Don’t Settle for Lemonade from Lemons…Instead Expect God to Provide Lemon Chiffon Mousse!

God is AWESOME!  We started this trip with a run of untimely happenstances.  But God has shown us a little bit of heaven!  God’s people must have prayed for us.  After our motor home accident on Thursday, June 3, we rented a car and drove until I was too tired to drive any more, so we spent the night in the car at a rest stop in France.  Then, Friday night, June 4, we stayed at the most wonderful alpine resort-type hotel.  It was the Hotel Sonnerhof in the small village of Utting….Germany, close to Oberammergau.  It was great!  The room was wonderful, but the breakfast was unbelieveable.

We then went to see the Passion Play at Oberammergau on Saturday, June 5.  Although it was in German, that didn’t matter.  Once we left the play, we headed for Schwangau, the site of Neuschwanstien Castle.  We couldn’t find a hotel, so we slept in a parking lot almost the same spot that I slept in my car 20 years ago.

On Sunday, June 6, we went to Neuschwanstein Castle and then on to Dachau Concentration Camp close to Munich.  From there we headed to Austria.  We stayed in a wonderful hotel in Soll, Austria called the Hotel Tyrol. Again, we had a wonderful breakfast at that hotel.

On Monday, June 7, we headed towards Venice, Italy by way of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauren in Austria.  It was amazing.  The scenery was magnificient.  I’ll try to post pictures soon.  We continued on through the Dolomites of north eastern Italy onto Venice.  We stayed at the Camping Fusina campground on the outskirts of Venice.  We rented a little caravan (mobile home) for the night and did laundry. 

On Tuesday, June 8, we went into Venice by ferry from Fusina.  We walked around the streets and finally got to San Marco’s Piazza.  We went to the cathedral and was finally allowed to enter once we had attained their standards….meaning, I couldn’t take my laptop backpack into the cathedral, I had to check it at an secured location.  So I did, but I took my laptop out and carried it with me.  Then I get back to the front of the line and find out that Treila can’t go in because she has on shorts.  Well, I had 3 large headscarves with me so I took 2 of them and knotted them together around her and made her a makeshift skirt.  We were then allowed to enter the main part of the church, but not the treasury, crypt, behind the altar or where they were having a prayer service.  Overall, the city is overrated and dirty with poor walkways and too many beggars.  Anyway, after returning on the ferry back to Fusina, we left and went towards Pisa where we found a campground called Mugella Verde in Mugella, Italy, where we stayed in our car. 

On Wednesday, June 9, we awake and went toward the Cinque Terre area of western Italy.  We went to the village of Vernazza.  It was a breathe of fresh air to see Italy from that vantage point.  Then on to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower.  Magnificent!  Lastly, we are in a wonderful hotel, Best Western Guinigi in Lucca Italy. 

I’ll write more later!

Days 4, 5, 6 and 7

We finally left Ft. Lauderdale on day 2 and arrived on day 3.  We couldn’t make it to Paris, so we took our car to Wurzburg Germany.  Day 4 - After Wurzburg, we went back to Frankfurt to pick up the motorhome.  We then headed for Paris. We slept that night in the RV in one of the aires (parking area at the rest stops).  It was a very restful night.  The next day we arrived in Paris.  Our GPS ran out of battery while we tried to find the campground.  Unfortunately, we drove within Paris for about 5 hours. 

We went through the Muslim, Jewish, and “Red Light” districts.  Although very sad, it was a little funny when we drove down the road where the “Ladies of the Niight” wait on evening employment opportunities.  I think the profession must be legal there because the heavily tree-lined street seemed to have a different “Lady” hanging out by it.  Then the funniest thing was how the “Gentlemen” came to escort the ladies for the night.  We saw one such “Gentlemen” pull up with a trailer.  We were speculating that he was having a party of some type for the “Ladies”.

By the time we finally found the campground, they had closed the gate for the evening.  So we went looking for another, only to pull our van back into another aires location.  We slept well again.  But we still  had not seen Paris beyond it’s “ladies” and very congested traffic. 

Day 5 - We decided to get a campsite for that night first before heading into the city.  We found a campground in Maisons Lafitte, France.  We checked in and walked about a 1/2 mile to catch the train into Paris.  We ate at a wonderful restaurant and had a variation of pasta.  We then went to Notre Dame Cathedral.  From there we went to the Louvre. We really enjoyed the artwork, but seeing the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory was great.  Taylor really seemed to enjoy it a lot.

From the Louvre, we went up the Champs –Ellysees to the Arc de Triumphe.  We then went to the Eiffel Tower.  WOW! We had a fun-filled, packed, tiring day.

Day 6 – THIS JUST WAS NOT MY DAY!

We woke up and got ready at the campground.  Performed maintenance on the RV and headed on our way to Visp, Switzerland.  However, just a few kilometers down the road from our departure, we went into the town of Sartrouville, France .  While there, I had an ACCIDENT.  I decapitated the motorhome.  My CPS instructed me to go down this street.  I didn’t see any height limitation signs, so I went driving “down” this road.  About the time I realized that the tunnel we were heading into was too low, I slammed on my brakes, but I was too late!  I heard this cracking sound and Treila screaming.  She had been hit by some of the debris and had cut her finger. She started crying bloody murder.  I think that this was from shock than actually being hurt. 

The police were wonderful.  They couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak French, but the young men who helped me were great!  They had to deflate the tires and helped me to back out of the tunnel.  They stayed with me until I was on my way.

Unfortunately, the company I rented from wasn’t available.  I waited about 5 hours before giving up on them(36 hours later and I’ve still not heard from them).  Our agent told us to go ahead and that the motorhome to the Paris location.  However, they didn’t have any more rentals for us and daylight was fading fast.  The Paris RV folks called the taxi and we left for the airport at Orly.  From here I booked another car to drive the duration of our trip.

After we left the car rental company, we headed for Germany.  We stopped to eat a Chinese meal that was wonderful.  We couldn’t find any place to stay, so we slept in our car.

Day 7 - It was a long trip

We continue on our way to Visp and changing our minds to skip Switzerland .We booked a hotel and arrived at our hotel that I booked this afternoon.  It was a nice hotel within the country side.

 

I’m falling asleep at my computer, so I’ll finish later with pictures!