I feel so broken...I want to go home.....

Well maybe not the first but definately the second... Yes I am ready to go home.

It is the beginning of the end for the Epic Summer trip of 2010 and let me tell you - it has been interesting to say the least. From Trains, plains, and automobiles to robbery and high tension action and adventure- I feel like I have covered my bases with out considering the whole to be some sort of failure. I haven't blogged nearly enough but here is what ya'all missed

PARIS ROUND 2

Better this time thanks to some of Erika's good friends who were willing to play tour guide Barbie for a couple of days- We did the louve in 2 hours mostly due to the fact that both Erika and I couldn't quite rid our selves of the creepyness of the Egyption Section - which we made the mistake of visiting first. Instead of marveling at the greatness of an ancient empire- which I think curators were attempting to get across, it was well set up and nicely lit- we were distracted by internal quandries.. -

How many tombs do you think they raided to get these artifacts?

uh....where did the bodies go that were supposed to be in those egyptian coffins? ( we figured they were either somewhere in the basement or somewhere out in the desert...neither were great thoughts ) and of course

How many archeologists were cursed for all eternity due to grave robbing???

We made brief stops at the Jacque Louis David collection which was quite impressive - and of course the unavoidable Mona lisa ...a painting that in my opinion that is highly overrated and doesn't need the 20 foot space barrier and bullet proof glass.....This was prompltly followed by a an overpriced salad (we are talking 15 euro for a plate of greens I need a magnifine glass to eat...) and glass of wine at the Louve cafe. We consoled ourselves over the price by repeating a mantra of "when is the next time we are going to be able to have wine at the Louve" unfotunately each time this was brought up all I could think was "never because I don't think I could stomach paying for the experience twice" - Other highlights included R

iding "the whip" at a Parisian Carnival . Perks of this ride: - it was so high that we could see all of Paris lit up from every direction- downside: when Erika realized how high we were going she started to get nervous- to which I responded to by remarking its just like we're flying- to which Erika responded by shooting me a look of panic that read WHATTTT?? To which I thought 'oh crap wrong thing to say' To which Erika responded by latching to anything close to her and squeezing the life out of it and yelling 'I don't like this I don't like this'- To which I responded by saying 'but look we can see the top of the Effiel tower' to which Erika responded by cutting off the circulation of her fingers by gripping the support bars- It was an interesting ride....

Eating ice Cream at a Parlor at midnight which only played Michael Jackson's greatest hits-

Touring the Paris Opera House - for those fans out there this is where the story of Phantom of the Opera took place... sorry to say we saw no phantoms......

Eating some seriously fantastic Crepes- one of the benefits of touring Paris with people who live there is that you get to eat at places that don't normally attract tourists....

Touring Notre Dame and Finding what was left of the Pilgrims Chrurch: like a tower...it was dismantled for building supplies-

And finally having a picnic dinner on the lawn in front of an illuminated Effiel tower with a group of people from all over the word...as some commercials would say priceless-

BACK AT LUBECK

After our truimphant return to Lubeck- the days seem to go much faster. We popped in and out of Hamburg a couple of times, partook of the Lubeck Ratskeller- couragiously battled the heat in a land that does not believe of ice and began to reflect upon our time spent in Germany- Cathedrals seen, monuments visted, and Beer consumed..... Yes the over all consensus was Lubeck had treated us well.

Before we knew it the day arrived for Mom and her video camera to join us in our misadventures- The dyanmic switched from slightly buisness with bits of enjoyment to fullout tourist ( there is nothing like having your mother trail you through various cities narrating to an unseen party). Spending a couple of days revisiting our favorite haunts in Lubeck- We began to plot our escape from Germany. The descion was to head south- because well....why not? Flexibility has been our friend on this trip- and we felt that at the end of the day to continue along a similar approach would suit us best. Taking a series of train luggage (now laden with sourviners....damn those bags are heavy) we made our way to Manheim- a centralized location that would not only allow us to tour the cities of Speyer and Heidelburg but also put us in a convient position to continue on to Calais via Paris.

SPEYER-

Our time spent here was brief as travel can be exhausting but we were able to visit the Pilgrims Church where I obtained another stamp in my Passport and grab and Ice Cream before heading back to our Hotel.

HEIDELBURG-

After a morning of leisure- we sauntered down to the train station to catch a tram to Heidelburg which was about 20 mintues down the tracks. Opting to walk we made our way through the older streets and up the side of the mountain to the Castle that over looks city. After a couple of beers- and some photo opps- we hit up the Christmas Shop (of course anyone who knows my mother understand there this particular stop really wasn't optional ), again grabbed some ice cream and made our way back to the hotel.

So...where do we three go from here ????

We have decided to bypass France; none of us being fluent in the language nor having the benefit of local tour guides made us less than enthusiastic about staying any length of time in Paris- so onto Calais where we will take a ferry across the English Channel to Dover (remember I am traveling with one person who doesn't fly and another person who refuses to go underground for extended period of time....which rules out the chunnel and easy jet). This route will allow us to take in the sight of the infamous white cliffs, while also putting us within a bus ride away of our destination of Canterbury. Here we will spend two nights before continueing on to London.

As we speak (read...Type???) We are currently traveling comfortably on the ICE service to Paris Est where we will transfer to Paris Nord and continue on to Calais....wish us luck.