Vive la France!

We finally have (pay) internet again... first time since Monday! Whew! (Aren't we spoiled at home??)

After Rome and seeing the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc., and our, uh, Paul adventures, we headed to Florence for a night! Took a much-needed really great tour with a local guide around the city of Florence (small). I (Meredith) say much-needed because Marta, the guide who went too fast and caused Paul and me to lose her, walked way too quickly, spoke too quickly, and was SUCH a windbag. She rambled on and on about why the Virgin appears young in the Pieta statue, etc., rather than, "This is important because of this, this, and this, now let's move on." We'd stand for 10-15 minutes listening, whiz through the gallery, then listen to another 15 minutes of undecipherable blather, whiz past what we'd just listened about for forever, etc. Ugghh!

So, the guide in Florence walked at a great pace (Paul and everyone else could keep up, etc.), spoke slowly, and really only focused on a few important points for each site. We tipped him like Rockefellers and thanked him, adding that he had pretty much been the best guide so far (except maybe Taz in Brussels... they're a close match).


After the tour, we had an included dinner at the hotel which was tasty. Off to bed for another early wake-up.


After that, off to Switzerland (and much-appreciated cooler temperatures)! We had a stop at Lake Lugano and and hour and a half or so for free time, so we rented a paddle boat! Both of us paddled ourselves out onto Lake Lugano and enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air. The view was incredible, so we got some great pictures, as well. I sat out on the front of the little boat to put my legs and feet in the water, and it felt really great! I encouraged Michael to do the same, so then we were both on the front. We had some laughs, took some pictures, etc., and noticed the front of the boat was really submerged. As I went back to my seat, I noticed the boat was full of water! Aggggh!!! We started bailing out water among laughter and semi-panic, ha! Luckily it's designed to take on some water and there were little built-in holes that started draining as we evened out the weight distribution.


Back in our seats, we paddled back. Onto the bus, and to our two overnight stays in Lucerne. Arriving at the hotel, I had my fingers crossed we'd have a nice view, and... we DID!!! It was AMAZING!! Checked in, then downstairs for another included dinner at the hotel. For about the umpteenth time, the youngest kid on the tour, Maddi, complained endlessly about the food. Urrrgggg. She's an overweight girl, around 8 or 9, that apparently has some intellectual or emotional issue sand takes a few different medications. Honestly, she seems like a typical kid, just super bratty. Every meal she complains about, and every time she doesn't have Coke, ice cream, or just went to the bathroom, she's whining LOUDLY and getting irritated with everything. Her parents apparently pacify her with the aforementioned food items, hence the weight issue. We've made two emergency stops on the bus because she had to go to the bathroom, then she gets back on and downs a couple of Cokes and a bottle of water -- gee, I wonder why she has to pee so much? Cut off the liquids during bus time, parents! C'mon!!


So, she whined and moaned about the mushrooms, then asked about fifteen times what kind of soup it was, even though each time her parents had replied, "I don't know, why don't you TRY it??" Then, when dessert (ice cream with the Swiss flag) came, she took TWO, since she hadn't had dinner. Uh, excuse me? You don't eat your dinner, you DEFINITELY don't get dessert, not to mention TWICE the dessert of everyone else. She needed to go back to the room without any dinner a long time before dessert, but maybe that makes us jerks (and childless jerks w/o any parenting experience at that)... yikes. We finished up then had some wine and beer next door with Maddi's parents (though the mom didn't stay long) and Dan and Lynn, the Florida couple we like a lot.

In Lucerne is where we had our favorite excursions so far, Mount Titlis and the lake cruise! We went out on Lake Lucerne on a great little cruise and enjoyed the cold, crisp weather. Then, off to Mount Titlis to ascent the 10,000 ft. mountain! It was AMAZING to be up there and be in the ice, snow, and wind. And boy, was there WIND! We took a hilarious video of us in the wind where you can't even hear what I'm saying (which was just, "I don't know why I'm still standing here!!") because of the whipping, icy, rainy wind. Ha! GREAT time, and can't wait to show everyone the pictures!

Back to the hotel, then off to the Swiss folklore dinner with dancing, music, and great food (mushrooms on the meat again, sorry, Maddi! NOT.). After a long day we were back @ the hotel and packed up.

Had a SUPER long day yesterday (Thursday) as we were on the bus for 6-7 hours, which would have been fine, but we were ALSO in the most uncomfortable seats. The right side is much more cramped than the left since there are two doors to work around whereas the left has none. I, who am only 5'7", could barely put my knees straight out, and Michael had to put a leg in the aisle. Then, the Malaysian girls in front of us reclined. Are you kidding me?? We were super cranky, but made it without any issues (somehow!).

Arrived in Paris, then off for an adventure! We went with Dan and Lynn to the Eiffel Tower (don't forget it was Bastille Day here, too). Took the metro, there was some confusion, and a lot of laughter, but finally made it. Walked along the Seine and enjoyed the cooler temperature. Stopped for dinner downtown at L'atome for salmon, steak, and drinks. Yum! Down the street to the Tower right as it got dark, and as we got closer to the tree-lined river bank, the fireworks began! A great 40-minute long fireworks show over the Seine, next to the Eiffel tower, and we got some great video and pictures! It was really enjoyable, despite the metro confusion - totally worth it.

Afterwards, a couple metro stations were still closed so we walked for forever to get to one, then waited for a while for the train, but made it back safely - again, totally worth it.

Today we forewent the morning tour since we'll be in Paris another week and got in late last night -- it was time to sleep in, for sure, since we have been go, go, go. We pick up our tickets for our D-Day trip to Normandy (on our own, the tour ends today), then we'll have a Farewell Dinner w/ our tour group. We'll miss some of the people (more than others, ha ha), but it'll mostly be SO nice to be back on our own, doing the bicycling tours on our own to the Monet gardens, Versailles, our D-Day tour, and the champagne cruise! I booked it all for next week, plus whatever else we want to do, and then we're back in Nashville on Saturday. *sigh* Home sweet home... :)

Pictures forthcoming...