A Travel Guide to Paris

Hi everyone,

Over winter break we did some traveling to visit friends and Europe a little bit.  The big trip we had planned was our trek to Paris.  We would like to tell you all about our trip to the City of Love and give you a little advice along the way, just in case you ever want to travel to Paris yourself one day!

Let's start off with planning.  It is a good idea to not only make a list of must-see sights, but also to book your tickets in advance, especially if you are travelling by train.  Otherwise you might find yourself sitting in a McDonalds for a few hours.  You have to reserve a seat on trains in France, and it is possible for those trains to sell out.

At least we booked our hotel ahead of time.  We don't play around when it comes to sleep.  We arrived in Paris, bought a couple metro tickets, and took the subway to our hotel.  We stayed at the Studio Hotel, which ended up being less than a block away from the metro station and about a half an hour walk from the Eiffel Tower.  The staff was also really friendly and helpful, and there was free WiFi in the downstairs lounge, so we could Skype with Amy's family when we arrived.  It was also super affordable and the beds were amazingly comfortable.  We got a bit attached to those beds and were reluctant to leave.

The main thing that we usually complain about when it comes to hotels is not having enough pillows.  Our funny and pleasant discovery: after leaving a folded up blanket that we used to bolster one of the pillows under said pillow, the room service gave us an extra pillow and spread the blanket across the bed.  We repeated this technique the following night, and the pillow fairy came again.  So, this is something to try out if you don't want to bother the desk staff.

A quick note on metro tickets: you can buy tickets in bundles of 10 or 20, which we would recommend.  You can share them with your travel buddy or group, and they will save your feet from a world of hurt.  Once you have your ticket, go up to the turnstile and insert the ticket into the slot.  The doors will then unlock so you can push through the entrance.  If you have a suitcase you're pulling behind you, get yourself through the turnstile first, and then pull your suitcase through - not the other way around.

On our first full day in Paris we took a walk to the Eiffel Tower and then walked down to Notre Dame.  Beware: this walk is much longer than it looks on a map.  It took us the good part of a day to make the trek.  However, along the way we also got to see the bridges with Love Locks, including the Pont des Arts.  We also hit up one of the many Christmas markets that were still running in the city for some quick brunch.

Of course, the Eiffel Tower is a must-see when you go to Paris.  It is one of the most iconic structures in the world.  However, do be careful around that area, since there are tons of pickpockets and other scam artists looking out for naive tourists.  Ladies, keep your purse in front of you where you can see it.  Also, if someone comes up to you wanting to use your finger to make you a nice bracelet out of string, just walk away.

While we were walking to Notre Dame, we decided at one point we really needed a break.  We crossed the river to where we saw a few restaurants and began looking at the menus outside to get a sense of the types of food and the prices.  We quickly realized that the restaurants we pegged as expensive on first glance were pretty typical.  Paris is, in general, expensive, so just pick a restaurant and go with it.  And try the escargot.  It's tastier than you'd think.

The line outside Notre Dame was long, but it moved quickly, and it just gave us a chance to gaze at the architecture.  The inside was beautiful and peaceful.  We were lucky enough to be there during a mass, which just added to the ambiance.  If you are visiting Paris, consider adding Notre Dame to your must-see list, but take note of the silence policy if you are traveling with children.  Also take note: there is no entrance fee!

On our second full day in Paris we walked past the Eiffel Tower down to the Arc de Triomphe.  This structure offers a beautiful view of the Paris skyline, a much better deal if you want to take photos with the Eiffel Tower in view.  There was, again, a long line, but it moved fairly quickly.  Admission runs from 6 to 10 Euros, but you can get in free if you are under 25, which is the case at many sites in Paris!  Be prepared to walk up and down a lot of stairs.

 

From the Arc you can take a lovely strole down the world-famous Champs Elysees.  This is the place to go if you want to do some serious shopping in Paris.  Just don't go in the Disney Store on a Saturday.  You might get stuck in the crowds and not make it back out.

At the end of the Champs Elysees during the holiday season is another wonderful Christmas market.  We really enjoyed the Christmas markets in Paris.  They seemed to offer more variety than the ones in Germany.  That being said, we mainly went to Christmas markets in small towns in Germany, so we might have a skewed perspective.  While exploring the Christmas markets in Paris, we bought some souvenirs, such as a Christmas ornament and a cute Eiffel Tower watch, as well as food, including beignets, crepes, wings, fries, and a genuine German bratwurst.

We ended our day with burgers, fries, and chocolate cake at the Frog Pub at Bercy Village.  Oh yeah.

Our next day started with a French brunch at the Cafe du Rendez-Vous, which was so amazing.  Orange juice, bacon and eggs, baguettes and croissants with butter...  What more could you want?  Oh yes, the hot chocolate.  Unbelievable.

