Paris

Paris was good to us. We decided to take a trip to this beautiful city after our family had been visiting us in Germany this past November. Our brother in law had booked himself and my sister a nonrefundable honeymoon suite in Paris for the wrong nights- he kindly offered the reservation to us, and we were on our way!    

We took the ICE train from nearby our home, and after 2 1/2 hours of zooming through the French countryside, we arrived in Paris. I had been to the city once before, so I was prepared to use the public transit and it was only slightly less confusing the second time around. As we were going to pay for the 24 hour Metro pass, we discovered that all public transit was free for the next few days (due to the heavy volume of air pollution in the city)!  

at the train station

Somehow, we found our hotel- the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand. It surely was "le grand!" We ventured out and found our way to a Christmas market on the River Seine. We wandered around the market and enjoyed the scenery of the city. At this point it was getting late and we headed back to the hotel where we found ourselves ordering room service for dinner- first and only time I'll ever order 20 Euro chicken nuggets for LJ! 

We decided to visit the catacombs first thing the next day. When we arrived the line was not too long, and we only waited for about 30 minutes. While in line we witnessed a man being pulled out of his car into the street by a couple of police men, and listened to an argument ensue (in French of course)!  We made our way into the ticket office and ventured down a long winding stairway underground and into a series of dark tunnels. The catacombs of Paris holds the remains of about six million people- this underground cemetery was created in the 1700s as a solution to the overcrowding of cemeteries in the city. It was erie and surreal to be walking amongst millions of human remains lining the walls, and the tunnels go on for miles. 

After leaving the catacombs we wanted to visit the Louvre, so we hopped on the nearest Metro and easily got off right outside of the museum. As we went to buy our tickets, a museum employee came up to us and offered free tickets! Not sure why, but we accepted and were grateful. We saw as much as we could, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Napoleon's apartment, before LJ started having a melt down and we decided to leave!

Venus de Milo

We explored the River Seine a bit more and went to the Eiffel Tower, but did not go to the top- an adventure for another time, maybe!  There is so much to see and do (and eat!) in Paris.

Paris was not on the top of my bucket list, but I have now been twice into the city and would go back again!

Freinsheim Blossom Festival

The Freinsheim Blossom Festival is an annual event that takes place in the medieval town of Freinsheim, surrounded by vineyards and wineries. The event allows wineries to showcase this season's wines, and allows visitors to have a taste of all the goodness. We purchased our tickets (12 Euro for 16 glasses/150ml) and had a good variety of "wet and dry" (Corey's joke)… 

There were also a few carnival rides, a bake sale, and some vendors selling homemade goods. It was a beautiful sunny day, and a cute town to just walk around with friends and take in the gorgeous surroundings!

The town's wall was constructed in the 1500s, but the town likely dates back to the 6th century!

A view a house connected to the Town Wall

An interesting street corner and Corey the juggler

After exploring the town, we took a walk through the local fruit groves of Kreuzhof Winery. We were passed by horse pulled carts carrying loads of visitors, and a colorful train shuttling visitors through the streets.

I wish I had taken a few more pics of the actual festival! Maybe we'll be back to Freinsheim :)

D'Amneville Zoo

   As an animal lover, I always loved going to the zoo when I was a kid- we really only used to frequent one particular zoo in Rhode Island (because anything further away than 30 minutes was too far!). So now that we live near numerous zoos and wild parks, I think I love visiting them as much as my little boy does!

   This past weekend, we decided to enjoy the recent sunny weather and take a trip to the Amneville Zoo in Amneville, France. Just under 1.5 hours from our house, it was an easy drive across the French border to the park. The area seems to be a popular place- we parked near a slew of restaurants, an indoor ski slope, a bowling alley, mini golf, and an ice rink. 

   The zoo itself is pretty big, and the animals have well-maintained enclosures. I won't say the animals looked "happy" because zoo animals never seem happy to me… but that's a whole different conversation. The entrance fee was a hefty 32 Euro per person to enter (LJ was free). They also had popcorn for sale to feed to the animals (or yourself). I saw several food vendors scattered around the zoo, but we did not stop by any to check out what they had to offer...

  We wandered around and took our time seeing each exhibit. I loved seeing the white tiger; the male paced back and forth, and each time he passed by the glass was a thrill! There were a couple females, a few cubs, and the male all sharing the space. 

  We also saw plenty of birds, monkeys, hippos, rhinos, and wild cats. The Rhinos had a large enclosure where we spotted an adorable baby and mama relaxing in the sun!

The polar bear was putting on a show for viewers, diving down and pressing his huge paws on the glass, then pushing off with a huge splash! 

The seals were a favorite of LJ- the trainers and seals put on a show for the audience complete with singing and dancing.

  My favorite part of the zoo was the gorilla enclosure. The large outdoor/indoor area housed at least 5 gorillas who were casually seen munching on greens, swinging on tire swings, and checking us out as we checked them out. It was the largest gorilla enclosure I've seen at a zoo, and they looked well taken care of.

  Overall, we spent about 3 hours here, and then rushed by some exhibits toward the exit to prevent a toddler melt down- you could easily spend more time here, as we skipped the Tiger World (show) and some other exhibits toward the end.  We enjoyed this zoo but I think it was a one time visit for us (being a little further away, and pretty expensive)!

  I have to mention our trip home- almost as thrilling as the zoo, as we stopped by Cora, a French hypermarket (think CostCo but with endless French cheese, wine, meat, baguettes...oh my). We went a little overboard on chocolate, but also found some great deals on fresh produce and meat!