Kölner Lichter

The weekend that Emily was visiting was also the weekend of one of Cologne’s biggest summer events, Kölner Lichter (Cologne Lights). Kölner Lichter is a huge fireworks display put on along the Rhine. Spectators pack the banks of the river and ride up and down on cruise boats to get the best views. Some of Will’s coworkers invited us to go with them, which turned out to be a good thing, as I don’t think we would have been successful at trying to navigate the event ourselves.

From what I’ve seen in three short months, the Kölsch are up for any reason to celebrate. I tried to ask what the occasion was for such a big event, and the main answer I got was “because it’s summer.” We were confused about why Will’s coworkers wanted to meet at 8pm when the fireworks weren’t starting until 11pm (the sun sets very late here) but when we got to the park, there were already huge crowds of people, some with tables and other tailgating equipment set up. We found seats on the riverbank, right beside the river, with nothing impeding our view. For three hours we chatted, snacked, and stood up whenever waves came too close. Finally the fireworks and music started around 11 and it was well worth the wait--a great new summer tradition.

Our seats along the Rhine

Drielandenpunt and Nederland

After we got back from Paris, Will’s friend from high school, Emily, came to visit. We mostly stayed around Cologne, but one day we ventured out to Aachen to go to the Lindt chocolate outlet.  Aachen is only about 15 minutes away from the Netherlands and Belgium border, so we decided to check out the Drielandenpunt (three land point).  The Drielandenpunt was just outside of the city Vaals and was located in a national (although I guess it would really be international) park.  The park also contained the highest point in the Netherlands. We went to the top of a lookout tower, but the only way to really know which country we were in was to look at our cell phones for roaming as we walked through the park.

This past weekend we went back to the Netherlands with some of our German friends. They took us to a town called Venlo to visit a grocery store that carries some more American products than the stores in Germany. We found Dr. Pepper and real cheddar cheese!

Highest point in the Netherlands

I don't speak Dutch, so I don't know what this sign says!

Afternoon frites

Paris Part III: Food

I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about French food and I wasn’t quite sure I was ready for escargot and frog legs. But the French are world-renowned for their culinary skills, so I tried to reassure myself that I would be in good hands.

Hands down, the best part, culinary-wise, were the pastries and desserts. Oh my goodness. Can we just talk about the pastries? I think you could probably buy a three-day-old croissant at a dirty gas station and it would be the best thing you’ve ever eaten. My favorite are the pain au chocolat and I think I had one every morning for breakfast. I can’t believe that I didn’t take any photos of the sweets…but it’s probably because I ate them before I could get a picture. I was able to snatch up this cookbook, so hopefully I will be on my way to making my own croissants.

Croissant Cookbook

The one dessert that I was able to get a photo of was my box of macarons from the Biscuiterie de Montmartre. They were as delicious as they were beautiful.

Macarons

Most days for lunch, we went with a cheap, easy, and oh-so-French option: some variety on bread, cheese, and salad. A few times I chose a “cheese plate,” one of with came with a fuzzy piece of fromage!

Fuzzy Cheese

My favorite meal was at a restaurant called Ferdi, which is known for their comfort food including burgers and macaroni and cheese. (Yes, we went to a restaurant in Paris to have burgers and macaroni and cheese.) We haven’t really found any good burger places in Cologne, so we made up for it in Paris. Will and I both had the house cheeseburger and Andy decided to be adventurous and go with the salmon, which turned out to be a little more... rare than he had anticipated.

Ferdi Burger and Frites

Salmon

We had burgers a second time on the night that Germany was playing in the World Cup finale. Ever since I studied abroad in Québec, French Canada has held a special place in my heart. Many times when I go to a new city, I search online and see if there are any restaurants that serve poutine. A quick search led us to The Moose, a Canadian-themed restaurant in Paris. We ended up being the only Germany fans in a crowd of Argentina fans, but the burgers and poutine were very tasty.

Poutine in Paris

Germany wins!

Since we were staying in the artsy neighborhood of Montmartre, we wanted to try to find some non-touristy restaurants off of the beaten path. One night we ended up at Pizza Babalou, which was a mix between an Italian restaurant and your grandmother’s house. The owner was Brazilian and took great care of us since we were one of few tables, eating well before the normal French dinnertime.

Ricotta Pizza

Tiramisu and Limoncello Gelato

All in all, I enjoyed just about everything we had to eat in Paris. Hopefully I can start baking up some of my own Parisian croissants!

Paris Part II: Attractions

Since this was the first time that I had been to Paris, we made sure to see all the major sites. This was also Will’s friend, Andy’s, first time to Europe as well.  We were very busy!

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was actually the first major thing that we saw, although it was in the pouring rain. We did go back a few times after that, including at night. Every night at sundown the tower is illuminated and at the top of every hour it sparkles for five minutes. On our last night, Will and I climbed the 704 stairs to the observation platform.

I made it!

Eiffel Tower at dusk

Climbing to the top

City of Lights

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is a monument dedicated to French veterans and is at the end of the famous Champs-Élysées. Andy and I also climbed to the top of the Arc, but it was only around 300 stairs, for amateurs really.

Arc de Triomphe

View of the to of the Arc

Champs-Elysées

Louvre

The Louvre is an enormous museum and I think it would be nearly impossible to see everything in one day. The exhibits are divided into four sections. We were there for several hours and really only saw about one and a half sections. One of the most popular things to see in the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, which is much tinier than I had imagined. Other interesting pieces include ancient Egyptian artifacts and the Venus de Milo.

Louvre

Inverted pyramids (for Da Vinci Code fans)

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is located just outside of the city limits and once the home of distinguished French royalty.  Since there was an extremely long wait, we did not go inside the actual palace, but instead explore the gardens outside. The perfectly manicured lawns and shrubbery are pristine and the view extends into the countryside.  There’s a small lake at the edge of the garden and we ended our afternoon with a short boat ride.

Palace of Versailles

Palace of Versailles Gardens

Boat ride

Montmartre

The apartment where we were staying was located in the Montmartre neighborhood, which has an artsy feel to it. In the main square, artists were selling their work and we were able to find “non-touristy” cafés just a few streets over.

Main square in Montmartre

Souvenir artwork

Streets in Montmartre

Churches: Sacré Cœur Basilica, Notre Dame, Saint-Sulpice 

I have to admit that I’m a bit partial and the Cologne Dom is still my favorite European church. However, you can’t go to Paris and not see some of the gorgeous churches. We were lucky enough to have a great view of the Sacré Cœur from our apartment, but photography was not allowed inside. Notre Dame was beautiful as well, but we chose not to climb the stairs to the top! Saint-Sulpice was a really interesting church in the southern end of the city, close to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was massive, both inside and outside.

Sacré Cœur Basilica

Notre Dame Cathedral

Interior of Notre Dame

Stained-glass windows in Notre Dame

Saint-Sulpice Church

Interior of Saint-Sulpice

Fountain outside of Saint-Sulpice

Other sites: Hôtel de Ville, Moulin Rouge, Père Lachaise Cemetery

As we wandered around the city, we saw a few other sites, but did not explore them in-depth. We saw the Hôtel de Ville and Moulin Rouge in passing and were able to get a few photos. On a lazy Sunday, we headed out to the Père Lachaise cemetery. It was a really interesting (eerie) place where dozens of famous French (and some non-French) are buried. We were able to track down Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison’s grave sites.

Hôtel de Ville

Moulin Rouge

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Oscar Wilde's grave

Jim Morrison's grave

I know this post was very photo-heavy, but I took so many pictures that it’s hard to narrow them down to just a few. It seemed like every street in Paris deserved to be photographed as everything was just so picturesque.