and came home feeling OK. We spent the rest of the day getting laundry done, helping Casey clean around the house and just having a great time playing with all three kids. After dinner was done and the kids had gone to bed, we finished off the evening with a several head-to-head competitions in Guitar Hero on the Wii. We're all rock stars, I'm sure of it!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Interesting things I noticed in Paris
- Almost all of the buildings are a shade of white, and most of them are still have the classic Mansard roof. I noticed this when we were looking out at the city from the Eiffel Tower.
- Most of the store clerks and restaurant wait staff speak to women first, not men. Unfortunately, this leaves Tracie attempting to figure out what they're saying in French.
- Most restaurants have espresso, and all of the espresso machines are the real kind, not the automatic ones Starbucks uses.
Notre Dame and The Eiffel Tower
It's hard to beleive we hit only two landmarks on a day that was so full.
We started the day with pastries and Pellegrino from the little bakery down the street. I'm pretty sure I'll never have another croissant back home. I would just be disappointed. The croissant from this bakery is probably the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.
After waiting for rush hour to clear, we met the Fromily and began our public transit adventure at about 9 a.m. I have to say we did a really great job of navigating the system today, although the credit really has to go to the other 3 adults...I pretty much just walked along and let them tell me where to go.
We began our day at Notre Dame. Not sure I can count how many times we collectively said "WOW!". It was absolutely amazing! I know our pictures will not do it justice, but I also know it is a sight our mind's eye will never forget. There is soooooo much detail in everything. Walking up to the cathedral, it looks elaborate, but you have absolutely NO idea how intricate the carvings are until you get up close...and the stained glass, oh my! As it is Holy Week, every crucifix was shrouded in purple cloth; it was truly moving. You would think with three small children that touring a holy place where you are asked to remain quiet would be difficult, but not with Cricket, Sprout and Boo. They were phenomenal the entire time!
Upon leaving Notre Dame we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the RER to our second destination, Tour de Eiffel. We decided to walk through the park on our way to the tower. The park was beautiful and the kids got a special treat, ducklings. There were about six ducks and two dozen ducklings in the pond. It was so neat to just stand and watch them...the girls were mesmerized.
Soon we left the ducks and headed to the line to go up the Eiffel Tower...and boy was it a line. We took TONS of pictures before we even went up. The Eiffel Tower is so much more impressive in person, Matt was in engineer heaven! After about 2 hours we made it to the second level, a spectacular view of Paris. We had originally intended to go all the way to the top, but after realizing it would be at least another hour in line, we opted for a snack and a trip on the "miracle round" for the kids (that's a merry-go-round for those of you who don't speak 3 and 5- year-old).
Next, we headed back for another seemless transit adventure. That night Matt and I decided to try the creperie near the hotel and the Fromily opted for pizza. Our food was fantastic, although we admittedly had no idea what we were ordering. I have learned that moving your hands parallel to the table while keeping a big smile on your face is the universal sign for, "our food is wonderful, but we don't need anything else, thank you."
After dinner, the women and children gave in to exhaustion and the men headed down to a nearby pub for a beer. All in all a fantastic day!
We started the day with pastries and Pellegrino from the little bakery down the street. I'm pretty sure I'll never have another croissant back home. I would just be disappointed. The croissant from this bakery is probably the best thing I've ever put in my mouth.
After waiting for rush hour to clear, we met the Fromily and began our public transit adventure at about 9 a.m. I have to say we did a really great job of navigating the system today, although the credit really has to go to the other 3 adults...I pretty much just walked along and let them tell me where to go.
We began our day at Notre Dame. Not sure I can count how many times we collectively said "WOW!". It was absolutely amazing! I know our pictures will not do it justice, but I also know it is a sight our mind's eye will never forget. There is soooooo much detail in everything. Walking up to the cathedral, it looks elaborate, but you have absolutely NO idea how intricate the carvings are until you get up close...and the stained glass, oh my! As it is Holy Week, every crucifix was shrouded in purple cloth; it was truly moving. You would think with three small children that touring a holy place where you are asked to remain quiet would be difficult, but not with Cricket, Sprout and Boo. They were phenomenal the entire time!
Upon leaving Notre Dame we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the RER to our second destination, Tour de Eiffel. We decided to walk through the park on our way to the tower. The park was beautiful and the kids got a special treat, ducklings. There were about six ducks and two dozen ducklings in the pond. It was so neat to just stand and watch them...the girls were mesmerized.
Soon we left the ducks and headed to the line to go up the Eiffel Tower...and boy was it a line. We took TONS of pictures before we even went up. The Eiffel Tower is so much more impressive in person, Matt was in engineer heaven! After about 2 hours we made it to the second level, a spectacular view of Paris. We had originally intended to go all the way to the top, but after realizing it would be at least another hour in line, we opted for a snack and a trip on the "miracle round" for the kids (that's a merry-go-round for those of you who don't speak 3 and 5- year-old).
Next, we headed back for another seemless transit adventure. That night Matt and I decided to try the creperie near the hotel and the Fromily opted for pizza. Our food was fantastic, although we admittedly had no idea what we were ordering. I have learned that moving your hands parallel to the table while keeping a big smile on your face is the universal sign for, "our food is wonderful, but we don't need anything else, thank you."
