Trip to the Death Star

In 2009, the Dallas Cowboys moved to a new stadium. But, it's not just any stadium, it's a BILLION dollar stadium. There are aspects of the new stadium that I like, but I hate, hate, hate that Texas Stadium will be torn down and I'm very upset that by building this palace, Jerry Jones is basically pricing a lot of the real fans out of the opportunity to go to the games. I thought it would be years before I visited, but in November, a friend of mine offered two tickets at a very reasonable price, so I decided to check it out. One of the features that's been talked about - a LOT - is the big video screen that hangs over the field. From our nose-bleed vantage point, it was really hard to watch the field and not the screen!!! Cowboys won, by the way. It was a real barn-burner - Cowboys 7, Redskins 6. Sigh.

The "Death Star" reference comes from the Ticket radio station. It's from the Star Wars movies where the Death Star is a moon-size space ship and superweapon. I just think it's funny because it pokes fun at the monstrosity.

Here's a few pics:

Approaching the Death Star. We had to walk a little ways because we were too cheap to pay $60 for parking, which is what the closest parking lots charge. We paid $20 to park at Wells Fargo Bank, but had to walk around a residential area. Totally worth it!!


The field and a look at the ginormous video screen:


The stadium seats 80,000 but can hold up to over 100,000 by using standing areas:


Our seats were way up in this corner:

I really drove a COMBINE!!

Remember back in May when we went to Illinois and I rode in the ginormous tractor with my father-in-law? Well.... When we returned to Illinois in early November, I thought for sure I had missed harvesting, but thanks to Mother Nature (lots of rain!), the combines were still working. On the day we were there, they were harvesting beans. Paul (my father-in-law) doesn't drive the combine when doing beans (only corn), but he asked David Masching (the farmer he works for) if he would take me for a ride. I was admittedly not overly excited about going out with someone I didn't know, but Paul went out of his way and I couldn't say no. It turned out to be a fantastically good time!!! David was super nice and really funny. He was really easy to talk to and besides general conversation, he explained everything to me. Let me tell you - farming is not what it used to be!!! The combine is actually equipped with a GPS. Each field they work is downloaded and the computer shows you where you have been and the production and moisture of the crop. It's really pretty amazing. All of this information is stored and after harvest is done, David can analyze it to decide what adjustments to make the next year. Very high-tech!!

I didn't take pictures for a while because I was embarrassed (heehee). But at some point during my ride, David insisted I DRIVE the combine and he was going to take my picture with his cell phone. That's when I admitted I had my camera. I really was scared to death to drive, but David was a great leader and it turned out just fine. David even took a few pics for me. I think Joe was a little surprised to see me behind the wheel when he pulled up to pick me up and David thought that was pretty funny.


Multi-tasking: "Downloading" the beans to a trailer while driving and continuing to harvest more beans.


Thanks to David for a great ride. I have a whole new respect for the farmers.

The "Godfather"

I mentioned a few months ago that we had gone to Illinois for Jordan's baptism, but at the time, I didn't have any pictures because I was the "photographer" for Matt and Kim. They later sent a few pictures, so I thought I'd post a few before I talk about Lilly's baptism.

Jordan looks ready for his big day:

Sammie and Lainey:

The parents and godparents with Jordan:

The GODFATHER:

Shortly after we returned from Europe, we headed to Illinois for another baptism. And, Joe, was honored to be the godfather. We had a little "trouble" with the priest. When we tried to take pictures, he told us that it was "time for prayer and he would let us know when it was time for pictures." Oops. So, while Mike and Amy got no pictures of the actual baptism, we did get a few pictures afterward.

Just LOVE this picture:

The "mean" priest with the parents and godparents:

And, again, the GODFATHER (or should I say, "Gawdfather"):

I know that Joe feels very blessed and honored to be asked by each of his three brothers to be the godfather of one of their children. And with his cousin, Christi's son, he has 4 godchildren. That's a lot of religious responsibility. Good thing we consider him "St. Joseph."

Normandy

Thursday, October 22, 2009 - Off to Normandy

This morning we left Paris and headed for Normandy. We got to the train station in no time and had about an hour before our train left. I’m proud to say that we had no problem, whatsoever, finding the train and a seat on it. I shouldn’t brag yet, though, as we have at least one more train to catch.

It took about an hour to get to Rouen. From there we found the Hertz place and picked up our rental car. We loaded our bags and decided to walk around Rouen. It is there that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, so we found the place where this happened and there is a chapel there. We went inside the chapel and it was interesting – mostly in shape and design.

