Dachau

Entrance was free and the
audio-guide was 2.50. The
Spring green of the trees is
in sharp contrast to the small
white pebbles that keep slipping
into my shoes. The arch is
austere and unimpressive, a simple
iron door at the center. Well ordered
courtyard stands at the other side.
The audio-guide tells us that
Dachau is responsible for over
65,000 deaths. Following the tree
lined road through the barracks, we
listened to Eric Vin's memories of
work, death, and cruelty. The doctor
gave them water as he pointed at
the sky saying, "He says the need it."
Everything is done for God
and Germany:
Murder, experiments, and torture.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Castle

Today I went on my first non-required tour. It was fun and funny and odd. People are weird. Being with alot of people you know nothing about is weird. People do strange things, where strange things, and get oddly attached to their group. We went to see the Neuschwanstein Castle of Ludwig II. He was one of the last Kings of Bavaria, was declared insane, and drowned in the lake the day after, with his doctor. strange. The castle was incredible. He was obsessed with Wagner and swans. There were swans all over the walls, on the chandeliers, and even the door handles were gold swans. Every room was dedicated to a different Wagnerian opera. His bedroom had incredible wood carving all over it, that took 5 years to finish. Anyways, here we are in front of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Castle...
And here's a picture that shows the beautiful lake in the background.
oh yes, we had a grand time.

We were on this bridge, then we climbed down to the water...which was obviously freezing since it came from the alps. We put our feet in it anyway.
This is how Ludwig II got fresh, cold running water throughout the entire castle. Crazy or ingenious? the age old question...
We loved the tour and had a great time on the train and wandering around before and after. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. We are getting up at 6 to check out of the hostel and take our bags to luggage check at the train station. Then we will get on the metro and bus to Dachau, the concentration camp. I'm not really excited to see it, because I know it will be overwhelming. But I think it's a part of history that shouldn't be forgotten or glossed over. After Dachau we head to Straussburg on the train. We have a few days there so we are visiting an English speaking church and renting bikes and taking a little European vacation before we head home.

First Day in Munich

So excited to be on the train finally!



The Germans really want you to stay healthy...very health concious place. Also super eco-friendly.
One of the memorials to the Israelite athletes who were killed at the 1972 Olympics.
Marienplatz center. It's a great big shopping plaza, where the great bells chime and put Munich to bed traditionally every night at 9.

Yummy Candy shop.

Trying to get out of France

Well Kirby and I began our adventures with a lurch...but we can see the humor of it now. We started off our journey down the metro stairs with my huge bag and Kirby's smaller but not light bag. No worries though, a cute French guy helped me carry mine down and then smiled good naturedly at us as he walked away. That bodes well does it not? We thought so...We got down to the RER-which is the fast metro to the train station. Unfortunately, the French soccer team was on their way home and closed down all the really nice trains. So we had to dash to the "Magenta 4". So did everyone else apparently. It was so crowded that I had absolutely no control over where I went or where my body went....or my bag for that matter. A tall and skinny black girl pushed my back so she could get through and my lack of control just sent me and my bag over forward. Luckily it was so crowded an old man in front of me pushed me back! So very very crowded...kirbs got pick-pocketed at some point in this mess. We didn't figure that out till the train station when she was looking for her ticket to get out. Then she got stuck in the exit gate with her arm and bag at the wrong end. A nice old man helped us out. We then waited in a very long line to get our ticket validated...then ran for our train since we only had ten minutes. A nice attendant informed us that we were at the wrong station. Really? the wrong station? yesterday I asked that specific question since as many of you know I have a history of arriving at the wrong place or at least thinking it's somewhere else. Anyways we had to sprint 3 and a half blocks to Gare L'est. We didn't really know where we were going so I had to ask several people and all of them laughed...But I guess two girls with bright red bags one huge and the other medium(the bags I mean) sprinting through traffic is probably a comical sight. We made it to the station...but that timely train had left at 20.20 exactly. It was 20.22. We then waited in an incredibly long line to figure out the next step where we were told: "I'm sorry you came to France", "welcome to France", and "in France this happens all the time." Oh-nice to know. We got to the front desk and were told our morning schedule. and he did say that they did indeed switch the train station. That's swell. So we got back on the metro and came home. We didn't have a key at that point and the other girls were out-without a phone-so we got gelato. And canceled Kirby's cards. So we are going to Munich in the morning. At least that's the plan. We've discovered that we can indeed take our bags anyhwere...they're just heavy. French people will steal your stuff if it's crowded. The train system isn't that great, but it's easier than the airport...unless they switch your station. We're very excited to be able to see the country as we go through it and we are going to be in Munich in time to wander around for several hours before dinner.

Fete de la Musique-minus the videos

One of the many drum circles scattered around...in front of Pompidou-which was looking lovely today.
The river at night!
this man called himself the one man circus...he was a freak, but a strong one.
Kate got escargot and we all tried it. It was chewey and tasted like butter...definitely not grand, but not as gross as I thought...

Kirby's here

Yesterday Kate and I picked up kirbs at the airport. We were about 30 minutes late because the RER trains only come every 15 minutes unlike the metros. Then it took us a bit of time to find her in the airport, cuz it was crowded and foreign and lots of levels and all that. But since our phones work over here we connected and got her and her bag and got back onto the RER no problem. We stopped at the train station to get our trains for Germany squared away real quick. Or so we thought. Since it was going to be just a quick stop, I just snuck through the gate. I ended up being in line for about 30 minutes because even though there were 7 women there working, five of them just happened to take a break at the same time while I was in line. But our seats are all reserved and that's good. I had to sneak back into the metro station behind some guy because I didn't want to waste another ticket...but that was fine, he only gave me a sorta weird look. Then we showed kirbs notre dame and a few places before we finally let her have a short nap while we were in class. She lasted all the way till 9:30 last night, so that's pretty good. Especially considering we only lasted till 4:30. We all went out last night to experience la fete de musique which was crazy and cool. more on that later though...

