We drove from Versailles to this little village in the Champagne region. I forget the name, but it was in between Chateau-Thierry and Epernay. The drive there sucked though, because traffic was terrible and I got really carsick. And then it started raining when we got to Champagne and continued the whole time we were there, which was really unfortunate. That's the reason for the comparative lack of photos from this section of the trip. The Champagne countryside is beautiful though: small towns tucked into rolling hills covered with wine terraces. So calm and peaceful. And the wine isn't too bad either ;) My mom, dad and I did a tour of the Moet&Chandon cellars and then stopped at this other little place where we did a tasting and bought some bottles. All around very lovely.
On Sunday we got up early and headed out to drive to Essen by way of Belgium and the Netherlands. Despite getting lost a couple times we made it there eventually and Pascal's family welcomed us with afternoon coffee and cake. I was a little nervous about this visit, because my family doesn't speak any German and I wasn't really sure how Pascal's family's English was, so I was envisioning an afternoon with a lot of awkward pauses and silences. Much to my delight it was quite the opposite. Everybody got along great and Pascal's parents surprised me with how much English they knew. Everybody was able to communicate fine with only occasional translating help from Pascal and me. Unfortunately we forgot to get a picture with everybody together, so there's no documentation of this meeting of the families, but hopefully there will be another one in the future.
That evening we drove to Cologne, spent the night there, then the next morning drove to Tuebingen (another 4 hours). We unfortunately didn't get to spend much time together in Tuebingen, but I showed them around the town a little bit, showed my mom my dorm so she could see what my living situation is like here, got a snack from the bakery, and then they left to drive on to Munich to spend the night there. And so ended the European adventures of the Kerschen family. All parties escaped alive, except for my dad's bank account. Poor wallet took a hit, but I think it'll pull through.
Mom and Dad, I know you're reading this, so I just want to say thank you for this wonderful vacation, I miss you, and I can't wait to see you in August!
as much of the palace as I could fit into a single frame; "to all the glories of France"; how's that for some gold?
in the Hall of Mirrors.
looking out over the gardens
one of the smaller palaces in the Versailles complex
the pastry shop where we bought amazingly sumptuous desserts. my mouth waters just looking at these pictures
in the Moet & Chandon cellars. The amount of champagne bottles down there was mind-boggling
more of the cellars; at the tasting (please note that mom is double-fisting)
vineyards and the champagne countryside. pretty even in the rain
the one picture I took of us in Tuebingen (on the Neckarinsel); sunset driving from Essen to Cologne
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