This cross marks the spot that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake:


Rouen is also home to the chapel made famous by Monet that we saw in the Orsay. He painted it over 30 times. The front of it is under construction. Or perhaps it is under restoration, so I resorted to a postcard to get the full chapel.

Rouen Cathedral:



From Rouen, we drove to Honfleur. Honfleur is highly recommended by every travel guide I’ve read about Normandy. It is a quaint, pretty town with a harbor and lies where the Seine River empties into the English Channel. We walked around and visited 2 churches in Honfleur – Eglise St. Leonard – a very old church behind the visitor information center. Joe liked this church because it was small and simple. Eglise St. Catherine is a wooden church built to celebrate the end of the Hundred Years War and is the largest wooden church in France. After a walk around town, we decided to walk along the seawall and see the Normandy Bridge, which links Honfleur to Le Havre and was allegedly an engineering marvel.

Le Vieux Bassin, Honfleur:


Eglise St.-Leonard


Eglise St. Catherine:


Finally, we ended our day in our base for the rest of our time in Normandy – Bayeux. It was the first town liberated in 1944 and is very near the D-Day Beaches, which is the primary purpose for our excursion to this part of France.

Bayeux:



Friday, October 23, 2009 – Mont St. Michel

Last night we decided that we needed a long day to do the D-Day Beaches and that we weren’t armed with all the information – we needed to visit the information center in town, which opens at 9:30. So, for today’s itinerary, we switched and decided to begin the day with a visit to the Bayeux Tapestry and then a drive to Mont St. Michel.

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the Norman Conquest in embroidery. The thing is huge!!! It measures 70 meters long, or 230 feet. I think I especially appreciated it because I know how to embroider and I can’t imagine how long it would take to accomplish such a task. It really was very stunning. An audio guide explained what we were seeing (the story it was telling, in other words) and then there was a museum and a movie that highlighted on the tapestry. I thought it was a very worthwhile stop!!!

Mont St. Michel is an abbey located about 85 miles from Bayeux. We have a huge map we bought at home, so we didn’t have trouble finding it (for the most part). It is a stunning sight when you see it from afar. Well, and it’s stunning up close, too, don’t get me wrong. On the way up to the abbey, you pass through lots of shops and restaurants. The bus driver from our hotel described it as “Mont St. Mickey” as in Mickey Mouse. I thought it was still interesting and actually enjoyed walking through the streets even though I didn’t buy anything.



It was a long walk up to the abbey. We took the tour, although they were out of audioguides. All in all, I thought be abbey was very impressive, although I told Joe that I thought it was really more striking from a distance. Not that I regret touring it, but the monks lived very simple existences and there is nothing elaborate or beautiful about the abbey itself (the anti-Versailles). It’s more interesting to learn how it was built and how it has withstood the test of time.

Neogothic spire of the church tower built in 1897 with the gilded copper statue of Saint Michael on top:


Spider web in the cloister:


The abbey church:


After a tour of the abbey, we stopped for lunch. I picked the place because of the patio, then realized the menu did not have an English version. We ended up ordering spaghetti because it was the only thing we knew for sure what it was!!!

As we were leaving the abbey, Joe had seen a sign for a German cemetery, so we stopped there. It is built in a large circle and holds the remains of 11,956 German war dead. There are 2 levels and 34 crypts. Within each crypt are the bones of 180 men. It was sad and kind of creepy.

We made it back to Bayeux in time to see the cathedral here, which is also called Notre-Dame. It is large, and quite pretty. It survived (as did all of Bayeux)
D-Day without a scratch.




Saturday, October 24, 2009 – Rain and a Flat Tire

Today was the day to tour the D-Day sites. I let Joe be in charge of this as this is his area of expertise. We quickly figured out that we would never get it done in one day, but we set out in the morning to do as much as we could. Our first stop was Arromanches. I learned a lot here because this was the site of a temporary harbor that was built by the British to get supplies to the troops. They built these huge barges and brought them across the channel, then hooked the ships up to the barges. They had film footage of these huge tanks being driven across these temporary barges – it was really impressive. A lot of the barges are still out in the bay and there are a few on the beach. We walked down and around them (and boy did they STINK!!!). After the museum and beach there, we saw a 360 degree movie about D-Day. It was good, but probably could have been skipped.



From Arromanches, we headed to see the German gun battery. There are about 4 guns still intact, although 2 of them sustained major damage. We walked around the lookout station as well. This was another interesting stop. The sign told us that they were 152mm guns, with a range of over twelve miles. “In the night of 5 to 6 June, the Allies spilled a thousand tons of bombs onto the battery, with considerable accuracy, but to no great effect.” Still, by the morning of the 7th, the battery was occupied by British soldiers and the garrison was taken prisoner without a fight.

