Happy Easter from Team Counts - Dusseldorf

Our Easter was not spent doing the traditional things that one does at Easter like dying eggs and having Easter egg hunts – though we did have plenty of Easter candy thanks to Joy (which I MAY have eaten all of before Easter). We found out that Art got both Friday and Monday off as holidays, so we decided to take a trip. We looked into some last minute travel to Portugal, Istanbul, etc, but most were booked for our time frame. So, we rented a car (we got upgraded to a 4 door Mercedes!) and headed out for France. Important thing to remember about traveling in Europe: take money with you every time you go to the bathroom – it is rarely free, and you will not almost wet yourself going back to the car for 30cents. Another important note: The French take their toll roads seriously – we paid 12 the first time and 7 euro the second section. Sheesh. After a miserable hour+ in traffic around Paris (note to self: do not be near Paris or big cities at rush hour), we are on our way to Giverney, France. This being the place where Monet lived and painted. Google maps did us horribly wrong – all three days we got lost. So Friday we got lost and finally stopped at a gas station in Vernon, France, where the attendant told Art “Giverney…that’s EASY”. We got pointed in the right direction but traffic over the bridge was VERY bad, so we opted to eat dinner instead (it was after 7pm and Z was not happy). We stopped at a nice restaurant where the waiter spoke no English and we spoke little French – I did recognize chocolate mousse from the menu and went for that as dessert. All three courses were so tasty. We ate outside, the only outdoor patrons there, and Z had the run of the place until dinner. He was using plastic chairs as walkers and pushing them all over the patio, flirting w/ any lady that walked by. We finally arrived at the B&B after 9pm or so (she was expecting us at 4pm). That was fun as well, b/c her English was not good, and our French not much better. I was proud that I remembered how to say “what time is breakfast?” We awoke on Saturday to a beautiful day – blue skies, sun shining. The bathroom was a bit odd – a tub w/ a shower attachment, yet no shower curtain. Art said we should probably sit down so as not to spray the room, but I improvised. After breakfast of hot chocolate, baguettes and jam, we walked the length of Giverney (about 300 yards) then went to Claude Monet’s house and gardens. The gardens were quite beautiful as expected- wonderful flowers and ponds. His house however was a bit odd. He apparently was very into Japanese art and culture. His rooms had a ton of Japanese stuff, which was very strange. Sort of like a rock star saying his favorite music is opera…just odd. After that we walked around the church in town, where Monet went and was buried. He is buried in a family tomb, so there were plenty of Monets there. What was interesting is that there was a plot where 7 British airmen were buried. All so young – 21 and 22. I guess their plane went down near there. The church was small but very nice on the inside, similar to the older cathedrals. I checked the calendar to see if they were having an Easter service, but it was not listed past Palm Sunday. We thought we would go by and try anyway. Then lunch, at the table outside the B&B. From there, off to Chateau Bizy. This was a very cool looking castle from the outside, but we were disappointed by how little they would let you tour. Art’s favorite part was the flaming tour guide who was a horrible guide – reading from the script (in French). But, he did say Zach was beautiful, and Art says if anyone knows about male beauty, it’s him. Found a Lidl and restocked our lunch supplies. We rested back at the B&B before having dinner at a crepe place. It was fun to have a dinner crepe, then a dessert crepe. It was not fun to pay almost 3 euro for a coke. Art passed out before Zach was asleep in bed, exhausted from a day of too much sun, and walking around. Sunday we check out after another French breakfast and bid our hostess Au Revoir. We walked through Giverney one last time, then got in the car and drove across the bridge to Vernon. We had planned on walking around some, but Z fell asleep, and it wasn’t worth it to wake him, so we drove on to Chateau Gaillard – ruins of an old (King Richard the Lionheart) castle. It was very cool, complete with dungeons and a dry moat. Great views. We had a picnic lunch in the grass afterwards, which everyone enjoyed. Then off to Parc du Vascoeul, another chateau. This one more ‘nice house’, than ‘castle’. BUT, we arrived on a good weekend, b/c they were having art/craft exhibits on the grounds and in the chateau. The cheapest artwork I saw was about 6,400 Euro – a steal! Then off on a long long long (it really only felt that way) drive to our B&B at the Belgium/France border. We got lost of course and tensions flared. We found Parc du la Naida – a very nice B&B. I would have liked to stay there for several days. We arrived around 8pm and still had to have dinner. We checked in and set off on foot to find a place to have Easter dinner. As it was so late, and we were worried Zach would melt down, we picked a family restaurant we hoped would be quick – like a burger place. Called Mr. Patat. I had a cheeseburger, which was very strange – two cheesy patties on a baguette. The fries were yummy though, and Zach did just fine until the end. We were all in bed by 9:15, though I stayed up watching the special features on Peter Pan on our dvd player. Monday was excellent weather again. A great breakfast of meats and cheeses and such. We toured the B&B grounds for a bit, then drove off to a nearby park. We walked around the lake while Z slept in his stroller (and took an emergency trip to McDonalds). We saw about 5 kids on horseback, the oldest about 15 on a nice size horse, and the youngest about 8 on a cute little pony. Zach was enthralled. We had a picnic lunch that went downhill once Z learned he could stand up on the picnic table bench while sitting in his portable high chair. No more eating. Then we took Z over to the playground to check out the slide, teeter-totter and such. He was much more interested in the big boys who were playing. We tried to feed the ducks but Belgian ducks must not be used to people, since they took off every time we got near, and did not come back for the food we threw into the water! A three hour drive and we were back safely in Dusseldorf…a fun and tiring Easter urlaub (vacation). Unfortunately, we all caught colds while gone. Z’s started w/ a runny nose on Thursday before we left, then me on Friday, then Art on Saturday. Poor Dexter had to stay in Dusseldorf for the weekend and was happy to see us. He was sitting in the window when we got back, and greeted us, yelling, at the door.

The pictures are just a sampling of what we have - I had to slog through 74 pictures from this trip.