Day 2

We spent the first night just outside of Frankfurt then got up early and drove about a half hour away to a little town on the Rhine River called Bingen.

We took a 1.5 hour cruise along a section of the Rhine River with a bunch of medieval castles.

You'll be seeing a whole lot of my blue jacket. I threw it in my suitcase right before we left. It's a good thing I did since it was freezing in Europe! I just wish I'd grabbed a less obnoxious colored coat. But at least I'm not wearing the fanny pack!

The scenery was so picturesque everywhere we looked.

The boat landed in a cool town called St. Goar and we walked around for a while. D finally got his sausage, brat, schnitzel thingy he swore he wouldn't leave Germany without. It almost made us miss our train back to Bingen.

On our way into Bingen, my bro-in-law hit a curb and blew a big hole in our tire. Luckily, we were right by a parking space and pretty close to our boat launch site so we were able to leave it until after our river cruise.


D was there to lend moral support.


After switching rental cars, we were on our way to France. Our first stop was a city called Rheims. It was already dark by the time we got there, but we were still able to see the famous cathedral, Notre-Dame de Reims. Not a great picture...

We were about an hour from Paris and we arrived at our hotel right in the city late that night. This is what $80 a night will get you right in Paris. Our predetermined budget for lodging was $80/night, which was great for the nights we were staying outside of the city, but not so great when we were staying in Paris and Amsterdam. We spent so little time in our hotel room anyway, it wasn't a big deal at all.

Fancy, huh? What you can't tell from this picture is that there is a big slant in the back of the shower tub and I stepped back in the shower the first day and ate it big time. It bruised my body and my ego.


Tomorrow: Day 3 - Marathon sightseeing day in Paris!