The Longues Gun Battery:


Looking out at the English Channel from the Longues Gun Battery:



Next, was the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. Sadly, as we pulled into the parking lot, we realized that a tiny rock had punctured a tire on the rental car and we were getting a flat tire. Sigh. I spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with Hertz and ended up in an argument with the woman on the other end. Finally, with the help of a French-speaking woman who worked at the cemetery, we were able to confirm the pickup of a new car in Bayeux. Even more sadly, by the time I saw the cemetery, I was totally frustrated and upset and to some extent, it ruined my American Cemetery experience. We flew through the visitor center and out to the cemetery itself because we were now on a time schedule to get back to Bayeux to get our new car. When I saw all the crosses, I must say that it put in perspective my frustrations. There are 9,387 graves of American Soldiers here. These 9,387 men and women never had an opportunity to live 45 years and go on a great vacation. My problems with the Hertz representative were so trivial really, and it made me even sadder.

The Memorial features a 22-foot statue, "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" faces the tombstones.


On 172.5 acres, lie 9,387 graves of American Soldiers who defended freedom during WWII. The government of France granted use of this land, in perpetuity, as a permanent burial ground without charge or taxation.


The crosses at The American Cemetery at Omaha Beach are precisely aligned headstones of white Lasa marble Latin Crosses and Stars of David:


These two soldiers, Frank Benson, Jr. of Connecticut and James Sheen of Idaho were killed on D-Day - June 6, 1944.


Some of the graves have the remains of soldiers who were never identified. Their crosses read, "Here Rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in Arms Known But to God."


From the cemetery, we walked down to the actual beach (Omaha Beach). It was a long way down – I was very surprised. And were it not for a path down, it would have been really difficult to get down there because of all of the trees and brush. It really put into perspective what the D-Day invasion was like – knowing that the Allied Forces were coming in on the beaches and the Germans were on top of the bluff with rifles, shooting at them. 2,499 US men were killed that day during the invasion.



Unfortunately, after seeing the cemetery and the beach we had to head back to Bayeux to pick up the new rental car. I was so disappointed – especially for Joe since this was the biggest reason we came on this vacation for him. He took it in stride, as he does. In Bayeux, they gave us the tiniest, crappiest car I’ve ever seen in my life even though they had the exact car we had in the lot. The girl didn’t seem to understand that we were exchanging the car. Or I guess I didn’t understand why they couldn’t exchange it for the same car, but we took el-crapo and headed back to a couple more D-Day sites.

El Crapo:

Our next stop was Pointe du Hoc where the Ranger Memorial is. Joe was especially impressed with this site because France has done nothing to hide the war damage. There are bomb craters all over the bluff. The 2nd Ranger Battalion had the daunting mission of scaling the steep cliffs to destroy the gun battery located on top. Only 90 of 225 men survived. The memorial sits on the very edge of the bluff and is not accessible to the public. I’m guessing a few too many people may have fallen over the side or tried to re-create the climb.



Finally, we made it to Ste. Mere Eglise, famous for the paratrooper whose chute was tangled on the steeple of the church. The town has a parachute and a dummy hanging on the church as a monument. It was getting dark so we didn’t stay long, but it was interesting to see and to think about that poor man, stuck up there. He didn’t survive; he was shot by the Germans before he could cut his chute.


We will definitely have to return to Normandy. There are so many museums and points of interest that we didn’t even begin to touch. Poor Joe could probably spend a week here!

Sunday, October 25, 2009 – Making our way to Frankfurt

After checking flights a few more times we decided that our best option for getting home was getting to Frankfurt. This had been our original plan, however, that plan had involved flying on a ZED ticket to FRA from CDG and not spending a small fortune on train tickets. Sigh. Oh well…what can you do? Our last day was spent on trains and in train stations getting to Frankfurt, but we made our FRA-DFW flight with no problem and we even got business class!!

And that does it for another Joe and Lori Adventure. One more in 2009 - a family trip to Florida between Christmas and New Year. But never fear - we have already booked a trip for 2010 and have 2 more in the preliminary planning stages. Yeah!!! I just LOVE vacations.

Paris, Part Trois

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 – Our last day in Paris

Our last day in Paris and it was a drippy one. But, we did not let that stop us!! We started the day by walking over to the Rodin Museum to see the many sculptures on display by the artist. We really did pick the worst day to do this as lots of the works are in the garden, but in spite of the drizzly, light rain I enjoyed the Rodin Museum. I find his work interesting and it’s one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit. There is a Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, too, but this one is in his former home. There were lots of different pieces and I, as usual, took lots of pictures.



