Trier

On to Trier (pronounced tree-uh), the oldest city in Germany.  It's hard for us to imagine just how old since an old building in the U.S. is from the 1700s and even the 'ancient' Native American sites are 1000 to 1400 A.D.  Trier was founded in 16 B.C. as a Roman colony by Emperor Caesar Augustus.  There are still remains from those Roman times.

For instance. the piers of this current bridge are from Roman times.

And these remains of Imperial Roman Baths surprised me.

(Both the previous pictures were snapped out of the bus on our way by.  Sigh . . . What can you do?)

They did let us off the bus, though, much to Ron's relief.  We hadn't thought to mention that he gets car sick.  We rectified that on later trips.

The giant bus made its way up the tiny winding road to a lookout where we had a great view of the city.   The aforementioned Roman Baths ruins are in the center of the picture and the green area at the bottom is an amphitheater built over the remains of a Roman arena.

The Basilica of Constantine, originally part of a palace complex, was built in 310 A.D.

And attached to the back wall was this fancy building.

(I know my tour guide abilities are lacking.)

As we saw in every city we toured, there was a lovely city square.

But this one was special because of the city gate.  The Porta Nigra was built in the second century (without mortar) and is the largest existing Roman gate north of the Alps.

After some free time to explore the city on our own, the bus took us to our boat (picture of that later), and soon we were cruising down the Moselle River.

Even though everyone could probably swim to the bank in an emergency, we still had the required drill.  If the chaos of the drill was any indication of what would happen in a crisis, we were in trouble.

Luxembourg

With mixed emotions, we were soon on a bus heading across France to catch our boat in Trier, Germany.  We were sad to leave Paris after such a short visit, but anxious to continue our journey.  


We saw lots of rolling countryside and we commented that everything was so green!  And I don't think that was just because we live in the desert.

On the way we stopped in Luxembourg.  All the tour guides were locals and the one in Luxembourg had a marvelous sense of humor.  Most of our tour mates were from the U.S.  The guide instructed us on the source of our country's problems.  When America was settled, they started growing tobacco and everybody smoked.  We won our independence and two World Wars.  Everything was going well.  Then in the 70's Americans quit smoking.  And there you have it.  Things have been going downhill ever since.


I think I remember this building held the government offices.

And was guarded by what he described as 1/10 of the military.

We also visited the American Cemetery and Memorial honoring Americans who lost their lives during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.  

It was an emotional experience for us all.  Over 5000 American military casualties are buried there.

Although General Patton didn't die during that battle, he is also buried here.

Gay Paree

 We flew into Charles De Gaulle airport with our very heavy suitcases and were efficiently transferred to the Westminster Hotel in downtown Paris.  Immediately we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore.  What an active city!  Not an overweight person in sight.  (Well, except the tourists.)

Our hotel was very close to the beautiful opera house.

And also the Lafayette Galleria mall.  Whoa!  Needless to say, we didn't buy anything.

After roaming around in a jet-lagged haze the first day, on day two we took a bus tour around town and learned a lot of facts which I promptly forgot.  Every where we looked were gorgeous old buildings.

We stopped to see Notre Dame cathedral which is technically Notre Dame de Paris since there are other churches with the same name.  (Hey, I did remember something.)

I didn't get a good shot of the outside.  I'll blame it on being rushed and the sun on the wrong side.  But as you all know, it's incredible.  

I was fascinated by this headless statue.  

The guide said it was Saint Denis and that after he was beheaded, he picked up his head and carried it for six miles, preaching a sermon the entire way.  I bet that inspired a lot of converts.

Ron liked this water fountain that looked like a lady from this angle.  Oddly it just looked like a post from the other direction.

We also made a short stop for a photo op of the Eiffel Tower although it was pretty far away.

Did you know it was built for the 1889 Worlds Fair as a temporary structure?

And the bus took a death-defying loop around the Arc de Triomphe for drive-by pictures.

There were two things that really surprised me about Paris.  One was how clean it was.  I had heard (maybe 40 years ago) that Paris was dirty and that misconception has stayed with me all these years.  Happily, I can report that is not true and Parisians obviously take pride in their lovely city.

The other surprise was the traffic.  I never saw anything like it even in New York City or, my personal nemesis, Boston.  Paris has masses of tiny cars going every direction every minute of the day.  And yet, we saw very few dents in all those cars. 

Our guide mentioned that although Paris streets have marked driving lanes, if you stay within the lines, you'll never get anywhere.

And then there are the motorcycles which drive anywhere they want between buses and cars and even down the wrong side of the street.  And bicyclists are almost as daring.  I swear the people of Paris must be the bravest in the world.

In the afternoon, Ron and I took off on our own walking tour,  attempting to hit all the high points.  We walked the Champs Elysees to the smaller Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.  Both arches were commissioned by Napoleon in the first decade of the 1800s.  I guess you can never have too many war monuments.

Although we didn't have time to go in, we had to admire the architecture of the Louvre.

