Well, we made it. I say that as if there was a chance we wouldn’t, but anyone that travels knows there’s always a chance of misdirected luggage or whatever. Having checked Sophie with the SkyCap in Salt Lake there was always the chance she could have ended up in Jakarta or Mumbai or Minnesota or something. But we all made it to Paris safe and sound.

Sophie was this year, as hoped and as last year, ideal. Sure she had a couple of moments of discomfort where her desire to crawl wildly had to be curtailed. But Anneka put together a masterful travel plan. She’d hid some of Sophie’s favorite toys weeks and weeks ago to be able to “re-introduce” them to her on the plane. Babies are remarkable in their ability to play with common objects of which we have many common kitchen items but it would appear strange to have ones baby on the floor in a crowded plane banging wooden spoons on metal measuring cups. Essentially we boarded at 4 and were airborne at 5pm filled with anticipation of the trip as a whole and certainly with how Sophie was doing down there in the luggage hold…

Just kidding.

We were fortunate that despite a full flight we were able to secure a three seats across row to ourselves and that gave us the luxury of bringing Sophie’s car seat aboard for her to sit/sleep in. Sophie was most active during those first 5 hours of the flight but that’s were Anneka’s “new” toy reveal worked so well. She’d grab a toy out of the bag of toys and Sophie would be captivated for quite some time. Having the car seat allowed us to eat our meal fairly normal as well. I think we got the most mileage out of a cellophane wrapped roll that came with the food. She played with that for an hour. Who’d a thunk cellophane wrapped rolls had so much appeal. Yet, they’re imminently graspable by small hands, have the allure of food that can’t quite be accessed and the cellophane makes a wonderfully intriguing plastic crinkly sound.
We lured Sophie to sleep after about what would have been ten at night her time by playing a Baby Einstein movie on the computer. She was amazingly enthralled in it. I was amazingly enthralled that she withstood having “earmuff style” headphones placed on her head without wanting to rip them off. They were a titch too big but she looked so cute in those things. I was holding the computer and Anneka was holding Soph and I just looked at her the whole time as her eyes darted back and forth and up and down and flashes of color reflected off her face in the darkened cabin. It was cut. Sophie slept for about the final five hours of the flight and that made it so we could enjoy the onslaught of crappy movies they played.
When we landed the Sophie effect took over in the customs line. Though it took forever to get our stroller off the plane when we landed, even the pilots had left the plane before we got the stroller at the gate, we made up for it as we were shuffled over to the “people with babies” customs line. We essentially got all our time back and then some. I swear a lifelike, blow-up Sophie doll would make a fortune for the savvy business traveler wanting to save time by expediting the customs clearance process. Just blow it up on the way from the plane to the customs area and you’ll be deflating it in minutes from the other side.


We got a rental car from Hertz and that process took too long too. We waited a decent amount of time in that line (no Sophie effect) and they gave us the type of car we anticipated and paid for except that after hauling our junk out to it we found it to be a two-door. There was no way in Hades I was going to be loading and unloading Soph in a two-door. So we went back to the counter and to their delight we took a little Mercedes Benz A180 that Hertz needed to get back to Germany. Now, don’t get all thinking, “Oooooo, they got a Mercedes!” It’s the size of a Ford Focus or something. So, what it makes up for in doors it gives up in luggage space. But we crammed everything in and finally left the airport. I say finally since we waited on a curb outside for them to “bring” the car to us not knowing that in reality the car was about 50 feet away from us and they weren’t bringing us jack… Once on the road my hidden delight at having a Mercedes was quickly dispelled when I stepped on it and it yawned, stretched and then finally decided to accelerate.