From Rodin, we decided to stake out the train station to figure out what we need to do in order to get to Rouen tomorrow. That ended up being a great idea because we would have been totally lost tomorrow. We found the station all right, but when we tried to buy tickets through the machine, it wouldn’t accept our credit card. Again, we tried 2 different machines, but just as when we tried to buy the tickets for the Roissy bus, the machine would not accept our credit card. We ended up standing in line and getting our tickets, which worked out just fine. However, all in all, we were probably there for an hour, so it was a good thing we got that out of the way today!!!

After successfully buying our train tickets (Joe was a nervous wreck, by the way), we went to the Orangerie Museum to see Monet’s Water Lily’s. And really, that is about all they have there. Two entire rooms are dedicated to 6 water lily versions. This museum was actually built specifically to house these works. Monet worked on them in his twilight years and when his eyesight was failing, but they are still interesting. Unfortunately, he never lived to see them in the museum.


After the water lily’s we did walk around the other floor and check out the rest of the collection – there are a few interesting pieces. Mostly they are less famous works of famous artists or less-famous works of less-famous artists. Still, it was another worthwhile stop and I took a picture of a dead chicken with tomatoes.


After our museums, we headed to the Trocodero to see the Eiffel Tower one last time and in the day. It was unfortunate that I waited until today to take day pictures, but I know that I’ve seen it in beautiful splendor (and I bought a postcard to prove it). I was so, so, SO glad we did that tour when it was pretty weather!!!

Self portrait:

Paris, Part Deux

Sunday, October 18, 2009 – Versailles

Today we agreed to get up early and get on the train to Versailles. Versailles was the palace home of 3 kings of France – Louis XIV, Louis the XV, and Louis XVI (the one married to Marie Antoinette). Getting up early was a little difficult as the Europe time change was wreaking havoc on us again – especially Joe this time. But, we were up at 7:00 and on the train by 9:26, arriving at Versailles by about 10:00. The chateau is impressive, although gaudy IMHO, but that was expected. I learned a lot about these French Kings that I didn’t remember from my world history classes in junior high.


Inside the chateau, we saw the king’s bedroom and the queen’s bedroom. There is a passageway between the two for when the king decided he wanted to visit the queen (if you know what I mean). But the king was not faithful to the queen and it was common knowledge and even accepted because the king was “godlike” and that meant not needing to be true to one woman. According to my audiotour, King Louis XIV (the most beloved King Louis), was very affectionate toward his queen and spent a lot of time with her.

Also in the palace was the Hall of Mirrors. This very famous room is lined with mirrors (hence the name), which were very rare and very expensive back in King Louis XIV’s day. The room is very long and impressive and looks out onto the gardens behind the house.


From the chateau, we stopped for a bite of lunch in the gardens. I didn’t expect the fountains to be working because I had read they closed in September. However, they were working during our visit – although on a limited schedule due to the drought conditions. Funny, that didn’t stop them from charging full price to go in the gardens, which would have otherwise been free.

Also on our tour were the Grand Trianon, the Summer House, the Petit Trianon, Temple of Love, and the Queen’s Hamlet. The Grand Trianon was the King’s retreat (an escape from his escape) or private residence away from the palace. Louis XV and Louis XVI actually ended up preferring this residence to the large palace.


The Summer House was a place where the Queen would spend summer evenings with her family and close friends.


The Petit Trianon became Marie-Antoinette’s home base.


She enjoyed the more simple life and the Queen’s Hamlet was her own private village which was a working farm.


After lots and lots of walking and seeing those most important sites, we headed back to the palace for the fountain show. Since we paid for it, we certainly didn’t want to miss it!!! We hiked all the way up to where a horde of people were gathered. Turns out the fountain “show” are just the fountains being turned on. I guess I was expecting something a little more “Bellagio” like! So after the hike up to the palace, we hiked BACK down the gardens to take some pictures of the Apollo Fountain in all its water glory.



It was quite a long day and the crowds and the lines at the bathrooms make visiting Versailles a bit challenging, but I’m certainly glad we did it. It is a must see!!

Monday, October 18, 2009 and Tuesday, October 19, 2009 – Historic Paris Tour, by Rick Steves and "maybe we should call a Big Six" here in Paris

Before heading down to Notre-Dame to start our tour of Historic Paris, we decided to see Napoleon’s tomb. Napoleon is, of course, a very famous emperor of France. He was educated close to where we are staying at Ecole Militaire Academy. He won many battles and crowned himself emperor. In the Louvre, we saw a painting that Napoleon had commissioned of him crowning himself emperor. The pope attended, but Napoleon did not believe the Pope to even be “big” enough to crown him. He instead, crowned himself. But, sadly, Napoleon died in exile. Many years after his death, his remains were exhumed and put in the tomb where they are today. There is an entire building built for the tomb and it is quite impressive. His brother is also buried there and his son. One thing is for sure, even though he may have ended up dying in shame, he is beloved by the French to this day.


