Rest assured, I already have a specialized hashtag in my back pocket.
Ready?
#CountryGoesToEurope
I am surprisingly blase about the whole thing, basically because I have no frame of reference for international travel. We are visiting Paris (can't even) and Amsterdam for a week. A whole week. By ourselves. While are children are lovingly spoiled by their grands. I'm not entirely sure if J will permit them to leave once our trip ends.
We are planning to hit the majors: Versailles, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre.
The Loooo-VRE. That's all I can say frenchy.
All the bread. All the cheese. All the pastries. All of the things. For the second part of the week, we are staying with Alex's old friend who lives in Amsterdam. No worries: he's a married dad of three and we are hoping to see the Anne Frank and the Van Gogh museums, and not any other more salacious offerings for which the city is known.
I'm sure we'll blend right in. I mean, we know not to wear white sneakers. I know what VAT is. And to top that off, Alex left up a screen on the computer for Disneyland Paris. I'm not sure if that's more Euro or Amer-o "trash" but I don't care.
Europe, baby!
We still have to figure out international SIM cards and whatnot, but I will surely share pictures here when we get back.
To my more well-traveled readers, any basic tips or tricks to pass along? Shops, cafes, dishes to try?
I've got a Global Entry TSA-prescreening approval and an assortment of scarfs and boots to assist in my efforts to pass as a globe-trotting bon vivant.
Out of respect, I'm refraining from buying this shirt to wear in front of the Eiffel Tower. It's tempting.
But I may break down and buy a selfie stick.
#Merica
2 comments:
Melissa! So excited for you guys!! My tips:
1) our favorite eatery in Paris is Cafe Du Marche on Rue Cler. Google it and go there and get the goat cheese salad! Not too pricey and just a great French place... unless all the Americans have found out about it by now. But Rue Cler is a lovely street to peruse too.
2) if you have time (or if the line is too long at the Anne Frank house) take the 30 minute train ride to Haarlem and see the Corrie Ten Boom house (author of The Hiding Place). They give you a lovely tour of their old house and you get to see the cupboard where they hid the Jewish people while the whole Ten Boom family was arrested and deported. They let you sit on their real furniture and they talk a lot about Christ and the family's faith. It was so moving and memorable. You can google that too.
xoxo
Thank you, Kate!
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