Paris, France and Kaiserslautern, Germany, with Pictures

byJeanBrickley

1.3K followers

7 years ago

Hi wonderful WA family,

I promised I would share a little more about my trip and show you some pictures; and this is it. Come along with me to France and Germany, with pictures.

We flew first to Paris, France. We were pretty tired from our 9 hour flight; but we rented a car and my daughter braved the Paris traffic (which I would never want to do). We finally found the Eiffel Tower, or Tour Eiffel, as it is called there. Here is a picture:

It was pretty impressive. I didn't go the whole way to the top; but the view was still pretty awesome. Pictures don't do it justice.

There were shops and boutiques inside on the different floors. You could buy a souvenir, or almost anything else your heart desired.

After our visit to the Eiffel Tower, we packed ourselves back in to our rental car for the five hour drive to Kaiserslautern, Germany. We arrived a little after 9 pm; and it sure felt good to stretch out on a air mattress for a night's sleep, after all that traveling. The babies were in bed so I would have to wait til morning to meet my great grandchildren twins, Alana and Xavier; and renew my acquaintance with their 3 year old brother, William. Aren't they sweet?

The next day was a day of visiting and settling in. And getting to know the grandchildren, etc. I can't resist sharing another pic of the twins. Lol

The next day we went to a birthday party for one of William's friends, at a children's indoor play park called Yabadoo. There were lots of different places for the children to play; but I was mostly watching them on this thing. I don't know what it is called; but it is made of rubbery material; such as you would think an air balloon might be made of. They climbed up and then slid down. I watched them climb up and slide down and it looked like so much fun, I decided to try it. The first time; I didn't make it to the top; but the second time; I got a running start and a hand up from someone at the top and I made it! I felt like I had conquered old age. Lol.

For those of you who don't know what euros are; I took a picture. This is the currency we had to have to spend in Germany. The exchange rate is such right now that I got 90 euros for $100.

Saturday we took a 2 hour drive to the Beethoven Haus. It is a museum in the house where Beethoven was born and raised. It was interesting; but everything was written in German; so I didn't understand a lot. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the house; but I took some of the garden area. Here is the side of the house.

Sunday we went to the commissary for a pizza buffet. There were several different kinds of pizza, a salad bar and other foods. There was even a place to make your own sundae. Here is Alana eating her cucumber and baby rattle dinner.

I kept seeing this statue as we drove through town; and I fell in love with the smiling donkey. I think you will agree that he has a winning smile.

Tuesday we went to a castle ruin; called Castle Nanstein. It was very historical. It dated back to the year 1253. It was the castle of the last chevalier, Franz von Sickingen. I took a lot of pictures; but I can't share many more pictures on here.

I was impressed with the beauty of the stone on the places that they seemed to incorporate it into the construction.

I felt like I was being taken back in time, in my minds eye, and began to wonder about the people who lived and worked in this structure in medieval times. I found some rooms that I thought might be the dungeon and it was dark, cold, damp and dismal. I thought of people being drug down into this place and being left there. It sent chills down my spine to think of what they must have gone through.

This is one of the pictures of the view; but the pictures never look as beautiful as the real thing.

We left for the 5 hour drive back to Paris at 2 am on Wednesday. After returning the rental car; we were to wait for our flight; but then we learned we lost our seats. My daughter in law was able to book us on a flight to Miami, FL, later that day. It was another 9 or more hour flight to Miami.

Then we took a flight from Miami to Philadelphia. I was happy to have a window seat. It was beautiful right after takeoff; when I looked down on the lights of the city of Miami; it looked like a piece of black velvet with jewels all over it. I tried to take a pictures but I wasn't smart enough to turn the flash off; so they didn't turn out. This is one I took taking off from Philadelphia. But again, the true beauty can't be captured in photos.

We had to stay at Philadelphia airport to catch a flight in the morning to State College, PA. Which is only 20 minutes from home. I got home about 11 am Thursday and I was totally exhausted. Traveling is exhausting; but this trip was an experience I will never forget. I am thankful for my son and daughter in law for making it possible and including me in their plans.

I wrote a more detailed account with more pictures on my website. If you are interested, here is the link:

https://thesuccessfulretiree.com/trip-to-paris-france-and-kaiserslautern-germany-with-pictures

I hope you enjoyed traveling with me in pictures. It is much less exhausting than the long plane rides. Lol.

Thanks for reading. It is good to be back in PA; and back to WA.

Jeannie