After dinner, the women and children gave in to exhaustion and the men headed down to a nearby pub for a beer. All in all a fantastic day!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Versailles, with a side of public transit adventures
Today was our first full day in Paris! Our plan was to head to Versailles to see the chateau and gardens. Tracie and I got up at a reasonable hour for us (7:00am) and realized that not many restaurants are open before 9:00am here. Even the McDonald's across the street doesn't open until 10:00am! All that we could really find was a bakery serving quiches and pastries. It seemed that it was pastries or the hotel's 12 euro (zoinks!) buffet. So, we got our first lesson in French culture and went to the bakery.
After the breakfast adventure, Tracie and I met up with Casey, Rick and the 3 kids (collectively known as the Fromily) and started our journey to Versailles with a 15 minute walk to the RER station. The RER is the commuter rail portion of the Paris public transit system which reaches into the middle and outer suburbs. After spending several minutes trying to get the ticket vending machine to take a credit card, we went to the ticket window, managed to buy the correct fares from the nice lady and get to the train.
We successfully navigated two train transfers under the streets of Paris, but as we neared Versailles, we discovered that we were on a train which was the correct line, but took a slightly different route, leaving us a couple of kilometers from where we wanted to be. It then took us 45 minutes, 2 more stations and a lot of puzzling over a map and train arrival info board to deduce how to get to our intended destination. Note that most of the puzzling was due to the fact that everything was in French. The French aren't really big on providing information in other languages. But, we were successful in finding the correct route and finally arriving in the heart of Versailles.
By this point, we were all quite hungry, so we stopped at a pizza place for lunch, then walked to the Chateau de Versailles. It really takes the meaning of the word "chateau" to a whole different level...the place is huge, plain and simple. Casey wanted to see the gardens, so we didn't see the inside of the chateau, but the weather was fabulous and the gardens are amazing in their own right. You could easily spend a couple of days wandering through the gardens and still not see everything. There's ponds, fountains, statues, topiaries, lawns and trees that go on and on...they're truly amazing.
Once we'd spent the afternoon in the gardens (and gotten slightly sunburnt in the process), we headed back to the RER station. Getting back to the hotel was much faster, as we managed to travel detour-free this time. The trains were fairly crowded at this time of day, but even so, they all ran on time.
Tracie's back was pretty tired by the time we arrived at the hotel, so we decided to find take-out. French culture lesson #2: there's not much take out in France. Fortunately, we had McDonald's across the street. OK, I'm sure some people are saying, "You went to Paris and got dinner from McDonald's? How lame!" Yeah, sure, maybe, but we each had a Royale with Cheese, so next time we see Pulp Fiction, we can say we've had one.
On the itinerary for tomorrow: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and (hopefully) some tasty coffee at a Paris cafe!
After the breakfast adventure, Tracie and I met up with Casey, Rick and the 3 kids (collectively known as the Fromily) and started our journey to Versailles with a 15 minute walk to the RER station. The RER is the commuter rail portion of the Paris public transit system which reaches into the middle and outer suburbs. After spending several minutes trying to get the ticket vending machine to take a credit card, we went to the ticket window, managed to buy the correct fares from the nice lady and get to the train.
We successfully navigated two train transfers under the streets of Paris, but as we neared Versailles, we discovered that we were on a train which was the correct line, but took a slightly different route, leaving us a couple of kilometers from where we wanted to be. It then took us 45 minutes, 2 more stations and a lot of puzzling over a map and train arrival info board to deduce how to get to our intended destination. Note that most of the puzzling was due to the fact that everything was in French. The French aren't really big on providing information in other languages. But, we were successful in finding the correct route and finally arriving in the heart of Versailles.
By this point, we were all quite hungry, so we stopped at a pizza place for lunch, then walked to the Chateau de Versailles. It really takes the meaning of the word "chateau" to a whole different level...the place is huge, plain and simple. Casey wanted to see the gardens, so we didn't see the inside of the chateau, but the weather was fabulous and the gardens are amazing in their own right. You could easily spend a couple of days wandering through the gardens and still not see everything. There's ponds, fountains, statues, topiaries, lawns and trees that go on and on...they're truly amazing.
Once we'd spent the afternoon in the gardens (and gotten slightly sunburnt in the process), we headed back to the RER station. Getting back to the hotel was much faster, as we managed to travel detour-free this time. The trains were fairly crowded at this time of day, but even so, they all ran on time.
Tracie's back was pretty tired by the time we arrived at the hotel, so we decided to find take-out. French culture lesson #2: there's not much take out in France. Fortunately, we had McDonald's across the street. OK, I'm sure some people are saying, "You went to Paris and got dinner from McDonald's? How lame!" Yeah, sure, maybe, but we each had a Royale with Cheese, so next time we see Pulp Fiction, we can say we've had one.
On the itinerary for tomorrow: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and (hopefully) some tasty coffee at a Paris cafe!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
New pics!
I've uploaded all of the pics from our first few days to Picasa! Highlights of the recent photos: playing in the park with the Fros and visiting Trier. Tomorrow we're heading to Versailles, so many more to come! The hotel's Internet access is slow, but hopefully I can upload overnight.
Check out the Picasa pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/mattpetro
Check out the Picasa pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/mattpetro
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