Today we got up in Obernai and intentionally skipped our buffet breakfast at the hotel. We packed up, loaded up the van and walked to the Post Office to get stamps for more postcards. I am quite sure we will beat them home now. The post office was packed, but we got the job done.
We went to a local bakery for breakfast and saw something that really increased our appetite on the way to the bakery:
Right outside the butcher shop was a meat truck delivering parts of a couple animals. I assume beef, but didn’t ask. The one on the right still has a tail!
Jessica and I had quiche, and Jack and Kim had éclairs. It doesn’t get more French than that! We sat in the town square to eat our breakfast.
On the way back to the hotel (where we left the van) we took some shots of the hotel and the courtyard.
Our room was up these stairs on the 2nd floor. They call the ground floor “0” and the 1st floor is the 1st one off the ground. The 2nd floor is what we would call 3rd…
We got in the van and headed back to Strasbourg to drop the car and catch the train. We stopped to get the Spranger “fountain cokes” at McDonalds on the way out of town…it was almost lunch time, so I had a cheeseburger too.
On the way to Strasbourg, we hit some traffic and had to do some re-routing. Have I talked about how thankful we are to have an unlimited data connection on this global phone and Google maps? The navigation has been nearly perfect and we don’t know what we would have done without it. Navigating some of these intersections and city streets has been a challenge. In addition, I had to fill up the rental car with diesel before returning it and the first pump I tried did not work. We had to go around and try another set of pumps and finally got it done. The World MasterCard from Capital One has been a lifesaver too.
We parked in temporary parking at the train station and we all took the bags inside. I then went to return the rental car and that went smoothly. I had to self-park it on the 6th floor of a garage down the street and then walk back to the train station to check-out.
While I was gone, Kim snapped a pic of the kids and our gear.
Our train was a little late, but it was really cool. Very quiet and very fast. I downloaded a speed app for my phone once we got underway and clocked us at 150mph. We all read a little and played a game of euchre.
I don’t think we have said anything about the types of people we have seen while traveling, but we have seen a ton of Muslim families. Many women are in the full dress, like the one I snapped at the train station. (she was dozing on the benches across from us). Makes me want to go home and watch Fouad Masri’s videos on how to take Christ to the Muslim people.
Once we got to Paris, we had a private shuttle lined up to take us to our hotel. I was VERY GLAD…check out this traffic. It is nuts…
We arrived at our hotel about 5:30 or so and settled in here for a few minutes, checking out our plan for the rest of the time here. The hotel is “just ok” and if we hadn’t already paid for it, I think we might have looked for another option. It has 2 rooms, and a small kitchenette, which is nice, but it is not super clean. We rolled up the rug from the center of the room and put it against the wall – it was very dirty.
We went to dinner at a very nice French place – I had Salmon and the other 3 had a gourmet burger – and man was it gourmet! Check out the size of this thing!
We went to the grocery after dinner to get a few things for breakfast and snacks. Since we have a fridge, and do not have breakfast here, we will eat here in the morning. There is also a bakery around the corner.
Tomorrow we are going to get up early and go stand in line for the Eiffel Tower. We did not buy tickets ahead of time because we didn’t know what the weather was going to be like. So, we will see if we can get on the old fashioned way.
So, it is 10:10pm here and the nightly parade of showers has begun, so I will sign off and write again tomorrow.
Good night,
The Whitlock Family
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