Paris, Switzerland and On To Germany

Paris

This has been amazing so far. Paris was Paris. We had a freaking picnic with a bottle of wine at the base of the Eiffel Tower after a quick game of soccer with the locals. In fact, we did it twice since we were staying in the Rue Cler neighborhood. We hit the Louvre, Orsay Museum, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Sacre-Coeur Basilica and of course Champs-Elysees.

We took a boat tour on Seine. We walked Ile St. Louis, the Latin Quarter and spent time writing, drinking coffee and eating on Montmarte where all the crazy impressionists used to live.

We stayed at the Hotel Royal Phare and let me assure you there was nothing royal about it. It was close to the Ecole Militaire Metro stop and that is why we ended up there. We loved the Rue Cler neighborhood and would pop down to the street corner for fresh pastry in the morning, an American breakfast with American coffee around the corner and wine at the bistro at night.

The Marais arrondismont is where I will spend more time if I ever go back. It's a boutique shopping-type area and I barely scratched the surface. The food is baffling Christian. I have trained him to look for a Croque Madame and he has stayed well trained. We will be back to Paris one day.

Gimmewald, Switzerland, was the most beautiful place I've been on God's green earth. The Berner Oberland area is where Gimmewald is nestled. We took a gondola up the breath-taking Alpines to get there and I may never leave. We stayed at Hotel Mittaghorn where Walter was the perfect Swiss gentleman, although hardened by winds. While I inconveniently paid for my 5 min. shower by the Swiss Frank, the view from our window down into the Jungfrau Alps was beyond anything I could put into words. If you ever get a chance, go visit. Even the cows were beautiful. Oh, we saw the Schilthorn mountain at 10,000 feet. James Bond anyone?

Were in Zurich right now waiting to catch a train to Munich. Can't even begin to imagine what the rest of this trip will be like. I gotta jet, I'm paying for this in Swiss franks and we have a train to catch.