Dreams realized

Wow we're here. Pardon any misspelling as the keyboard on this tablet isn't easy to work on. We have finally gotten some internet access. At the moment it is 5:30pm Sunday here in Innsbruck Austria and Mark and I are sitting on the deck bar at our campground enjoying a Zipfer beer and the hot sunshine. It is probably mid seventies and gorgeous we're surrounded by the Alps.

We arrived into Paris early and got the RV. We have been to Reims and Epernay France where we free camped in the parking lot of NotreDame cathedral in Epernay. It was so cool wakingup and seeing the spire.

We then drove over to Heidelberg, Rottenburg ob d.Tauber, & Munich Germany. We left Munich this morning and went to Nachwastein castle then on down here to Innsbruck. Tomorrow we head down to Italy. We are a day ahead so may stop off at Lake Garda Italy after all. We met a guy today at Ferns pass Austria that has a hotel there. What a small world.
We met many great folks and have lot's of great stories. We also have a ton of great pics but I am unable to upload them until we get home

I will try to update when we have internet. Look for a more detailed trip report sometime in the future.

Sorry unable to get this damn thing to edit....maybe it's the bright sun or the beers.

3 day until our Trip of a Lifetime

I know that we have been super excited about our Trip of a Lifetime but I didn't think anyone cared about all the little details in my planning. So I'll catch some of you up real quick.

Passports
Our passports arrived in about 10 days...imagine my surprise that the US govt could work so quickly.

RV & Apartment
I made all final payments for these so it's a relieve that I have the big ticket items payed for. We received our key to the apartment yesterday so that just helped to add to our excitement.

International Drivers Licence
We spent some time getting International drivers licenses at AAA since it's mandatory in Austria & Italy.

Euro's
We also exchanged dollars for Euro's with no so called fee from AAA. They say no fee but the company they use, uses Western Union who has a much higher exchange rate. So we paid $1.37 per Euro vs the $1.30 listed everywhere else. I'd say that 7% difference is sizable.

Guidebooks
Speaking of AAA the best guide book we purchased was from AAA. It was their Paris guide in spiral back. This was buy far the most thorough guide book. We also got the individual Michelin Green Guides for France, Germany & Italy. They are OK but don't offer as many details as the AAA one this could be because they are for the whole countries vs just a city. We also purchased a few Rick Steve's guide books for Cinque Terre Italy and a phrase book. These are much better then I expected considering all of the nay sayers out there about him.


Credit/Debit Cards
I did a ton of research looking for cards that did not tack on 3% conversion fee for foreign purchases. I of course had the answer in my wallet the entire time. What's in your wallet :), yes it was Capital One. I had both a credit card and a debit card so no new cards to deal with. I had thought about getting a pin & chip card (used through out Europe) instead of our swipe & signature cards we use here. These would come in handy anywhere that we would need to use a c.c at an unmanned kiosk ie:gas stations, toll booths, metro stations. But decided against it.

There are many other little details I haven't listed. If anyone needs any help planning their trip let me know I'll be happy to help where I can.

So I'm off to my last day of work and then packing for our flight out on Sunday. I wonder if I'll get any sleep between now and then.

Paris in Motion part 2

Here is another cool stop motion video of Paris.

http://vimeo.com/50467187

Post cards from Paris

I recently found some old post cards that my grandmother had saved from when my parents were in France. Thought you might get a kick out of them too.

 

You may recognize this picture from a previous post. My mom used it to make Christmas cards in 1965.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend of my grandmothers was vacationing in France and stopped by to visit us this is her post card to grandma. This was dated 9-16-65.

It says "Bonjour we found their house without any trouble as D** had been nominated as one of the soldiers of the month, he was at the base so we went to see him. L*** did not recognize me for a bit. Had a delightful lunch and dinner and evening at the club with them. Saw the kids both adorable and very friendly (yeah that's me adorable and very friendly). Met the family that babysits. They love the kids (of course who wouldn't love me). We also met many of their friends at the club. We leave Fontainbleau this morning and head for Strasbourg. More later. Our best to everyone. K & C.J."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a post card that mom sent grandma when they went to Spain dated May 11, 1966. I get a kick out of the $.08 stamp.

It says "Hi Mom we just got back from a wonderful trip to Spain. We had a wonderful time and the weather was beautiful. We both got sunburned. Everything is so cheap there. We had a hotel 1 block from the beach and the hotel was less then $3.00 a day. Beer is only $.10 and rum $.20. We didn't want to come back but we missed the kids. D** got his assignement Chicago, Illinois 5'th army headquarters. We will see you sometime next month. Love D& L"

 

Wow if beer and rum were still that cheap I think I'd be drunk all of the time and probably hungover too.

 

 

Monument des fusillés d'Arbonne-la-Forêt

Well thanks to the great folks on Tripadvisor I have discovered that monument in Fontainbleau is really not in Fontainbleau but near Arbonne-la-Foret. Special thanks to Mrs. French and French Mystique from Tripadvisor for sharing their knowledge and helping find this monument.

It is a memorial for 36 civilians and resistance fighters that were massacred by the Germans after the release of Fontainbleau in 1944 and World War II. See included wiki link for further details. Such a shame for the lost life's of this war.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbonne-la-For%C3%AAt

The massacre of 36 civilians and resistant

July 21 and August 17, 1944, six days after the release of Fontainebleau, thirty-six civilians and resistance fighters were released from prison in Fontainebleau, where they were tortured. Brought her hands tied in the back with sand pits of plain Chanfroy, they are executed by the Germans and summarily buried in two mass graves. December 7, 1944, when they come looking for sand Chanfroy the U.S. military discovered the first grave.

There were seven survivors who could not get into the truck for lack of space. The 36th shot has never been identified.

State funeral took place on December 14 at Fontainebleau where it installs a mortuary chapel in the covered market.
The two pits were never filled to keep here the solemnity of meditation.
A ceremony pays tribute to every third Sunday of August.

I believe that my parents probably visited this monument around the 3'rd week in August since there are so many flags of ceremony surrounding it.

Fontainbleau Memorial

In my August 8'th post I had a few pics of my parents in front of a memorial around Fontainbleau.

I would like to visit this same memorial on our upcoming trip however my mother can't remember what it was called or how to find it.

Posting these pics to see if anyone recognizes it. If you recognize it can you help me solve the riddle and let me know.

Le Flâneur

Here is another great stop motion video of Paris.


http://vimeo.com/17894033

Here is a link to Lukes website.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1191072802/nightvision