Lookout Europe, Here We Come!

[Superman]

Shaun was so generous with pics of his trip to Paris, that I think I should contribute something. Here is the thread in which I asked for travel advice and linked Shaun's inspiring thread:

Europe Travel Advice Please

Woohoo! The next town I sleep in will be Florence, Italy.

I have asked about how to use PP with my android phone. in a separate thread. I have no idea how to do that.

[Tim Hancock]

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Europe in early October. 10 days in France 2 of which will be to attend the 2023 MX of Nations in Ernee France. Been watching tons of Youtube videos. We will likely do 4 days in Paris then train to Caen where we will rent a car and do the D-day stuff for two days. One day at Mont St Michel, two days at the motocross races then train back to Paris then fly home next day.

Looking at $200ish small hotels in Paris then similar hotels in Caen or Bayeux. Rural Air Bnb type lodging hopefully near Ernee for several nights for the races. (we may have some friends also going to the races that could stay with us for the races).

On our Paris list to do:
Seine river sight seeing cruise
Louvre
Eiffel tower (for obligatory pics)
Palace of Versailles
Lots of walking taking in the architecture and cafes

Normandy... D-day:
Maybe a 1/2 day tour then explore on our own

Ernee area:
Explore small villages while driving the area between MX races

My wife is pretty nervous about all this (language, car rental, safety etc), but I think we will be fine.

I am very interested in how this trip goes for you Supe! Can't wait to hear your experience.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

..... I think we will be fine.....

I think you will be more than just fine, Tim. I started to try learning French but my brain just does not do languages easily. Plus, French is quite challenging. My sister, who spent a year as a nanny in Lyon, felt she was just starting to master the basics at the end of her time there. She had a graduate degree in Spanish and English. Their English will always be better than my French.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by Superman

I think you will be more than just fine, Tim. I started to try learning French but my brain just does not do languages easily. Plus, French is quite challenging. My sister, who spent a year as a nanny in Lyon, felt she was just starting to master the basics at the end of her time there. She had a graduate degree in Spanish and English. Their English will always be better than my French.

In 9th grade I took 1 quarter of French.... Somehow I don't remember much of it.
I also later took a year of Spanish. When I try to remember some of the basic French words I learned way back, my brain starts tossing in Spanish to confuse me.

When are you leaving for your trip Supe?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

Normandy... D-day:
Maybe a 1/2 day tour then explore on our own.

I highly recommend that approach. The guides (docents?) were just the best when I was there decades ago...they really helped set the stage for where I wanted to spent my time in the afternoon.

Enjoy - very powerful day as you no doubt can imagine.

All the best in both your travels.

[LWJ]

Hey Tim,

I am an English only speaker and have traveled to lots of places that don't speak English. Get you smile out and do some goofy hand / sign language. The thing is - almost ALL Europeans speak English. If you are humble and have fun with it, they will too. And, I / my wife, have NEVER had a rude person in our travels. You get what you put out.

Enjoy!

[jyl]

That’s awesome!

I was in Europe multiple times last year and 2021, and the air travel part was bad. Like big delays, missed connections (an hour layover is not enough to make connections), and in my case sleeping on the floor of a JFK terminal. Maybe it’s better now.

But Europe was great. There is confusing or unexpected stuff, but treat it like a puzzle to be figured out, be chill and polite, and it’s all part of the trip.

There is no repeat no personal safety issue, in any part of any Western European city or town that you’ll go to. Walking down a Marseille alley at 3 am is safer than, well, knocking on the wrong door in the US seems to be lately. Petty theft and pickpocketing is a thing, some places, but I’ve never had anything stolen in decades and decades of traveling and staying in Western Europe, and I’m only averagely careful.

Post pics!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Supe, you'll have so much fun, don't worry about the language, just go with the flow

Florence is a great place to start your travels

Looking forward to the updates

Safe travels

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

When are you leaving for your trip Supe?

We returned on Wednesday after three weeks.

Originally Posted by LWJ

If you are humble and have fun with it, they will too. And, I / my wife, have NEVER had a rude person in our travels.

I tried to say, genuinely, that I dared not try to speak their beautiful (French) language and they laughed.

When I asked my sister (trilingual and spent a year in Nice) about reported french rudeness, she said "They are not rude but you have to understand Jimmy (my sisters call me that) they don't care about you. They don't want to engage in small talk. They want to know how you want your coffee and what kind of croissant you want. They are busy working." And this is what I found. This is my epiphany. Paris, and Rome, and even Turin and Lyon, are big cities. Paris is the New York of Europe. It's not a rudeness thing. It is a big city thing. They are very nice. They do not have the energy to smile at thousands of people each day.

Originally Posted by jyl

There is no repeat no personal safety issue, in any part of any Western European city or town that you’ll go to.

