Week in Paris

It is a bit of an embarrassment to reflect on the extent to which our happiness depends on something as unphilosophical as an automobile. But after only a week we have reduced ourselves to groveling at the feet of the Budget Rent-a-Car man and have procured a set of wheels. Say what you will about past generations making do with nothing more than half an old roller skate and a stick – we needed a car. And until we have finalized our own, acquiring a rental has been one of our greatest joys. So with that, kit and kinder are loaded up and off we go on our first European Road Trip.

I am still semi-officially on vacation, and the powers-that-be have been co-operative with that (at least the one’s whom I have informed). We had planned ahead to take the kiddos to Paris, and fortunately that plan did not meet any significant snags. Alexander has also chimed in with a specific desire to see castles and we are working to satisfy that request as well.

Day one consisted of a combination German Highway Familiarization day and a side trip to Burg Eltz. As may have been noted previously, our new home lies in the triangle of land between the rivers Rhine and Mosel. This geography carries two principle distinctions: first, it is the heart of German wine country; second it is a gold mine of Europe’s best medieval castles.

Unique among those castles is Burg Eltz. Due to a fairly remarkable history of diplomacy, smooth talking, and no doubt a serious dose of butt kissing, the castle has remained in the Eltz family entirely undisturbed for over nearly a thousand years. Yes, a thousand. Four America’s ago. It has never been destroyed, and has been almost completely unchanged for the last, oh, 800 or so years (give or take a few). It lies on a bit of high ground overlooking a former trade route. Currently that trade route is a secluded valley. A hiking trail leads down from a parking lot, and as one turns a bend –poof—the castle seems to magically appear, rising out of the trees. It really is fairy tale like; all jutting turrets and parapets and moats. As I said, it has been completely preserved, so even though it is fairy tale like, it is not in a plastic Disney World way. It is amazing in its authenticity.

Alexander was not disappointed. A tour guide took us along dining rooms and great rooms and, best of all, weapons rooms. Alexander could catalog all the various weapons, which was impressive until it became clear that all his knowledge stemmed from video games. Though to give fair credit it was accurate. And he was equally awed simply by the sense of age and history.

All of this culminated in what is becoming a tradition on all of our best vacations – vehicular fiasco. We’ve had truck breakdowns on camping trips, boat breakdowns on boating trips, and of course complete post 9/11 airport shutdown for our honeymoon. All of which occurred at the outset and preceded what turned out to be absolutely wonderful trips. So we are coming to view these events as good omens. I still lose my temper completely, but I am becoming less despondent each time (the boat breakdown was the best – I totally lost my cool. But that is another story). Anyway, we returned to find our darling vehicle kaput. But after several attempts at extremely rudimentary German, some kind strangers, a couple extra hours, and the very efficient German roadside assistance guy, we were back on the road.

Day two – off to Paris. First important fact is that road time from Ramstein to Paris is 4 ½ hours. Pretty sweet. And that is with Suz driving in a station wagon. That’s only about 3 ½ hours BMW time. I see a lot of weekend get-a-ways in the future.

Our hotel was in the Latin Quarter adjacent to Luxembourg Gardens on the Left Bank of the Seine. That’s just down the street from Notre Dame and across the river from the Louvre. For this stage of the trip Devyn’s specific request had been the Eiffel Tower. Once we got checked in we took a little time to unwind in the gardens outside Luxembourg Palace, eating ice cream and crepes and watching old French men play boulle in the park. Then we gave the kids a crash course on navigating the metro and henceforth put them in charge of finding our way around the city. Then to the Tower.

As always, the sheer magnitude of the tower is overwhelming. Alexander and Devyn were not immune to this phenomenon. We walked the stairs rather than take the elevator to the upper platform (668 steps), then took the elevator to the pinnacle. What can I say? It was the top of the Eiffel tower. Nine hundred feet above the streets of Paris on an erector set. Day one a success.
Day two was earmarked for the long stroll from our hotel to the Arc de Triomphe. Along the way would be Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, Jardins de Tuilliere (outside the Louvre), Place de la Concorde, and the Champs Elysee. I’ll spare you all the lengthy descriptions, but they were all just as advertised. A brief side note – Saint Chapelle is often overlooked, but the stained glass is absolutely the best anywhere. Breathtaking. And it is intimate enough that you can really appreciate it. Also, buy a Paris Museum Pass. It saves you money and you can butt in line.

What was most gratifying was the appreciation the kids had for what they were seeing. They showed genuine interest and really actively sought to be informed of the significance of the sights. It was a little creepy, though, when we were standing at the Egyptian obelisk at the center of Place de la Concorde and Alexander began spontaneously translating the hieroglyphics. Seriously. The boy scares me sometimes.

Day three was museum day. At Alexander’s request we started at the Museum of the Middle Ages. Very old things. The one that some may be familiar with is the set of tapestries known as the Lady and the Unicorn. Then to the Musee D’Orsay which covers art from the 1880’s or so forward. Lots of Van Goghs and Monets and Manets and Seurats. And Whistler’s Mother, and lots of Rodin. (I just noticed that spellcheck recognizes “Monet” but not “Manet.” Poor Manet, never saw that coming. Further, I just noticed that spellcheck does not recognize the word “spellcheck.” How ironic. Some programmer’s idea of a joke perhaps? Crazy bunch, those programmers.)

Anyway, from there to the Louvre, as Devyn had been waiting and waiting and waiting to see the “real” Mona Lisa. And she did. At least we are told it is the real one. The Louvre is so huge that you have to choose your focus and stick to it. So we did some of the big French and Italian paintings, and a lot of ancient sculpture. And Egyptian mummies. You gotta see the mummies.

After all that, we splurged on an oh-so-fancy French restaurant. Once again, Alexander and Devyn proved themselves. That most daring of French-isms – defeated! Yes, the kiddos are now veterans and avowed lovers of escargot. And foie gras. And best of all, they knew what it was before they ate it. Alexander gave the escargot 6.5 out of 10, and Devyn 7.5 out of 10 (accompanied by the raised-eyebrows and gentle “hmph” of appreciation). Both were quite fond of the foie gras. Then we had rack of lamb, guinea fowl in a filo pastry, and tuna/salmon tartare with ginger. All were gluttonously devoured.

Day four was a side road trip to the Palace of Versailles. It is magnificent. But to be honest it’s one of those things that you are sort of obliged to see if you’re in the neighborhood, but then you’ve seen it and can move on. Both times I’ve been there, my favorite part has been the gardens. We sat by the canal eating ice cream and watching people row little boats around, all in the splendid shadow of the palace. Ees very nice (you have to say that with a really nasal French accent).

Which brings me at last to today. I think it ended up being the kids’ favorite day. As both of them were really into the whole castle thing, we decided to treat them to the castle of castles, Chambord. It’s big. Way big. It was built as the hunting lodge of King Francoise 1st in the Loire Valley south of Paris. As any good functional hunting lodge should, it has 486 rooms. The really cool thing, particularly from a kid’s perspective, is that it is essentially open to free exploration. Not all of it, mind you, but enough of it to make the worlds best game of hide and seek. The combination of sheer magnitude of dimension and the freedom to run around unfettered by lines and guides was magical for them, I think. Their appreciation was manifested in genuine jump-up-and-down-with-glee enthusiasm. Warms my little heart.

So now we are driving back to Ramstein. A little sun burned, a lot tired, but very happy. Weather was perfect, timing flawless, every plan a success. Good thing that our car broke down.