31 MAY 2008: A rainy day to the Airport.

Today was just a drive day. We left the hotel at about 11am & drove straight to Gonesse (near Charles de Gaulle airport). It rained hard in the mountains west of Metz, France. We soon discovered that we were on a toll road & had to stop & pay several times. These roads are OK for making time, but they don’t go near anything that might appear to be worth stopping for. I will try to use more modest roads in the next few weeks. Throughout these first two weeks, Dennis has been the driver & I’ve been the navigator. Unfortunately, Today was Dennis’ last day. I’m driving him to the airport tomorrow morning so that he can catch a plane home. I’ll miss him a lot after he leaves. Well, now I’m the driver & navigator. Wish me luck.

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30 May 2008: MAP

30 May 2008: A DRIVE TO THE RHINE RIVER

We did a loop drive from the Metz area over the mountains to Germany, to see the a small portion of the Rhine River. We visited the town of Koblenz, where the Mosel River meets the Rhine River. At this point there is a huge monument dedicated to Kaiser Wilhelm. Later we stopped to see the old town of Bacharach. We learned early, stay in the right lane on the German Autobahn. The left lane is only for overtaking slower traffic. Occasionally there are really fast (100 mph) drivers coming up from behind. Around every bend along the Rhine river is another castle on the hill side. These two rivers are famous wine regions.

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Kaiser Wilhelm monument

The Mosel & the Rhine rivers

Rhine river boat

Koblenz, Germany

Bacharach

Rhine castle above Bacharach

Bacharach

Bacharach sign

Bacharach

Bacharach court yard

Bacharach

Bacharach sign

Bacharach

Bacharach Gate

Bacharach

Map of Luxembourg.

The route through Luxembourg

29 May 2008: LILLE to WOIPPY.

29 May 2008: Drive France Belgium France

Not much happening today. We’re tired from the London/Paris visits & the weather is blah. We lost our way leaving (minor problem) Lille, but we got on our way OK. On our way to Metz, we drove through Luxembourg. For two days I will be in the Rhine & Alsace areas. Significant to me because my father was here during WW2 & I’m just curious about the places he mentioned when he talked about it.

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Map of Belgium.

The Route through Belgium.

MAY 29, 2008: FRANCE.

Metz.

Woippy

Woippy

28 May 2008 ***PARIS***

We rode the TGV high speed train to visit Paris for a day.

IN PARIS FOR A DAY

As with our visit to London we rode the high speed train to from Lille to Paris. This time it was the French TGV train. Our first challenge of the day was to learn which Paris Metro trains we needed to take to get to the various places of interest in this city. We arrived in time to see the packed as a “sardine can” commute trains. NO THANKS! After waiting for about 20min, the commuter trains became less crowded. One more thing about Paris. There are not many public toilets here so you have to do “the dance“ until you are lucky to find one. The myth that Parisians can be rude, in my experience, is not true. Like most places in the world I’m sure there must be rude people here, but I never found any here today.

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The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower ticket office

The Eiffel Tower view of the Seine River

The Eiffel Tower view

Elevator cable wheel

Eiffel Tower Visitors

The Eiffel Tower view

Eiffel Tower view Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower view from the top

The shadow of Eiffel Tower

The Paris Metro, above ground

Sainte Chapelle

The Seine River

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral entrance

Arc de Triomphe

Avenue des Champs Elysees

Shopping!

Vintage Peugeot race car

Paris “Gare Du Nord” stations

27 May 2008 ***LONDON***

Eurostar high speed train.

A DAY IN LONDON

On this morning, we awoke early to catch the Eurostar high speed train to London for a day of site seeing. This was a last minute idea to see London, as my original trip plans did not include going to England.

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Arriving in London

“TUBE”, London subway

Men at work?

London traffic control?