/Summary: 1995 Trip to Europe

(May 16 to August 31)

The Saar River has been engineered into a canal, and Mettlach’s Main Street is now a pedestrian zone filled with restaurants and ice cream stores. Visited Trier, a day in Nancy and Metz, France, then in Strasbourg someone broke into our RV. Our 44th anniversary included a bite here and a bite there at the “Strasbourg Cafeteria,” as we walked the city streets.

We visited Margit in Essen, and near Bonn spent a night each with Cousin Reinhold, and friends Peter and Uli. Then to Cousin Gerd’s home at Nauborn, Germany. Stopped in Alsfeld, Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar, and Jena.

It was cold and rainy in Naumburg and Leipzig, and in Dresden we saw the start of the restoration of the Frauenkirche. Near Prague, I found a flail, for my cane collection. Beautiful Prague, with St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, and the Old Town Square, is always fascinating.

In Nürnberg we visited friends, on to beautiful Passau. Our visits to Hallstatt, Salzburg, and Berchesgarten, were in rainy weather, again. With a light snow in the Austrian mountains, we found Wagrain, where Joseph Mohr wrote “Silent Night.”

Several days were spent in Venice, then to Padova, Ferrara, Bologna, and San Marino. We revisited San Leo, Gardara, Gubbio, Spoleto, then to Assisi. Surprise! An escalator leads from the parking lot, part way up the hill to the town of Assisi. To Perugia, Siena, and San Gimignano, and to Florence, Lucca and Pisa. In Sarzana, Restaurant Bambi had an empty parking lot, so with the owner’s permission we spent the night.

After visiting Italy’s Cinqueterre, we drove to Portofino, San Remo and the French Riviera. Stopped in Arles, St. Remy, Le Baux, Avignon, Nimes and the Pont de Gard. Video of the Crusade city of Aigues-Mortes, and Carcassonne (with 52 towers and a double wall), are worth a million words.

After Toulouse, Cahors, St. Cirq Lapopie, Rocamadour, Sarlat, and Périgueux, a day was spent in tragic Oradour sur Glane. Visited cathedrals in Bourges, Orleans, and Charters, and a few days in the cities of Versailles and Paris. On to Mettlach, and the airplane in Frankfurt Germany.

All in all, our 107 day trip proved “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there” is not a cliché, it’s the truth!