The Historic Paris walking tour starts at Point Zero on Ile de la Cite (one of two islands on the Seine River in Paris), which is the geographical center of France (we LOVE a geographical center!), and is in front of Notre-Dame.


After the photo op there, we turned away from Notre-Dame and visited the Paris Archaeological Crypt. Apparently there was at one time a hospital and hotel right in front of Notre Dame. Somewhere along the way, it disappeared, but was found during an archaeological excavation and now is on display for all to see. It was actually kind of interesting and was a worthwhile stop covered by our Paris Museum Pass.


After the crypt, we went back to Notre-Dame. Joe was traumatized that mass was going on as we walked in and yet there were tons and tons of tourists milling about. I could write lots of historical facts about Notre-Dame, but the thing about it is that words really don't do it justice. It is very impressive and huge!!! Also on the agenda was a climb of the tower. It’s almost 400 steps each way, but it was worth it. If you so desire, you can actually go to the tip-top of the 2nd tower, and of course, we desired. A side-trip takes you to one of the bells and, finally, more spectacular views over Paris from the top!! And, of course, we got birds-eye views of all the famous gargoyles, including the most famous one, the "bored gargoyle."





Across the bridge on the other island, Ile St. Louis is the Deportation Museum for the thousands of French Jews that died during the Holocaust. It was a short, sobering stop.


The walk then goes across the river and through the Latin Quarter, which is nice and was a big hang-out of artists like Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein. Along the way we stopped at St. Severin church and Joe decided that they need to dust the place. Place St. Michel is an interesting square in the heart of the café district where students have been known to protest government.

Back on Ile de la Cite, our next stop was the Saint-Chapelle Church. This church is very small and was originally built to house the Crown of Thorns (it now resides at Notre Dame and is only on display 13 times a year). There are stained glass windows all the way around. Unfortunately, the altar and the stained glass window behind it were being renovated. Joe hopes they’re dusting them (again with the dusting!!!).


Next was a stop next door at the Conciergerie. The Concergerie was a prison where prisoners sentenced to beheading were held. Their most famous prisoner was Marie Antoinette. She was convicted of crimes against her country and beheaded along with her husband, King Louis XVI (although he was killed before her). The walk ends at Pont Neuf, which is the oldest standing bridge in Paris, built in 1607.

From the end of our Historical Paris tour, we decided to take a ride on the Batobus which was kind of fun because it is basically a cruise of the Seine River. It goes in a big circle, but really, can you come to Paris without a trip down the Seine? I think not…


Another stop and one that might turn the "Big Five" into the "Big Six" was the Musee d’Orsay. I was excited to see this museum because it holds a large collection of paintings by the Impressionists and I really like that era. It did not disappoint. The building itself is stunning. It’s an old train station and it’s a perfect setting for the beautiful art collection. All the impressionists I can think of were represented there. One very interesting thing was that we saw several versions of Monet’s Rouen Cathedral. We went to Rouen on this trip, so it was really interesting to see the paintings and then the cathedral!!!



Although we had seen the Eiffel Tower on our first day, we decided to return and see go to the top. The Eiffel Tower is HUGE (I think I may have mentioned this before). Since we were on the Arc de Triomphe and the tower at Notre-Dame during the day, we thought it would be fun to see Paris at sunset from the Eiffel Tower. And so did about a bazillion other tourists. We waited in the most incredibly long line for at least an hour, probably an hour and a half. But, it was so worth it. We made it to the 3rd level (Le Sommet) just as the sun had set. It was so crowded up there, but the views are just beautiful!!! We walked all the way around – inside and outside. You arrive inside and take stairs to the tallest place you can go, which is outside. And, I forgot to mention, it was FREEZING!!!! I don’t know what happened to the temperature, but it was so cold I thought I might freeze to death. My hands were so cold waiting in that line, I feared they wouldn’t warm up until next August. And I should also mention that the ride to the top was kind of scary for me. I’m not a huge fan of elevators, trams, gondolas, etc. I swear, I didn’t think we would ever get to the top!!! Paris is the “City of Lights” and there were plenty of them to see from the Eiffel Tower. It was absolutely beautiful. Back down to the 2nd level, we took another look around, then headed back down to the ground level. All in all, it was a lot of fun and as a reward Joey took me back to the creperie for a dessert!