They're Home! [Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 17]

Up at 4:30 am local time, Sharon and Janie caught a 7:30 am flight from Gevena to London. With a short lay-over, they caught a flight from London to San Francisco. They landed in San Francisco about 1:15 pm.

I left the house in Carmichael at 10:30 am. It took me 3 1/2 hours to drive the 100 miles to the airport. The world is a parking lot...

Sharon called me just as I parked in the garage at the international terminal just a little before 2 pm. I walked in to the terminal, dragged their luggage to the car and started back to the Sacramento.

Dropping Janie off at home, we were home just a little before 5 pm. I am looking forward to seeing more of the pictures!

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 16

Winding down the trip, this was another travel day for Sharon and Janie. As they waited for the bus outside the Hotel Stcheclburg, Sharon called me via FaceTime. I grabbed the screen shot shown above while Janie was taking a selfie with Sharon!

They took the bus back to Lauterbrunnen and then a local train to Interlaken. They caught a train from Interlake to Burne. Checking their luggage at the railroad station, they walked around Burne. Wandering into a store in Burne, they heard a song from Milo Greene's second album!

Eventually, they took the train from Burne to the Gevena Airport. They are spending the night at the Movenpick Hotel and Casino near the airport.

In one of those odd twists of fate, Mary Maloney is in Switzerland; they met up with her. The three of them finished the day with hamburgers at the hotel. Sharon and Janie have an early morning flight back to San Francisco tomorrow.

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 15

Sharon and Janie took four trams from the valley floor to reach Schilthorn. This restaurant on the top of a peak is featured in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Unfortunately, it was snowing and cloudy so they didn't have much of a view. They had lunch in the revolving restaurant.

Returning to the valley floor, Sharon and Janie took the tram up the other side of the valley. They finished the day with dinner in Lauterbrunnen and then dessert at Hotel Stcheclburg. They packed up their stuff at the chalet. Sharon spent a third night at the nearby small hotel. They will start to wind their way home tomorrow.

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 14

With heavy rain in the valley, Sharon and Janie took the bus and the train back to Interlaken. They shopped [Swiss watches], had a great lunch and then took a cruise on Lake Thun. They got off the boat at Thun and walked around.

They finished the day with dinner at the hotel where Sharon is staying. Sharon is staying at Hotel Stcheclburg. After spending the first night at the chalet, this is the second night that she stayed at this little hotel.

I also finally realized how far up the valley they are. While I thought that they were in Lauterbrunnen, they are almost four miles beyond that in the very end of the valley.

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 13

Sharon ended up spending the night at the chalet they rented, but was not happy. Sleeping with the windows open, it was cold and still smelled like fuel oil…

Sharon and Janie spent the day hiking on the valley floor, touring Trummelbach Falls and taking the tram up to Mürren. They could only go halfway up; all of the tops were closed due to a windstorm.

They had dinner at the same hotel near the chalet. While Janie stayed at the chalet, Sharon needed up spending the night in the hotel. It will be interesting to see what Sharon does for the rest of trip.

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 12

This was a long travel day for Sharon and Janie from the Burgundy region of France up into the Swiss Alps. Sharon spent almost two months off and on trying to sort out all of the train connections. As a travel day, it reminded me very much of our day from Reims to Chamonix in 2006.

They returned the Hertz rental car to the Dijon Railway Station. Sharon said that it was a nightmare trying to find where to return the rental car.

They caught a 9:36 am TVG high speed train through Vallobre to Lausanne.

They then caught a 11:45 am train from Lausanne to Montreux. Texting from the train, Sharon said that she had "never seen anything as beautiful."

This was followed by a 1:44 pm train from Montreux to Zweisimen and a 3:38 pm train from Zweisimen to Interlaken OST. They finally got to Interlaken at 4:49 pm.

From there they took a local train to the chalet in Lauterbrunnen. They have rented a chalet for four days.

Unfortunately, the chalet reeked of fuel oil. They opened the house up and went to dinner at a nearby hotel. When they got back from dinner, the smell was still bad. Although I counseled Sharon just to get a room at the nearby hotel, they ended up spending the night. I am not sure what they are going to do for the next three nights!