This is true! At first, I was as wary as a stranger in a bar of lumberjacks. But these places, big as they are, are safe at night. Risk Steves recommends a money belt and i wore one. For passports, etc. But the many (reported) pickpockets left me alone anyway. I am not big or scary looking, but I have a good deal of 'situational awareness.' Still....Rick and I recommend the money belt for the dearest of valuables.

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Supe, you'll have so much fun, don't worry about the language, just go with the flow

Florence is a great place to start your travels

Florence was overwhelming. We had great fun everywhere, except for one bus ride, and we got by on the language thing. Despite the "big city" thing I mentioned, communication is not that hard across languages with sincerity and patience. That language is universal.

Originally Posted by jyl

Post pics!

I took many pics and it will take me some time to select and narrate a presentation but I am dying to do that. Some of my lawn grass was two feet high when we returned two days ago, and it has taken me this long to figure out the o-ring on my mower must have broken and fell off. Jungle is being tamed now. When time permits, I will offer some thoughts and pics here. And perhaps it is good that my responsibilities are in the way right now. My mind is still distilling. I saw great beauty, in culture and food and art. Too rich to describe, but I will do my best. When I can. In the meantime, here is one image that won't leave my mind it seems. Bear in mind, we visited the Uffizi and two other museums in Florence, and the Louvre, d'Orange and d'Orsay in Paris.

[Superman]

Okay. A couple more. All these are from the same painting.

[Superman]

[jyl]

You hooked now? There’s so much to see and visit out there.

[RobFrost]

Don't expect for a second to see the whole of Le Louvre. It's massive, you'll kill yourself. Plan your visit, maybe pick three or four things there to see. You could spend a week looking at the Egyptology alone.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

[Superman]

Ha! We visited the Vatican Museum where it would take six months to see everything, at a rate of 30 seconds per item. Yes, the Louvre is massive. We were selective there. The one that took our breath away however was the Uffizi. This will all be in my report. One day. Today....garden work. Tilling and planting.

[gumby]

We also visited Musee d'Orsay (very close to The Louve)
https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr
We were completley blown away ... wonderful and also had a great resturant!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Great thread Supe, glad you enjoyed your holiday and please keep the updates coming

I've visited a lot of countries and as a region (in case you'all don't know Europe isn't a country ) I can't think of any part of the world similar in area with so many remarkable different cultures, architecture and history which is so easily accessible and safe to explore

If Europe isn't on your bucket list it needs to be

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

I've visited a lot of countries and as a region (in case you'all don't know Europe isn't a country ) I can't think of any part of the world similar in area with so many remarkable different cultures, architecture and history which is so easily accessible and safe to explore

Very well-said. I think the highlight of the trip was the cultures. This was one of our goals, which I will describe. It will take all of my writing skill, and some time, to assemble my report which will be inadequate. And only two countries!

Sorry for the delay, but I have been out of time for report-writing and picture-editing. And I am still processing what I experienced.

Bucket list, for SURE.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by Superman

Ha! We visited the Vatican Museum where it would take six months to see everything, at a rate of 30 seconds per item. Yes, the Louvre is massive. We were selective there. The one that took our breath away however was the Uffizi.

Congrats on completing a cultural expedition!

I too can spend far more time than practical at such phenomenal museums.

I look forward to your report.

[Superman]

Thanks for your patience. We have been busy since we retired and also, it is good that the report is delayed. Two weeks ago it would have been way too long and unfocused. It has taken me this time to stop my head from spinning. Here is my report:

We went there with four goals in mind, which we decidedly achieved.

Experience Art and Architecture
Experience Food
Experience Culture
Relax and Enjoy

Experience Art
O…M…G. I am not going to throw up a bunch of pictures hoping you will have the same experience I had. You would not. But just imagine looking up into a dome that is 448 feet tall. Most of the creative artistic energy in Europe for at least the first fifteen centuries AD was spent on the religion theme and the greatest of these efforts by FAR were the cathedrals. The sculptures and architecture and adornments there are as great as humans could muster at the time, with cost in money and time as no barrier. I will show one pic. This is a picture of Mass being said in St. Peter’s Basilica. You can see the priest delivering the sermon. This is not the main altar in St. Peter’s. These cathedrals were, for me, ‘shock and awe.





I should have backed up a bit to take that pic. Here is what would have also been in the pic, above the altar.

[Superman]

Anecdotally, we weren’t there to see cathedrals except that we knew we wanted to see St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Our first stay was in Florence Italy about thirty steps from the very large piazza in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce. Italians like their piazzas, which are big public spaces. On a lark, we paid the perhaps $10 to go inside the Basilica and we were stunned. I probably took a hundred pictures of the statues and paintings and features of this church. After that, we could not stop experiencing the cathedrals. The crucifix in the Basilica of Santa Croce is a wooden carving by Donatello. Same guy who carved this iconic Penitent Magdalene, also out of wood. Seeing it was emotional, for me.