European Adventure

Our European adventure really began once I was finished with my work stuff and Drew was back from Madrid. (Click here for a refresher on how we got across the Atlantic in the first place.)

We hopped on a train Friday afternoon and headed to Salzburg, Austria. Saturday we toured the city and took a Sound of Music tour. The Sound of Music is one of Drew's favorite movies so he was really excited to see various sights associated with its filming and the story. After the tour we walked around the old town.

The house used for the backyard and back of the house shots in The Sound of Music.

Saturday afternoon we hopped on another train to Munich, Germany. Sunday we went to Dachau concentration camp and then the Olympic Park from the 1972 summer games.

The frame of one of the barracks at Dachau.

The Olympic Park in Munich.

Monday we travelled a couple of hours outside the city to visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle and it's absolutely fantastic.

Hohenschwangau.

Neuschwanstein.

Tuesday we spent the day in Munich and toured the Residenz, the former palace of Bavarian monarchs.

A stop at the Hofbrauhaus is a must. The food and beer were tasty and the patrons randomly erupted into song on numerous occasions.

The city hall at the Marienplatz in Munich.

That night we took our first ever overnight train to Paris. Coincidentally, we had such a great time with that experience that it will also be our last ever overnight train to Paris. It was not a pleasant experience for either of us, but I especially did not do well. Once we arrived in Paris Wednesday morning, we grabbed a taxi to another train station and caught our train out to Bayeux. Wednesday afternoon we went on a tour of the Normandy beaches. This was a highlight of the trip for Drew and it was really cool to see the old German gun stations and the American cemetery.

Omaha Beach.

Thursday morning we toured the The Caen Memorial, a WWII museum in Caen, France. Thursday afternoon we headed back to Paris to finish our trip.

The Seine in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower at night. We caught the tail end of one of the hourly light shows, but the pictures really didn't do it justice. This is just the normal lighting at night.

Friday we went out to the palace of Versailles and had a lovely time there. The last time I went to Versailles was May of 2001 and it was crowded. October is definitely the end of the tourist season and there weren't too many people there. It made it much easier to navigate the grounds.

We arrived at Versailles at the perfect time to see the sunlight hitting all the gold accents.

A portion of the extensive grounds at Versailles.

The Petit Trianon (Marie Antoinette's estate).

Friday afternoon we motored through the city and saw as much as our feet would allow us to see and that night we went to a concert at the Sainte-Chapelle. It was a beautiful venue for a concert featuring some of Mozart's work.

The Eiffel Tower.

Love this man and this picture of us.

Saturday morning we flew home and marveled at the amazing experience. It was such a great trip and I was so happy to show Drew some of the sights I'd previously seen and make some new memories with him.