When we crossed over the Seine, we wondered about the purpose for all the locks on the bridge.

Ah, somebody came up with a clever idea.  Don't you just love free enterprise?

(And notice the sign is in English.  I guess we know who the suckers are.)

Finally we made it to the Eiffel Tower.  That long distance look just wasn't good enough.

One of the two elevators to the top was down for repairs so the wait was two hours.  Rather than waiting, I decided to just walk up to the first level, 57.63 meters or 189 feet above the ground.  Once I got my second wind it wasn't bad.

I thought about walking up the second level, but Ron was patiently waiting for me down below.  LOL

On the way down, I got a look at the two level elevator.  I wondered if the passengers realized they were being transported by a dummy!

Here's a closer look at the operator.

Obviously we needed about a week to really experience Paris, but I think we did a pretty good job in the time we had.  We were pretty tired after all that walking.

Europe, Here We Come

So here's the thing.  I know I haven't posted in (can it really be?) four months, but until mid-May, we really had been living a quiet life in our winter residence.  However, I finally have something to post since we seem to have gone a little crazy.  First, we took off for the East Coast where we attended Ron's nephew's wedding, then spent 10 days visiting my father in PA.  But here's the crazy part.  We then went on a river boat cruise in Europe.  Yes, you read that right - Europe!  We started in Paris and ended in Prague.  You can see our route on the map below.  The dotted lines are bus transfers, so it was actually two days in Paris, eight on the boat, and two in Prague.  We also added two days on the end, rented a car, and went to see where Ron's ancestors came from.

Quartzsite Shopping

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Quartzsite this year was the fancy new sign. Whew! Really classes up the place. It seems they have four of them to cover all the ways in. Pretty impressive.
The camels are to commemorate the local experiment by the Army to use camels. I understand it didn't work out too well.

As soon as possible, Ron visited the world famous (at least to RVers) Quartzsite Bakery. Just walking in the door is enough to make me gain weight.


Over the course of several days, we did what all the visitors do - go shopping. There are several areas of town that are packed with vendors selling whatever you're looking for. I didn't know I was looking for an animal hat until I saw it.


Anyone for a delicious snack? (At least there's no trans fats.)


Ron is in heaven with all the hardware booths.


Then on Saturday, the 'Big Tent' opened. Covering three football fields, the Big Tent is the place to find anything you need for your RV. From lights to braking systems, from water pumps to tow bars, from cookware to satelite TV, along with the ever popular jewelry, it's all here. And so are the RVers.


With their little buddies.


I have to wonder if this dog is having any fun. Yes, there is a dog in there.


It was a cloudy, cold day when we hit the Big Tent so Ron was just happy to find this campfire to warm his hands.

More Quartzsite

Dave had asked if I could get some pictures from up high, so last Sunday Nancy joined us for a hike up 'Q' Mountain.

Although it's not a long hike, it is steep with lots of loose rocks. But the view is pretty cool.
The background on the previous picture is the town which is mostly comprised of RV parks and restaurants, but, until recently, no hotels. In fact the story is that somebody burned down the first hotel built several years ago. I don't know if that's true or just a myth.

Looking down from the top, here's the 'Q' on Q Mountain.


This is a small section of public land dotted with a few of the thousands of RVs.


And all the white dots out by the mountains are more RVs. And the big RV show doesn't even open until Saturday.


From the top of the mountain, we could see this mine so we had to check it out.


After doing a full inspection, Ron decided it was probably a stamp mill where they brought the rocks from the surrounding mines.


But there was no doubt where the trash dump was.

Farewell to Joey

Yesterday we attended a 'celebration of life' for our friend Joey who was the unofficial social director of our WIN RV group. My best description is that she was wonderfully unique. She will be sadly missed as was evidenced by the turnout for her memorial. There were no tears (or not many), but instead a remembrance party that she would have been proud of.

Our WIN poet, Randy, wrote a fitting poem to help send her on her way.

REMEMBERING JOEY

If there be life beyond this one
then Joey Shelton's there
bringing spirit folks together
for parties in the air.

Perhaps she drives a heavenly rig,
A class A Cloudmobile.
A special bed for Sadie waits
beside the steering wheel.

And with her friends already there
enjoys celestial beauty.
Dorothy Prince, our founder and
Billy and Nora and Judy.

Joey played our travel game well,
becoming a part of WIN history;
ranged a thousand roads with us;
staged a murder mystery.

Organized a kayak circuit;
lent a sympathetic ear;
cared for Mr Pete Bonine
during his final year.

But her greatest gift to us
was laughter, full and hearty.
Like no one else Joey knew
how to throw a party.

It's no trivial claim to fame
that one throws parties well;
It called us out of our separateness
when she rang the social bell.

And if there be no life beyond,
then she lived this one well;
with cheer and hope through ups and downs
of life's carousel.

Randy Vining 1/10/12

We love you, Joey! Happy heavenly travels.