We then went to wait in line for the Catacombs.  And wait in line we did.  For three hours.  Bring a book, but don't drink too much water while in line, since there are no bathrooms in the building.  Once inside, be sure to take some time to read the posters in the history exhibit before heading on to the main attraction.  The Catacombs are a little creepy, but very interesting.

Take note: the Catacombs do not exit where they begin.  At the end of the Catacombs, walk to Av. du General Leclerc, and if you need to go to the bathroom at this point, hit up the local Starbucks.  Then be sure to stop at the crepe/beignet/churro stand on the corner.  The owner is over-the-top friendly, yelling "Bonjour!" at every passerby.  We stopped and bought a bag of churros with dark chocolate sauce.

After the Catacombs we decided to beat feet for Versailles.  Make sure you're there early enough to buy a ticket.  Even though the palace is open until 5:30, the ticket office closes at 4:50.  However, even if you are too late, you can still take a lovely walk around the gardens, which are open until 6:00.  Our last note about Versailles: if you leave with the masses at closing time, the train station will be CRAZY, so be prepared to witness some gate jumping and other attempts to beat the crowd.

 Finally, we took the train back to the center of Paris and took a look at the Eiffel Tower all lit up against the night sky.  At night the area is just as busy as during the day, and we ran into another scam: the classic three cups game.  Onlookers merely see a chance to double their money by guessing which cup the ball is under.  However, Jesse noticed there were also three men working the crowd, looking for easy targets who had their eyes on the game.  At the very moment that Amy turned to Jesse to ask how exactly they were making money off this game, Jesse said, "We need to get out of here."  He had been jostled by a stranger moving through the crowd.

On our last full day in Paris we headed to our last stop: the Louvre.  After taking the obligatory tourist-y photo, we walked to the back of the line to get in... and walked... and walked.  As it turns out, everyone decided to go to the Louvre on this day, because it was going to be closed over New Year's.  We ended up waiting in line about two and a half hours.  Moral of the story: buy your tickets in advance or just don't go around the holidays.  Also, if you are under 25, you don't need to buy a ticket, so there is no use standing in the line to buy a ticket; head straight for the express line.

The other thing you need to know about the Louvre, is that you can't possibly see everything in one day if you want to take your time and appreciate the art.  This place is huge.  So decide which types of art you want to see, what pieces you don't want to miss, and focus on those aspects of the museum.  Also, don't be afraid to ask for help with directions, because it's really easy to get turned around.

We decided we wanted to see the big names: the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Napoleon suites and the crown jewels.  By the time we got in the door, we were so tired from waiting in line, and then we had to fight through the crowd to see the Mona Lisa, so it was a good thing we had a list of goals.

We spent one more lovely night in Paris and then headed off to visit our friend Ursula the next day.

So don't forget if you are travelling to Paris: have a travel plan and book tickets in advance.  And if you are under 25, it is the perfect time to go, since you get into so many sights for free!  All in all, we had a wonderful time in Paris.  We were surprised how much we enjoyed the city, how clean everything was, and how friendly the locals were.  We would definitely go again.

Until next time,
Amy and Jesse

'Tis the Season... for Christmas Markets!

Hi everyone,
Merry Christmas!  We hope you all are having a nice holiday season.  In keeping with the holiday spirit, we would like to write about a German Christmas tradition that does pop up from time to time in the United States, but isn't as common: the Christmas market.  Many towns in Germany host a Christmas market during Advent.  In the smaller towns, like ours, the market may only run for one weekend, but in bigger cities it may run for several weeks.  Christmas markets feature stands selling food, drink, and crafts, and there are sometimes even rides.  We managed to make it to four different Weihnachtsmärkte, and we will give a review of each one.

Löcknitz
Our hometown of about 3,000 people hosted a Christmas market during the last weekend in November/first weekend in December.  This was our first introduction to Christmas markets, and it was a nice, gentle introduction, since the market was so small (err... proportional to the town).  We actually got to hit this market both days.  On Saturday, November 30, we headed out to the market around 5:00, so it was already quite dark out.  We ate some Bratwürste for dinner and then browsed the stands.  We ended up buying a pair of hand-knitted socks for Jesse and some booties for our niece, Bernice, from a sweet old lady.

Then on Sunday we went back to the Markt for more Bratwurst, some warm Kinderpunsch, and a banana-Nutella crepe made by some of my students from the Gymnasium.  We also stopped to listen to a choir and a duo sing Christmas songs and buy some more socks for Jesse because he thought the first pair were the most comfortable socks of all time.  The Weihnachtsmann even made an apperance.  Overall, it was a nice little market that helped us feel like we were part of the community.

