Grand Hotel de Metz

This is an incredible place...but I don't have any pictures... when I got there my camera stopped working :( But I really think it was a blessing because I just saw everything and didn't worry about getting pictures of everything for later, I just saw and took it all in. It was a much needed get-away and it really blew me away, especially the Cathedral! Mass there was unbelievable...and I have a new-found love of French...and their pastries :)

... King version of Super Size Me!

We arrived at our hotel in Metz and spokilly enough Rick has been here before. we booked in and then we were confronted with the tasteful decor in the room. I was worried for a nano second that this had been planned and Rick was going to tell me something but thankfully this did not happen.

It was then that we carried on with tradition and headed off to the bar for a beer on the terrace.

Regards

Baz

We got up fairly late and I went with Ben on my parent's grave ... hard to stand there and not feeling emotional. Anyway had to get some flowers as we were invited for lunch "again" at an old friend place have known Phil since as far as I can remember we used to live on the same floor of the housing commission building so we go way back . It was ...

... signs for 10km laughing about what it could be ... probably nothing more than a pile of rubbles. To our amazement after a pleasant drive, there they were... an amphitheatre and its dependences. We went back to Pont-Saint Vincent at the end of the afternoon for a pleasant dinner with my family.

... dinner we went down by the river and let of some FIREWORKS!!! 



Day 2 

We visited Johann D'arc house were she was born. The house is around 600 years old. I find it amazing that the house survived the first and the second world wars. Johann D'arc is famous for hearing voices and fighting the English in the 1400's. We stopped at some Roman ruins as we were driving back to the hotel. There was half an amphitheatre and they museum people ...

... have a shower when my wife of 16 years remembered that today was my 45th birthday. We went to place Stanislas had a great time and we opted for a light lunch at "l'arrosoir" nice little place close to place carrier. I drove back Marg and the kids back to the Hotel for a rest and I went shopping for the goodies needed for my birthday dinner. Andouillettes, horse Berliner, rabbit pate, and 6 different kinds of cheeses.... not a veggie in sight, this should be a great dinner.

... takes us only about 5 minutes. Bettembourg is surrounded by rolling countryside and farmland and is, in my opinion, very beautiful. It takes about 28 minutes to get to Differdange by train, and 10 minutes in the opposite direction to get to Luxembourg City. My host mom, Maga, is amazing! She is so wonderful to my roommates and I. The only things required of the host family are to provide a furnished room, daily shower, and continental breakfast. Maga ...

... two towns. There was originally a statue of King Henry the 14th in the plaza, but during the French Revolution they tore this down, used the statue for cannon balls, and then erected a statue of their beloved duke in its place. Anyway, I really liked that bit of history and thought it was kind of funny. Hopefully you did too. After seeing the town some (my camera battery died, so sorry, but my pictures are limited!), Liz and I did ...

... a little bit, so I would have no idea on how to communicate with these people, or what I would be ordering. I found a big vending machine that was more like a convenience store. I found a huge bottle of water there for only a euro and a chicken sandwich. I was satisfied. I made it to the other side of the river and decided to give my feet a break for 10 minutes while I ate my lunch. I then began running through the rest of my list of things to ...

... though I always feel like you don't really see the towns that way. I passed through Marseilles, Avignon, Dijon. I found Kaci and her friend Donna at the station and we ate dinner together in Metz. It was so odd to speak to Americans at that point. Kaci drove us back to her beautiful place in Weilerbach, the outskirts of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Her house is huge and gorgeous and very new, fitted out with some cool German technology (awesome ...