Europe Trip-- Celebrating 10 Year Anniversary

This trip came about when we were in Hawaii for Christmas.  Sherene asked what we were doing for our 10 year Anniversary and we didn't have anything planned. She asked us if we'd like to do something with them and we said, Yes! A month or two later they said they had decided on going to Paris and Switzerland for their trip and instead of going in the summer (since it would be way more expensive) they were going in May.  We knew May wasn't the best month for us but we sat on the idea for over a month before Dane decided we just needed to do this.  We talked to my parents and bought our tickets! 

We got back from our trip this week and I've been trying to get myself to blog about the trip since I definitely want to remember everything.  It's been hard since I have about a thousand pictures to sift through.  Dane was a little camera happy.  I'm sure I will be glad that he was!  Our regular camera has been through the ringer and didn't take as good of pictures as our iPhones.

We left last Wednesday on May 16.  We flew on the direct flight out of SLC.  We were on the runway waiting when the pilot informed us we were going back to the gate to check a fuel pump gauge.  It was disappointing since he made it sound like he wasn't sure if it would be a quick fix or one that would mean we might be stuck for a long time.  It ended up being a quick thing and we took off about an hour and a half after we were scheduled to leave.



Thursday, May 17th

We arrived in Paris at 12:15 ish and it wasn't a bad flight at all.  We walked off our plane hoping Mike and Sherene were waiting for us, but their flight came in three hours before ours (they had a delayed flight too) and we figured they went to the hotel.

This was the biggest flight board I've ever seen

We walked to the train station to buy our tickets in to the city.  The french guy behind us thought we were idiots.  I put the credit card in the wrong slot and I kept pulling it out too fast.  He kept giving us directions on how to work the machine.  He was probably thinking...Dumb Americans!  We got on our train and then realized we never looked up the train stop we were suppose to take to get to our hotel. Oops!  We guessed on The Arcueil-Chachan stop since our hotel had Arcueil in the address.  We walked off the train and had no idea where to go!  We asked information and the guy didn't speak any english but got out the map and showed us that we went one stop too far.  We got back on the train and got off at La Place.  We found our street on the map outside and walked up one street over to our hotel.  We were proud we found our way!  Mike had left our key at the front desk and after unpacking our suitcases, he knocked on our door.  They had just gotten up from a map and we decided to go find dinner at the mall across the street.  Sherene and Dane got subway while Mike and I got something from the waffle house.



Did you know you get charged to eat there?  They ask you if you are staying to eat or doing take away.  If you are staying they charge you two more euros. After dinner we went to the train station and hopped on the train to see the Eiffel tower.  I don't know about anyone else but when I saw the eiffel tower, I thought it was so AMAZING.  I kept thinking to myself that I never thought I would ever see it.  We read in Mike's travel book that it was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.They also thought it would temporary.  Looking up at it, I can't imagine them thinking that they would tear it down.  One thing I never realized before is that it is brown!

We walked along the Seine to get to the Eiffel tower.  The water looked yucky.






The lines were long to ride the tram up.  Actually, the lines were long at all the places we went to in Paris.  We decided to walk up the 700+ stairs to the 2nd level and ride the tram to the very top.  It drizzled off and on, but the weather held.  It was gorgeous to look out at the city.

 













After walking around the park by the eiffel tower, we saw one of those double decker buses.  If we paid for one day we could ride around that night and all day the next day.  We jumped on and went through some the city.













Went past the louvre and decided to jump off at the notre dame cathedral.  It was closed but we bought some crepes from a vendor across the street. Dane really like his, but mine was just strawberry jam and a crepe.  Not the best.


Dane's coconut, nutella, and banana crepe


After our dessert we walked back to the metro and caught the rail back to our hotel.  We must have jumped on the express because it went past our stop and the next two!



La Place hotel.  So glad we weren't staying there!


We went to the McDonald's across the street from our hotel for some hot chocolate and found they had free wifi.  That is where we would spend the rest of our late nights in Paris, face timing our kids.  Actually we stayed until 11 pm when it closed.

Friday, May 18th

We left the hotel in the morning and stopped at the bakery by the metro for some pastries. Mine was yummy.  It kind of tasted like a long john.  When we got off at our train stop we came up to a street with all these stores.  I loved walking through this area on our way to the Louvre.  We found shops, places to eat,  and fruit stands.