Prenzlau
On the 7th of December a couple Amy had met at a birthday party came and picked us up for a weekend trip to their hometown of Prenzlau, which is about 45 minutes south by car.  This couple was Jana and Lars, and we had a great time hanging out with them.  They took us to the Christmas market in Prenzlau, which was a bit bigger than the one in Löcknitz.  It took up more room than just one Marktplatz and it even had some rides.  The first thing we did was enjoy a nice hot beverage with Jana and Lars.  They ordered Glühwein, a hot, spiced wine, Amy got hot apple cider, and Jesse got a hot chocolate.  We then walked around a little bit, and Amy bought a gingerbread heart with a frosting Santa.  For lunch Lars invited Jesse to try something new.  Lars handed him a meatball on a slice of bread, which turned out to be the best horse burger Jesse has ever eaten.  Amy had a... you guessed it... Bratwurst.  We then ended our trip to the Christmas market with more food, this time a couple delicious donuts and deep-fried delights called Quarkbällchen.  (Jesse: "The rotund portly cousin of the disorderly funnel cake.")  Prenzlau was a pleasant next step in our Christmas market journey.  It was a little bigger, had a bit more variety, but wasn't overwhelming.

 Neubrandenburg
On December 15, we decided to take a last-minute impromptu trip to Neubrandenburg (about an hour west by train) to see the Christmas market there.  This market was even bigger with even more rides.  We walked around and sampled some of the food: Bratwurst (of course), Pommes (a.k.a. french fries), and Dresdner Handbrot, an unbelievably delicious cheese and ham-filled dough pocket.  We also had some Quarkbällchen, but they didn't measure up to the ones in Prenzlau, presumably because they weren't as fresh.  After walking up and down the blocks of Christmas market and listening to a brass band perform some carols, we decided to sit down for some Glühwein and hot chocolate.  While we were sitting at a table, a group of four sat down next to us, and eventually the guy sitting next to me asked where we were from.  When they found out we were from the United States, everyone in the group began to chat excitedly with us, and soon we began making plans to hang out with this group in the future.  It turns out they live in Pasewalk, about 20 minutes from where we are.  Since then, we have hung out with them twice and we have more plans for the new year.  This was probably our favorite market, not only because of the nice craft and food stands, but also because we made these new friends.

Berlin - Alexanderplatz
Finally, on December 17, we took a bus tour of Berlin with with 11th graders from the Gymnasium, which ended at Alexanderplatz.  We had just a little time to explore this market, which was bigger than the one in Neubrandenburg, with so many rides including a huge Ferris wheel.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to ride the Ferris wheel, but we were still able to walk around and see that the types of stands were similar to the ones we had seen at the other markets.  There were just a lot more of them.  And we counted three Weihnachtsmänner (or Santa Clauses).  We wish we could have spent a bit more time here, but we had to get back to the bus quickly to head to a comedy show at a cabaret.

So those were our experiences with Christmas markets.  By the end, we were a little Christmas marketed out, but we are so glad we got to have this experience of the Christmas season in Germany.

All the best this holiday season,
Amy and Jesse

Dresden

Hey, everyone!

Amy and Jesse here.  We want to tell you about our trip to Dresden a couple weekends ago (Nov. 23-25).  Amy had Monday off of school, so we knew we wanted to go somewhere, and Jesse was interested in taking a trip down to Dresden, so that's what we did.


Jesse: We got up early on Saturday and took the 5 1/2 hour train ride down to Dresden.  We actually did a good job of looking at a map ahead of time, so we actually knew where to go to get to our hotel.

Amy: It was also nice, because our hotel was right by the main station.

Jesse: Yeah, and it was just centrally located in general.  Very easy to get everywhere.

Amy: We got there a little early, so we got some lunch...  American food.  I had stuffed crust (!) pizza, and Jesse got a nice "American" steak.  Then we checked into our hotel.  On our way out of the American restaurant, I stopped to look at a rack of brochures, and I saw that there was a dance exhibit at the Hygiene Museum.  We decided to go check it out.

Jesse: The main selling point of this dance exhibit, at least for me, was La Valse, a statue by Camille Claudel Rodin.

Amy: We heard about this statue from our friend Gretchen, who is absolutely in love with it, and I can see why.  It was beautiful, and I couldn't resist taking some photos, which got me in big trouble with the security guard.  I guess I missed the "no photos" sign at the entrance.

Jesse: The exhibit looked at dance from all different cultures of the world and even had a neat program that would teach you a dance and then record you doing it, so you could see yourself doing the steps.

Amy: Then we walked around and did a little sightseeing even though it was already dark out... and raining.  We bought some postcards and then went to a little Italian restaurant for dinner.  It was so good.