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 11

Sharon and Janie spent a long day on a private wine tour of Burgundy with Emma Barbier. Starting at 9 am, they visited three wineries and had lunch. They didn't get back to the hotel until after 5:30 pm.

Spending a second night at Hostellere Le Cedre, they finished the day with dinner at the hotel. Heading for the Swiss Alps, they have a long travel day tomorrow.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 10

After one night at Chateau de Vault de Lugny, Sharon and Janie continued southeast through Burgundy. They stopped in Dijon and then continued on to Beaune. They are spending the next two nights at Hostellere Le Cedre.

One of the books that Sharon read leading up to the trip was The Road to Burgundy: The Unlikely Story of an American Making Wine and a New Life in France by Ray Walker. She and I had actually looked at the web site for his winery, located it on Google Maps and looked at pictures of him.

While it was pouring rain, they had a leisurely lunch near the hotel. As they were getting ready to leave, Sharon saw Ray Walker and another person sitting at a table in the restaurant. They went over to say hello and were invited to join them. Sharon couldn't have been more excited when she FaceTimed me later in the day...

They finished the day with dinner at a restaurant that the hotel recommended.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 9

Heading from the Champagne region to Burgundy, this turned into a long travel day for Sharon and Janie. When Sharon and I mapped out the route in Google Maps, it was about 150 miles and 2 1/2 hours. With a stop for lunch and coffee, this somehow turned into almost six hours; they left at 9:30 am and didn't get to the next hotel until 3:30 pm.

They are spending one night at Chateau de Vault de Lugny. Sharon said that the woman at the front desk was snotty... After exploring the grounds, they had a very nice dinner at the hotel.

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Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 8

Sharon and Janie spent the day wine tasting in the Champagne region of France. They stopped at a number of small towns before ending up in Epernay. We got to the outskirts of Epernay in 2006, but never went into the town.

They had dinner at a "funky restaurant" in a small town near their hotel. They spent a second night at the Chateau de Etoges.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 7

Sharon and Janie took the high speed TGV from Paris to Reims. They picked up a Hertz rental car. Afterwards, they visited the Cathedral, toured Taittinger and stopped at the Hotel de Crayeres where we stayed in 2006.

They then headed to the Chateau de Etoges. They finished the day with dinner at the hotel.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 6

Sharon and Janie spent their last full day in Paris touring the Musée d'Orsay and doing a Seine River tour. They are heading to Reims tomorrow.

Paris Apartment from heringermr on Vimeo.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 5

Sharon and Janie spent the day doing a Fat Tire Tour of the Palace of Versailes.

Upon arrival in the town of Versailles by train, they rode bikes to the famous city market to shop for picnic supplies. Then, they cruised through the Chateau's enormous grounds along a network of fantastic trails and tree-lined paths to visit Marie Antoinette's Hamlet and both the Petit & Grand Trianons. They had a picnic at the end of the Grand Canal. After lunch, they continued through the grounds and entered the chambers of the Chateau itself.

Sharon said that it was fabulous. They had a great Irish guide who gave them lots of history.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 4

Sharon and Janie spent their third day in Paris. They toured the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, and Les Invalides.

Talking to Sharon on FaceTime at the end of their day, she said that they almost got crushed at the Louvre. There were so many people.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 3

Sharon and Janie spent their first full day in Paris. They toured Notre Dame and Sainte-Chapelle. We didn't visit Sainte-Chapelle when we were there in 2006. They did some shopping and explored the neighborhood. They took the metro to dinner. Sharon and I talked via FaceTime at the end of the evening.

Sainte-Chapelle from heringermr on Vimeo.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 2

On the ground about 10:30 am local time, Sharon and Janie took a taxi to their apartment. They are renting an apartment for five nights on the Île Saint-Louis. This is one of two natural islands in the Seine river.

After a crepe and a nap, they headed to the Eiffel Tower. They finished the evening with dinner in the neighborhood near their apartment visiting with a couple of tables of Americans.

Sharon and Janie's European Vacation - Day 1

Sharon and Janie took off for two plus weeks in France and Switzerland. They had a car pick up Sharon at 8:30 am and Jane at 9:00 am and take them to the San Francisco airport. They caught a non-stop United flight to Paris. Scheduled to leave at 2:40 pm, the flight left a little late. They will be landing in Paris late Saturday morning. They will be spending the next five days in Paris.