French Food

French Onion Soup - YUM

Beef marinated in Red Wine - French Style

Chocolate Mousse dessert

My mom's dessert

Coquet - Ham and Cheese - Amazing!

So French food is pretty tasty.  My mom and I had a delicious sandwich of cheese, walnut, and ruccola on a bread that tasted like heaven. 

The Cabbage Parade

This dude has Halloween confused a little bit.

I thought this little girl was adorable.

Tractors... that pick the cabbage?  I am not sure what is up with the tractors but there were several of them in the parade.

Stammisch after the parade

Here we are again

The cabbage parade took place in Eltville.  I am not sure what the deal was with the parade and why they do it but I can tell you that if you bring your own glass, the parade people will pour high volumes of wine into your glass. 

Halloween in Gemany

This probably not the best picture to share but this guy was ridiculous with his costume.  Jack in one and Coke in the other.

Nicole, my co-worker on the right, made her costume that day and it was made from her bridesmaid dress when her cousin got married.  I am not sure if you can tell from this picture but she glued Christmas ornaments all over her dress.  It sounded like she made the costume from a hot glue gun and without doing any actual sewing.  That is an accomplishment.

Lisa, the pirate and Me as Marilyn.  Boo, some of you may say since I was Marilyn before.  But I had no costume and went to the thrift a week before the party and it was either this or a figure skater without skates.  I choose the easy costume.

Vanessa with a jellyfish.

Supposedly Halloween is not a German thing but has been getting more popular in recent years.  Since it is not a traditional holiday here, there are some hilarious stories about what the German kids think they should do to obtain candy, some sing and some just stand there.  We did not have any trick-or-treaters.

Notre Dame - Gargoyles

me with the gargoyles

gargoyles looking out on the city of Paris

There is the Seine River and the Eiffel Tower

These are creepy looking dudes.  They sort of remind me of the minions in Sleeping Beauty.

This gargoyle looks nicer.

To show just how narrow the top of the Notre Dame walkway is.

The bell in the bell tower.  Where the hunchback lives.

The view fromt the top of the Notre Dame was amazing.  The walk up the stairs was TERRIBLE.  I try to use the stairs everyday to get to the sixth floor of the building I work in and do it with relative ease.  These stairs, however, had me panting.  They started wide and halfway to the top the stairs became incredibly narrow. 

Cinque Terre -Italian Riveria

Me on Lover's lane

Pretty

Lovers Lane

Neat Rocks

So my mom and I decided to take a day trip to Cinque Terre, which is located on the Italian Riveria.  It is also considered to be one of the most romantic places.  Yes I went there with my mom. Cinque Terre means "five lands", so it is five villages and you can hike or take a train between the villages.  My mom and I made it to three of the five villages: Monterosso, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called the Via Dell'Amore ("Love Walk").  It is called this because previous to the walkways being built people from the village married people from their own village only. When the road was created, it made easy for the people from Manarola and Riomaggiore to meet and of course fall in love. 

We took the train to Cinque Terre and on the ride back I saw live wild rats for the first time in my life.  I also used the toilets and found out that whatever you flushed landed on the tracks.  Yes, this is gross.  It was a weird experience to flush a toilet and see the train tracks. 

Interesting Notes for people who decide to go here.  Depending on the time of the day, will determine if major trains stop at all five cities.  My mom and I intended to only go to two cities but we wanted to walk from the second city to the first.  So we waited after the train stopped in the first city and we had to get off on the last city. 

Graveyard in Paris

Me in front of Oscar Wilde's grave

Jim Morrison's grave

Père Lachaise Cemetery is the cemetery that we went as part of the Gothic Tour of Paris trip.  It is a world famous cemetery that holds the remains of several famous people including: Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde and Pierre Abelard and Heloise, the French Romeo and Juliet.

Paris River Cruise at Night

The Eiffel Tower lit up at night.  That is the moon on the right.  And that is a bird flying.

Notre Dame

A bridge.