I bought some strawberries.  They were the coolest color.  A different red.  Sherene bought some cherries.  They were both so yummy. After getting directions, we found the Louvre and saw this really long line.








 If we came even a half hour later the line was even longer!  Sherene and I waited in line while the boys walked around to find out if we could buy tickets somewhere else.  The very unhelpful people at the front didn't speak english that well and just kept telling them to get in the line.  Here is some helpful advice for anyone going to visit Paris and plan on seeing museums.  Buy a museum pass before you go! or you can buy them at the fnac stores in Paris.  If we knew, we could have bought that pass and went straight in, instead of waiting in that long line. Plus, it is good at all the other museums too.  The Musee D'Orsay which we saw the next day and Versailles, which we ended up not going to see. So remember... MUSEUM PASS is GOOD! :) We would find out that there are lines every where.  They say this isn't the busiest time of the year and I can't imagine the lines being any longer.









Anyways, back to Louvre.  We got the Audioguide which were Nintendo DS 3D and headphones.  I must say the Louvre was beautiful.  The art and the architecture of the building.  It was also very overwhelming how enormous it was! I think our tour told us it was the biggest museum in the world. I believe it! I won't tell you how long it took us.  I think we set a record. :)


We saw the Egyptian Art










The mona lisa was VERY busy.  It's the only picture on the wall and tons of people are trying to take a picture of it.








There was one picture we saw on the map that the boys thought was hilarious.  I can't even remember what it's really called, but we called it 'The sisters'. We ended our tour with that and a funny picture that I won't post. The painting is of two ladies (sisters) and they are sitting topless.  The funny thing is that one of the sisters is pinching the other one's nipple. Hmm... Sherene and I commented on how the  boys were enjoying the museums way more than us. They kept taking their time.



After the Louvre, we walked back to the streets where we saw a sandwich shop.  Had some lunch and continued walking towards Notre Dame.





Dane had heard of this bridge that people put their names on locks and lock them to the bridge.  We thought this was the bridge but found it it later.



I wanted to ride one of these bikes around Paris.  I think I was the only one. We never did it because we were afraid we wouldn't know how to find another place to return them and most of the stations were full.





I think this was the government building?


Another long line at Notre Dame Cathedral




My pictures inside didn't turn out so good.  We couldn't use flash and so they are all blurry.  After we left the cathedral we hopped on the tour bus again.  Our legs were tired from walking so it was a nice break and way to see some sights.





The Assemblee Nationale Palais-Bourbon which was originally built for Louis XIV's daughter.  It has now accommodated the lower house of the french parliament since 1830.


Place de la Concorde was pretty cool.  The center of the square was first a statue of Louis XV and was torn down about 20 years later and replaced by the guillotine, the Black Widow.  It's where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded. The obelisk that now stands in the center of the square was a gift from the viceroy of Egypt.


The Opera National de Paris Garnier.  I think the tour said that it was used for both ballet and operas back in the day but now is only used for operas.


The Arc de Triomphe. It was commissioned by Napoleon as a way to commemorate his victories but he was ousted before it was completed.  Buried beneath the arch is the body of the unknown soldier.






One of the columns before passing over the Pont Alexandre II bridge.  Considered Paris's prettiest bridge.


Dome Church




After our tour we did some souvenir shopping for the kids


We were also able to find a crepe place that used real strawberries. YUM.

Saturday, May 19th

We left the hotel around the same time and headed to see the Musee D'Orsay.  We got around the city mostly by the metro.  Mike's book was pretty helpful on telling us which stops to get off at.



La Place was our stop for the hotel


I loved the Musee D'Orsay.  First, I think because it wasn't as overwhelming as the Louvre, but also because we knew more of the art there.  The building use to be a major train station.  You can tell when you are inside.  Dane and I were commenting on how much detail they put into all their buildings.





You couldn't take any pictures in this museum but we saw art from Van Gogh, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Monet, Gauguin, Cezanne, Rodin, and Seurat.  I think my favorite was the Neo Impressionism paintings.  It was amazing to see these paintings and to actually see the brush strokes.  I remember learning about a lot of these paintings in High School and College but it is a totally different experience to see the original.  At the top of the museum people were taking smoke breaks and pictures of the city below.