Jesse: The last thing on our agenda for the evening was to watch Catching Fire in the English movie theater.  We had reserved tickets online and we went to pick them up.  When we got there though they told us that we didn't have any tickets and we wouldn't be able to get in, because the movie was sold out.

Amy: I guess we were just too late to pick them up.  So we just went back to the hotel and watched some TV before going to sleep.

Jesse: Turns out the Twilight movies are just as angsty in German.

Amy: On Sunday we grabbed some breakfast at a cafe and then immediately went to buy our tickets for that evening's showing of Catching Fire.  We weren't going to miss it this time.

Jesse: After we purchased our tickets we went sightseeing, and we got to look at some of the beautiful architecture.

Amy: Yeah, I think Dresden is one of my favorite cities in Germany, because it is just so pretty.  We saw the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger palace, and other sights around the Altmarkt.

Jesse: After a few hours of walking around we started to feel a little peckish.  My hunger for steak not yet sated, we went to another restaurant that served American-style food, which played lovely music videos, including Africa by Toto.

Amy: I felt right at home.

Jesse: We also got a great banana split for dessert.

Amy: Then we went back to the hotel and took a nap before heading out to the Alte Meister gallery, which is located in the Zwinger palace.  The highlight of this museum, I think for both of us, was the Sistine Madonna painting by Raphael.  I didn't take any photos this time around though...

Jesse: I couldn't believe the sheer size of it.  I have developed a new love and appreciation for Renaissance oil paintings.  I think oil is my new favorite medium.

Amy: Yeah, when we were in the museum we talked a lot about how lifelike some of the paintings looked.  There was one with two goblets, for example, that looked like a photograph, even up close.  It was incredible.

Jesse: After we got done at the art museum, we were walking towards our hotel, and we found a tapas restaurant.

Amy: I love tapas.  I love that you can get several different little dishes and are able to try a variety of foods in one sitting.

Jesse: The food was wonderful.  I was particularly proud of Amy's willingness to be adventurous.  She tried both quail and rabbit.

Amy: The quail was ok; it tasted like chicken.  I didn't care for the rabbit though.  I also ordered some fried cheese, stuffed mushrooms, and crab cakes.  They were all awesome...  Oh my goodness, then we had a chocolate souffle for dessert that was to die for.

Jesse: After dinner we headed to the theater and finally got to see Catching Fire.  This is one of the few times that I thought the movie actually out-shined the book.

Amy: I really enjoyed it, too.  I found myself completely caught up in the movie, even though I had read the book and knew what was going to happen.

Jesse: After the movie we went back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

Amy: The next morning we got together with my friend Kaylee from Nebraska for brunch.  It was so great seeing a friendly face and getting to chat about life as a teaching assistant.  The brunch buffet was also good.

Jesse: It was really nice to meet Kaylee.  She is super nice.

Amy: Then we checked out of our hotel and headed back...  It was a 7 hour trip with layovers.

Jesse: But we finally made it home.  I thought that this trip was a lot of fun.  There was only one thing I didn't get to do that I wanted to: the Vonnegut tour.

Amy: That just means we'll have to go back sometime!

A Trip to Berlin

Hi all,

last weekend Jesse and I decided to take the short trek to Berlin and spend a couple days in the big city.  We took off on Friday, arriving in Berlin and checking into our hotel in the afternoon.  We went down to Steglitz in southwest Berlin, to check out a gaming store, since Jesse needed dice for his online game.  We also went to a book store where Jesse bought a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales auf Deutsch.  Then we hit a tapas restaurant nearby to get a quick bite to tide us over until dinner before going back to our hotel to relax a bit.  

After a while, we headed off to Hackischer Markt to meet my friend Sydney and her boyfriend, Peter, at the Sixties Diner.  It was great getting to hang out a bit; the four of us had a great conversation.  Then Jesse and I wanted to catch a movie, since there is no movie theater in Löcknitz.  We headed off to Potsdamer Platz and caught the new Thor movie (a week before it came out in the U.S. - ha!), which was pretty good.

Potsdamer Platz

On Saturday we ate some breakfast and then took a walk down to the Oberbaumbrücke, which I wanted to see because of its role in the movie Run Lola Run, and the East Side Gallery, a spot I never quite got to when I was studying abroad in Berlin. We then walked to Alexander Platz and had some ice cream.  

 After relaxing at the hotel for a while, Jesse decided he had a craving for burritos, so we did a quick search and ended up at a place called Dolores near Alexander Platz.  They have some pretty darn good burritos, so good that we devoured them before I remembered that I should have taken a photo.

Then on Sunday we went to Prenzlauer Berg to hit Kauf dich Glücklich, a cafe with great waffles, and the Mauerpark flea market where I bought a hat.  We then got on a train back to Löcknitz and were home in two hours or so.

Until next time,
Amy