There will be no Mario Andretti fantasies on the Autobahn this year…
Just as well, I guess. I have a wife and a child and above all we want to be safe and have a nice trip. I’ll save the Mario stuff for my Cobra back home. I mean my “Marvin” type driving I do on the highways and byways in that thing. Never broke the speedlimit in it, huh AJ?
We drove about an hour and a half east to Rheims. You’d think it is pronounced like “Reems” the store instead it is pronounced “Rance” as in France. Where do they come up with that? Anyways we got here, checked into the hotel and Sophie perked up. Actually she’d been absolutely idea the whole time after landing. I would have thought she’d drift off in the car but she didn’t until we pulled in here. We get to the room and she’s all revived by the freedom to roam. And roam she did. She probably crawled a half mile in the confines of our rather cramped quarters. We all showered and went to bed. Despite crying at first for being put into her crib her dad wasn’t going to tolerate any fussing so he dumped a couple of toys in the crib to distract her momentarily but she was out cold in 5 minutes.
We got up at 8 and headed to the center of town to stroll. Rheims has one of Europe’s great cathedrals – home to many a French coronation. It was closed by the time we got there but we walked around and soaked it up. Headed from there to the lively pedestrian zone to find dinner and after our routine of looking at many menus (Anneka) we settled on a sort of Pasta-to-go place. It was decent. My Coke was AWESOME! They have an aviation museum in town and had cleverly placed several reproductions of very early airplanes on display. They were fascinating entanglements of thin wire holding up fabric wrapped wooden wings and wimpy bicycle tire landing gear. Aviation has come light years since then. Those were truly daring, or stupid, dudes that strapped themselves in those flying wicker baskets.
Anyways the weather was great, a light breeze, no humidity. It was a pleasant evening and as the sun set we went back to the hotel. Sophie perked up again when we got there and motored all over the place. I’m already amazed at how well she’s doing and I’m stunned at how meticulously Anneka has planned for her. Anneka is a truly amazing travel partner. I am one lucking man to have them both.
More later, we’re off to Verdun’s WW1 battlefields about two to three hours east of here. Well, truth be told, I’m off to McDonald’s for breakfast. They’re still asleep.
Bon Jour! Or whatever they say when you’re leaving. Bon hasta la vista?
Chris


Happy 4th of July! We put Sophie in a cute red, white and blue top today to celebrate.


We were all up bright and early owing to the jet-lag. I went across the street for some McDonald’s for breakfast while Anneka got Sophie fed and dressed. We went to the center of Rheims first thing in the morning to go to the cathedral which was open early. It was closed the night before so we saw the outside but not the inside. It was typical medieval cathedral – mondo columns, mostly 20th century stained glass with a few original 13 and 14th century panes that survived the ages. It was neat to see. We didn’t hang out too long though as we needed to hit the road to Verdun.


Verdun is a small French village essentially synonymous with WW1. It’s in the region bordering France and Germany and has passed ownership back and forth between the two countries for a long time. After the Franco-Prussian war of the late 1800’s the hills surrounding Verdun were fortified with lots of forts intended to keep the Germans out. The Germans, looking to be decisive in victory against the French decided to attack with a massive bombardment which commenced in February of 1916. I don’t recall over how brief a time period it was but basically the Germans hurled 2 million shells at the French defenses in order to break them. What they didn’t expect was the French to hunker down and shoot back after the barrage was done. So, the Germans dug in. Then the French dug in. What followed was 300 days of a new style of warfare called trench warfare.
One struggles to appreciate the significance of some historical events from the passage of time, unless there are some tangible reminders. Despite 90 years of time the landscape in that area not only has visible reminders, but very strong and obvious ones at that. Though the surface of the land is now covered in trees the underlying ground still undulates like rolling ten foot seas from the explosive shells that landed literally everywhere. You drive down the small one lane roads and can see under the canopy of trees the turbulent landscape. You drive another mile and it’s still there. Another mile and it’s still there. Period images show the land as if it was the lunar surface. No trees left standing. In fact, apart from the soldiers themselves there was nothing living there, nothing of form or substance. Whole villages were completely destroyed -bombed to the point that even the ruble was seemingly tilled into the ground. A movie in the museum quotes a soldier lamenting taking 100 meters of territory and losing 30 men in the process only to lose 100 meters the next day and lose another 30 men.



It was a staggering and humbling thing to see and understand. Nearly an entire generation of French men and boys were lost on battlefields like Verdun. We saw one trench were an entire platoon was buried alive and evidence of their bayonets are still visible above the dirt today. To see the trenches still there, not as deep but nevertheless still highly visible made you think of those that lived in the mud, the carnage and the death of them. It was one of those intangible moments where you think, “How could this have happened?” and what am I doing to make sure it never happens again. Even more amazing was to think that many viewed WW1 as the war to end all wars as how could anything be worse? It’s truly sad to see that war continues to ravage decade in and decade out, to this day. A memorial on site contains the bones of 150,000 French and German soldiers in piles visible through small windows. Skulls, Femurs, Ribs, you name it. All there in a mass grave. The names and identities of most are long lost. The bodies were gathered over the years from the battlefield and interred there, oddly, in 1932; about the time the German war machine was firing up for the war after the war to end all wars.
In all it was a stunning and humbling place to experience. Like concentration camps, they are not fun to see but are memorable and we feel they help temper our view of modern society.
After Verdun we took one of our longer drives further east on our trip to Strasbourg.