After the museum, we walked to Luxembourg.  We thought about going down to Versailles that day but in the end, we decided to do more site seeing around Paris.  We heard the lines were really long at Versailles and we were done with lines that day.  Along the way I bought a strawberry fruit tart (my favorite) and a creme brûlée (another favorite).  They were both DELICIOUS.



We bought lunch along the way...Dane and I bought some pasta.  We found a place to eat along this fountain on the property.  The water was nasty but the structure was cool.  It was called Fontaine de Medicis and was constructed in the style of an Italian grotto.







When we turned around from where we were eating and Sherene noticed that the vines were formed in a  heart.  So we took pictures.  I only have the one of them because I think the one of us is on their camera.



Palais du Luxembourg is now home to the french senate but was originally built to remind Marie De' Medici of her native florence.  By the time it was finished she had been banished from Paris.  Seemed to be a reoccurring theme at most of the places we saw.




After Luxembourg, we walked around some more.  Dane found cars he liked...


We found the real bridge of locks




We ended up walking back to the area by the Louvre to finish buying stuff for the kids.  As we were finishing, the guys came running up to us yelling to RUN.  There was this crazy guy yelling and pointing this thing at people, pretending it was a gun.  That was probably the craziest thing of the trip.  We tried seeing Avengers after because it was starting to rain. Which for the most part, the weather really cooperated for us.  Everyone kept directing us different directions to the movie theatre.  We were probably confusing them by saying Movies and Theatre.  We thought it was called Cinema. I think some were telling us to go to an actual Theatre.  After walking through the rain we found a mall and two movie theaters.  By then it was kind of late and we decided to skip the movie and head back.  We face timed the kids and Mike came with us to eat dinner at a restaurant next door called hippopotamus.  It is similar to TGI Fridays.

Sunday, May 20th

We checked out of our hotel around 11 am.



We caught the metro to catch our train to Switzerland


It was so confusing finding the right car and our seats.  We bought our train tickets late so we had to pay a little more and upgrade our tickets.  Which meant Mike and Sherene were in a different part of the train.  Once we got settled, the scenery was beautiful!





Our first stop was in Strasbourg, France.  We went out of the train station to find food.  I think I ended up buying a sandwich.  We ate A LOT of sandwiches.  They are very common food to eat.





It was actually beautiful weather that day. It was warm!


Our next stop was in Basel, Switzerland.  Dane and I walked outside to look around.  We also found a bank to take out swiss francs.





We were able to ride with Mike and Sherene on our way to Lucerne since it was a different pass.  We got kicked out of the first class cabin and had to make the walk of shame two cars back. Ha ha.  It was sad but it was funny too.  Once we got into Lucerne we walked to our hotel.  It was a very nice hotel but the room was a wee bit smaller than our room in Paris.







We relaxed a little before venturing out.  It was a nice change from the city.  The air just smelled cleaner.  We walked to one of their famous landmarks, the Chapel Bridge.







We walked across to the other side and checked out places to eat


We ended up going back closer to our hotel where we ordered a pizza.  We took our food and went to eat on a patch of grass near the river.

This hotel was great because we had free wifi in the rooms. It was so nice to talk to the kids for as long as we wanted.  Also, the iPhones were great because not only could you face time, but you could text other iPhones through iMessage.  So sometimes I would send a text to my dad and tell him we were trying to face time them.  We also found out that iPhones have a built in converter so it was easier to charge our phones.  This hotel had an ihome in our room so we were able to charge both our phones.   One time I guess Bray asked my parents, "Are they going to face time us every day?"  Ha ha.  That little punk.  When we got to Zurich it was a lot harder to connect with them, but it was towards the end of our trip so we were coming home anyways.  Most of the times we were face timing our kiddies, if Kiele was awake, we would only see an ear or cheek.  Kiele would grab the iPad and kiss it and hold it close to her face.  I think she missed us.  So we would hear the kids yelling at her to let go and it was a little crazy but it was so fun to see them.  In this picture you can see Kiele crying since we wanted to see all of them and my mom was holding it out of reach.