Sunday

Well today we went to mass at Notre Dame. That was again all in French...duh. So, it didn't really feel like church. Plus all the people wandering around the outside of the nave taking pictures made it feel more like a touristy thing to do than church. Still though, now we've done it and when people ask if we have we can say yes. Then we wandered around the nicer part of Paris, where coats go for 14,500 euros and all that. We saw another Bastille and then a church built inside an old temple. It had an amazing organ.
Margeaux tried out a tunnel that ended up only leading to the garage for the Ritz.
The we headed home, passed by Pomidou-which we pass every day, I just never take a pic...
And had some delicious deserts.

Sacre Coeur

Monique and I got some delicious gelato...
And we all started to look kind of crazy since it was sooo late!



We went up to Sacre Coeur on Friday night and saw Paris from the hill. It was beautiful.

Saturday

This morning we got up super early to catch the flea market. It was very early...I also did not buy anything there. But then we went out for breakfast and did some normal shops shopping as well. We came home and everyone sat on Margeaux and Monique's bed to watch a movie. While we were waiting for it to load we all fell asleep. That just made us all groggy for the rest of the day. So when we woke up we got dinner stuff and watched A Perfect Getaway. It was a Hawaii thriller...pretty good. Made me wanna be in Hawaii, but Paris is pretty good too! that's all for tonight, hopefully some more picture tomorrow!

Friday!

On Thursday morning Kate and I went to the Musee d Rodin. The garden of sculptures was amazing. And we got to see the thinker in real life...well not real life, but as close to it as he'll get. It was an interesting museum and nice and small so we didn't get overwhelmed before we were done seeing everything. Then we went to school and then we raced home and watched the US stay in the World Cup!!!!!! so exciting. For dinner we got kebabs and fries and went up to the top of Sacre Couer at night. That was gorgeous and there was a great view of the city...which my camer couldn't quite capture. I do have some pictures of us though, that I will post as soon as I take them off my camera. We even got to see a fire dancer!

Paris at Night

World Cup

We went to the big Fifa sponsored World Cup screen on Tuesday to watch the Brazil vs. North Korea Match. Of course we underestimated how long it would take us to get there and so we didn't arrive until half-time. It took us about and hour and 45 minutes to walk there. It was so fun though. Everyone was excited and a little bit drunk and it gave us a great chance to see Paris at night. Plus also it was free. We are going to go back on Friday for the US game and bring a picnic. On our way home we walked down the Champs Elysees because we all wanted ice cream. Margeaux really wanted a McFlurry, and that was the closest McDonald's we new of. Plus it was a great way to see all the crazy dresses and shoes in the windows without feeling totally dressed down or out of place. Since they were all closed! Anyway, Paris is beautiful at night and we want to go out more before we leave. We only have a week left! I can't believe how fast it all went.

Forgotten Monday

Well I can't remember what we did on Monday. That's probably because school just gets harder and harder and I think I am losing brain mass...not that I had tons to begin with. I'm pretty sure on Monday Kate and I slept in and then took a long walk by the river before we went to school. Actually we looked all over for this Memorial to the deportation victims, but the address we were given didn't help us at all. So we didn't actually find it...we grabbed a croissant au jambon(ham and cheese melted into it-delicious). Then we headed to school. We had our second teacher on Monday-Michelle. She's not nearly as good and so it was more boring or something weird. We also got this new Mongolian girl in class who doesn't really laugh and talks alllllll the time. She also corrects everyone under her breath, I think unintentionally, but it's pretty funny cuz it just adds to the noise and confusion. Anyway, obviously Monday was a typical Monday-long and not super interesting. We did go out for drinks with our class after school. That was funny because of all the different languages flying around the table. We have an Australian guy named Mason, and Peruvian guy named Jose, and Portugese girl named Anna, and then Kate and myself. Ordering in French is hard enough, but then trying to talk amongst ourselves is even more difficult. It was fun anyways and I had my first shot ever, mostly because I didn't know what I was ordering. Not sure if I liked it that much...mostly it was just gone so fast and then I didn't want anymore to drink, but it would have been nice to have something that lasted longer since everyone else was still drinking. well obviously I remembered more of Monday than I thought...

Tired at Versailles

Versailles Gardens

We stopped and had some oranges...Then moved on to the outdoor ballroom.
This is just a random pathway in the garden...to show you how huge they are.
Kate ran all the way to the top of these stairs. You can hardly see her but she was doing a great pose!
See we were all there!
Monique picked some oranges from the Versailles orange garden...

A view of the palace...
See we are at Neptune's fountain...unfortunately our awesome pose blocked the fountain.

Versailles

It was very early and my hands were shaky...we got on the train for free on accident. That was exciting! We're here and it's early but at least we have our McDonald's coffee. It was really good and the cheapest we've had so far. First time at Versailles and McDonald's in Paris!
The ballroom.

Marie Antoinette's room. Everything was gold like that...crazy and overwhelming. And also extremely crowded.

Wandering around the Other Paris

Sunbathing anyone? in the Mall courtyard?
Rainbow Fountain...
Cemetery under La Defense
Sometimes I wonder if Kate feels trapped.