We arrived at the hotel at around 6 and checked in. We took a convenient tram into the historic district to wander around. The sites and shops were closed but the incredible mix of buildings made for a pleasant evening - except for dinner. Anneka got hungry and we struggled to find an acceptable place to eat. She almost got put on the clock but managed to pull off finding something. We ordered, they took forever to bring the food. I made the mistake of trying to go healthy and order a salad. It ended up being a scoop of coleslaw, corn, beets, carrot strings and a garnish of a radish.
I went to McDonalds afterwards.
Sophie zonked out on the way back to the hotel and was even half asleep through her bath. Then she got put in her crib and we inadvertently flipped the “I-aint-tired-and-I’m-not-going-to-sleep" button. We played with her as long as we could tolerate but by then my ambien was kicking in and Anneka was exhausted. So, we threw in the towel and put her between us and both fell asleep. She awoke whining at 4am for some milk and we were both surprised she was still there. After a quick bottle she nuzzled under a pillow and was out again, as were we.
And that was day 2.
Chris

Day 3.



Usually the day after we land we get up unusually early, like around 5 or 6am. But the day after that we get up unusually late. Like 11 or even noon. Sophie made sure we didn’t get to noon but we were still up later than the day before. I got up at around 9 and took the tram into town to get some McDonalds for breakfast. The routine is I leave and Anneka sleeps in. In this case it was I left and Anneka showered and got Sophie ready. I ate and brought back some breakfast for Anneka. There was a little car show that had convened across the street from the hotel that I stopped at briefly. That was kind of strange because when I think of a car show I think of American metal. Big boats like 10 yard long Cadillac’s and muscle cars and stuff. This was a car show of little Euro cars. MG’s, Fiat’s, other stuff. It was just kind of funny to see people gathering around to admire what by comparison looked like oversized riding mowers compared to what I’m used to seeing.
Anways, we went back into the historic district and dinked around all day. Everything was closed except the cathedral. But the town itself is the site. So, no need to cross any thresholds to “see” stuff. There are several canals running through the area with pleasant parks here and there. We strolled and strolled. The tower of the cathedral was free today for being the first Sunday of the month so I went up. Anneka found a shady quiet place and waited. Soph was asleep in her stroller so it worked out great. The trek to the top was breezy and refreshing since it was really toasty today. Normally the spiral staircases in these cathedrals are all enclosed in stone with just tiny slits for windows. This was the same for part of the way up but every couple of meters up the outer part of the wall would be large open gothic style windows. I don’t do heights so I would get a bit weak in the knees as I rounded each one of those sections. But the view from the top was worth it.



Anneka and I reunited after and got some lunch. We dinked around even more after that and then took a little one hour boat ride around the island that is the historic center of town. Sophie slept the whole time. It was relaxing, almost too relaxing. We were both dozing off a bit.
Anyways it’s about 9:30 and Sophie’s got a sit-down job in her britches that Daddy needs to take care of, then give her a shower. Hopefully when we put her down we flip her switch the other way and she goes to sleep.
Anneka just gave both Sophie’s teddy lions baths since she keeps tossing them around. She tosses them on the floor in restaurants. She tossed them in the dirt and on the street. Of course she’d do that after giving them one of those crazy Sophie muggings where all her spit gets all over it. Then she drops it. So the spit is like glue and picks up all the crud off the floor. Needless to say if I thought they were groadie before they’re really groadie now. We couldn’t take it anymore so they got baths tonight. We have a clip-on leash for her noonie to prevent that from happening with the noon. I need one for the teddy’s lion, or teddy lions, which ever, top keep her from hucking those things. She nearly tossed small teddy into the river today.
OK, gotta go. Can’t put off cleaning up that number 2. The room is starting to smell.
More later.
Chris