Monday, May 21st

We had to check out of our hotel since we were going to Zurich next.  We planned on going to Mt. Pilatus so we left our bags with the hotel.  My friend, Crowther, has been to Switzerland twice and recommended Mt. Pilatus.  We talked to the hotel receptionist and she said to check with them in the morning and make sure the clouds were not blocking the view on top.  They have a cam you can check online.  She also recommended taking the boat tour to the base, taking the cog wheel train up, and the gondola's back down.  Returning the rest of the way on a bus ride back to Lucerne.  I told Dane I would like to do the boat ride because my friend said it was really pretty.  In the morning, Dane totally suggested the train ride instead and let's just say I was a little annoyed.  It didn't help that he kept telling me to zip up my jacket to hide my purse.  I'm not so good with taking orders. :)  Anyways, the train ride was quick and picturesque.  I think that word is perfect for everything about Europe.



Once we got to the place we found out that our Rail Europe 2 for 1 passes gave us half off there too.  Sweet!  So instead of it being around 135 for both of us, it was only around 65 CHF.  It was an awesome deal.  That's when Sherene told me that we probably could have done the boat tour for free with our pass. WHAT?! Which was the whole reason why dane wanted to do the train ride. To save money.






It is the steepest cog wheel train ride in the world






The views going up were breathtaking and we were in the right spot in the car to see those views










When we first arrived at the top, the clouds were directly around us so it looked like fog and you couldn't see anything.  Once we stayed there awhile, the clouds kept shifting and we were able to get some great views.  I think this was my favorite part of Switzerland.







One of the transfer points on the gondola ride down we found that you could ride a toboggan down to the bottom. How cool is that?!  We went to check it out but it doesn't open until the summer.  Bummer!! The water out of this fountain was the BEST.  Delicious.



They also had this rope course that I thought would be fun, especially the zip line at the end but the lady said it would take 1 1/2 hours to complete and since I was the only one that wanted to do it, it would have been lame to have Dane wait for me.



So we took a picture instead


You could hike down the mountain instead of taking the gondola.  We took the gondola anyways...
It's a long walk down.




When we got to the bottom, we walked down more to the bus stop.  Their water fountains all over the city had some good water!



Oh Dane...




We walked back to the water to have lunch. We had burgers at this pub. Can't remember the name.




The burger had this weird relish sauce on the bottom, so I didn't really like. I think Dane finished it for me.






We did some walking after lunch




We walked to the city walls and tower.  Dane and I went up to see more.  At first we kept walking along the bottom of the wall and thought it was pretty lame but then one tower was open and you could walk up along the top of the wall and climb up some of the towers.







self-taking pics are so not attractive








one tower was a clock tower






one tower you had to walk underneath the wall to get to the stairs


we found some souvenir places before going back to the hotel for our luggage and catching the train to Zurich



I really loved lucerne


When we arrived in Zurich we couldn't find the street of our hotel on the map.  It was the first time we caught a taxi on our trip and we later found that it was an easy metro ride from the station. Oh well.  When the taxi was driving us to our hotel, I thought Zurich looked scary.  The people looked rough.  I wasn't the only one in the car either.  I was seriously afraid to make eye contact with people on the side of the street.  Once we got to our hotel, we unpacked and relaxed a little.  It was probably the nicest room of all the rooms we stayed in.



I spy a leg...



It was great having the toilet in it's own area with a sink.  Especially after our room in Lucerne.  The door to the bathroom wouldn't close completely.

Mike asked the desk about the movie theatre and times for Avengers.  It wasn't a far walk and the movie was REALLY good.  I was prepared to tell Dane it didn't live up to the hype, but I liked it.  Right in the middle of the movie, the lights came on and we looked at each other confused.  In Switzerland, they have intermission breaks for people to grab snacks and go to the restroom.  I wish I would have taken advantage of it. After the movie we were hungry but most places were closed.  Dane and I ended up getting room service. Dane hated his chili.  My panini was alright.  Not bad...

