Driving across Europe

We arrived back from our trip to Germany yesterday afternoon. We had a wonderful time celebrating the winter holidays with Petra’s family in Albstadt.  Petra’s parents are very gracious hosts and we felt welcome in their home.  The kids certainly enjoyed playing with their friends for almost a whole week!

After procrastinating for quite some time, all the inexpensive airline tickets were gone. We considered taking the train for a while, but eventually decided to drive to Germany. On Friday the 21st, we drove to Folkestone, where the train departs through the tunnel to Calais.

The train was pretty fun! It felt like we were driving into a long space ship. Once parked, an attendant shuts the doors between the train cars and you can walk around. It’s hard to tell that you are in a tunnel under the sea, since there aren’t windows to see the fish and seaweed. Actually, it hardly feels like you are moving at all. It was a nice way to travel.

We spent the night in Reims, France. I was disappointed at how little French I could recall. Spanish words kept leaping from my tongue instead. I think it would eventually come back if I spent enough time listening.

The city was beautifully lit up when we arrived at night. Reims is one of the centers of champagne production and we meant to pick up some bubbly on our way out of town, but we decided against waiting around until the shops opened. This is the Porte de Mars, a Roman triumphal arch dating from the third century.

The French countryside was very beautiful, even more so because there was a heavy coating of frost covering everything.

We met our friends in Tubingen, Germany. I have wonderful memories of the week or so there I spent there in 1994 as part of a semester abroad. It was actually even more charming than I remembered, though these photos don’t do it justice.

We got some treats from a bakery and wandered the streets.

It was great to see our friends again!