Europen Tour 2007 - Introduction

We have just returned from a month vacation in Europe including time in Germany, Italy, France and a brief stop in Luxemburg. This is a very brief overview of the trip. Hopefully, over the next few days, I can post some more pictures and good stories.

While in Germany we visited: the Black Forest, castles, the Deutsches Museum, the Glockenspiel, Frauenkirche, Asam Brothers Church and one or two ice cream shops, several cafes, and at least one beer hall.

Kids loved: the Deutsches Museum, Asam Brothers Church, the funny toilets that cleaned themselves, schnitzel, Neu Schwanstein.





From Germany, we crossed over into northern Italy.

Using Lake Garda as a base, we toured the area with William's cousin Brett and his family who happened to be in the area. The highlight was probably Venice. Here we are in front of St. Mark's.




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Taking a gondola ride was a favorite for all of us.

After nothern Italy, we travelled to Tuscany where we saw Florence, Sienna and a few other small towns.

Hightlights of Italy: spending time with the Haswell's, Venice, the dog with the tutu, LOTS of ice cream, the cathedral in Sienna, buying watercolor pictures in Florence and watching the artist work, climbing the dome in Florence.

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After Italy, we crossed into France and the Cote d'Azur region. We spent an wonderful afternoon with some French friends then took a day to drive from Cannes to St. Tropez. This was very pretty and the pictures don't come close to showing all the beauty.

After a day of viewing Roman ruins in Nimes, we visited two small towns near Nice. St. Paul has to be one of the most quaint places in the world. A pefect place to meet friends Chris, Susan and Sarah Mack.







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From the south of France, we drove towards Geneva and stopped for a few days at Annecy based on the recommendation of Chris Sallee. Annecy is both a lake and a city right in the mountains. This building is the most photographed in the area. It looks like a ship in the water

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No foreign travel journal would be complete without the "I can't believe I ordered that" story. William ordered "fish from Lake Annecy". I think it was really "60 tiny fishES from Lake Annecy". And, yes, he ate them whole, heads and all, just like french fries. They were actually very tasty - a bit crunchy.

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After Annecy, it was off to Paris. The first day was spent seeing the big sites, like the Eifel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame. The second day was spent at the excellent children's science museum.

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The last few days were spent back in Germany close to where William served in the Army. Here we are at the castle that was just outside the town where William lived.

We were able to connect here with our nephew Jeff. We travelled together to Trier, Luxemburg and onto Frankfurt.

A very memorable trip.

WNNKK



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