Tuesday, May 22nd

Our last day in Europe.  We decided the night before to do the four hour tour of zurich the next day.  We met for breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast we caught the train to tour some shops and old town.  We would quickly realize how expensive the souvenir stuff was in switzerland.  In Paris we could find shirts for the kids for 13 euros.  In Switzerland the shirts were about 30+.  Even the food was pretty expensive.





i loved all the flower shops in europe




after walking through old town, we went to find this place that the hotel guy recommended to us for buying souvenirs.  He said it was the cheapest in the city.  It was in a department store called the manor.  He was right too.  We bought most of our souvenirs there.  We ended up getting Kiele a cow pillow pet that she loves.  Dane really wanted to get bray a swiss knife but decided against it in the end.





on our tour bus we met a girl from Cali.  She had at one point lived in Palolo valley so she talked to the guys some.





Our first stop was a harbor and park area



While we were waiting to leave, we saw a guy go for a short swim.  It was really short, but he was crazy. The water must have been freezing.

We went to one of their famous Churches. Chagall did the stain glass windows.  They were very pretty.  We found out that Switzerland is a Protestant state but before the churches were richly decorated because they were Catholic Churches.  Once they switched over, most of their churches are now plain.





One of our last stops on the tour a gondola ride up to view Zurich.  After Mt. Pilatus, it wasn't as cool but it was still pretty.



They had a place to eat at the top


I ordered a hot chocolate.  I love hot chocolate and probably had about four during my stay in Europe. This was the best one of them all.



Dane really wanted a picture with this cow. Oh Dane...






We caught a ferry to the gold coast.  It's the rich area.  They say the climate is better on that side.  We drove past tina turner's house and she said roger federer just bought a place for 23 million.  He is an awesome tennis player.









After our tour we went to find some chocolate to take back.  That's when we split up.  Mike and Sherenw had other errands to finish up and Dane promised me a fondue dinner.  We didn't quite get that fondue dinner because I got tired of walking.  We found this reasonably priced italian restaurant.  Dane really liked his spagetti bolongnaise.  My risotto was alright. The bruschetta was the best!



We went back to the hotel to finish packing.  I don't think I saw Sherene before we left.  We said goodbye to Mike though.  Our flight left an hour earlier than their flight so we wouldn't be seeing them in the morning.  Thanks, Mike and Sherene! Thanks for planning everything and inviting us.  I know we probably would have never seen Europe if it wasn't for you guys. We had the best time!!!

Wednesday, May 23rd

We woke up around six to get ready and finish packing our stuff.  W ate our last breakfast in the hotel before catching our train at 7:19.  It took us awhile to figure out where to check-in at the airport. It was a little crazy.  It also took us forever to get to our gate.  Good thing we came early.

They had this display of cigarettes that Dane and I thought were interesting.  They had put signs on the boxes to discourage people from buying them.  They say 'smoking kills' and 'smokers die younger'.


The weather was pretty yucky when we left. We waited forever to board the plane.  We thought it might be delayed but it wasn't. Thank goodness.



The flight back was LONG. Much longer than going there.  Our flight from Zurich to Atlanta was just under 11 hours.  Then we had a two hour layover where we had to go through customs and back through security again. JUNKIE.  Plus, their airport was confusing too. Maybe we are just not good with airports. I bought us some domino's pizza to eat and it was so nice to have our phones back! The flight from Atlanta to SLC was under four hours.  We got our bag and walked out the doors to hear our children screaming from the car windows.  They were so excited to see us! We were so excited to see them!! We came home to find that my dad organized our garage. Thank you, Dad. The kids were so excited to show it to us.  I was really hoping that was the surprise since our garage was a disaster!  After giving the kids their gifts, we had an early bedtime since Dane and I were still on Switzerland time.

Thank you Mom and Dad for taking care of our kiddies for long. It's so comforting knowing they were in such good hands and we didn't have to worry about them.  I forgot to take a picture of my mom's list of everything the kids had going on that week so they wouldn't forget.  They did the carpool and took bray to his games.  They were awesome.  Plus, I think my dad turned my carpool against me.  He would cut apples for them every time they got in the car.  The first thing they looked for was the apples when I came to get them the next day. I think they were a little disappointed to see me. Ha ha! I think that was the same day that Mika told me she wanted Papa to come back.  Ouch.  Anyways, it was a fabulous trip to celebrate ten years.  Sherene and I commented on how it didn't seem like ten years have gone by.  It's been a great ten years. Love you, Dane. Thank you for taking me to Europe.  It was a dream!