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Merci Marie
Friday, December 24, 2010
Get me away from all the darned snow!!
The morning after our fabulous snow adventure Mom, Dad, Granny and I booked tickets to fly south. Destination country? France. The plan was to spend a few days in Provence and then spend our last day at the French Riviera.
Best. Idea. Ever.
We flew into Marseilles and the first thing we noticed was the warmth. It was probably 60 degrees outside.
Then we noticed the sun. You could actually see it.
Then we realized that the sky was blue. Deep blue, without a tinge of winter grey.
Then we heard the angels singing.
No wait, that’s just us.
And finally we looked around. Who knew Southern France was this beautiful?
We skipped all the way to our rental car, loaded up, and drove north to our first official stop: Avignon.
Avignon is an incredibly beautiful city. I just loved it there. By the time we arrived we only had time to eat dinner and explore the city for a little bit.
The Palais des Papes, or palace for the Pope, is located in Avignon. In 1309 the pope at the time, Clement V, relocated to Avignon because of the violence in Rome at the time. The pope returned to Rome in 1377, but the building’s historical significance was just beginning. Barely surviving the French Revolution, the building was later used as a military barracks and prison for Napoleon’s troops. Today it is open for the public to view.
After watching the Palais des Papes, we moved meandered around the rest of the town.
At one point we came across the the Church of St. Pierre.
We discovered that all the churches in the city were gathering together that night to bring 1000 candles up to the Palais des Papes. The night is called Merci Marie- its a Christmas ceremony honoring Mary.
It was a cool ceremony to witness. More than anything, we were just excited to be WARM!
A night to remember
So, after saying goodbye to Germany we loaded up the car (praise God for Honda Pilots) and headed home to Belgium. We had a packed car: Lindsey driving, 2 kids (3 years old and 9 months old), my 82 year old Granny, mom, dad, and myself. And all our luggage. We were crowed, but no big deal- right?
Then we started noticing how the snow was getting deeper the closer we got to Belgium. It was definitely slippery, but manageable.
And then it wasn’t.
See, here’s the thing. Rob and Lindsey have this beautiful home in the country. The only problem with it? It’s out in the country. As in, not a house in sight, cows in the backyard, country roads, and only a farmer for a distant neighbor- that kind of “in the country." This is all very endearing in the spring, summer, and fall. The winter? In the snow? not so much.
So we go to turn down the side roads to get to the house and we very quickly realize that getting home might be a problem. You see, large fields create very large drifts on roads. We had to turn around multiple times and kept trying different roads to get to the house.
At one point, we were driving and realized that we weren’t actually driving on the road anymore. We were on a field, the road nowhere in sight. Whoops.
Finally we find a road that seems passable. We risk it because, well, we don’t really have any other choice. Linds was a rockstar- she just plowed through the snow. We did pretty good actually. Until we got stuck. With the drifts to our thighs in some spots.
So with granny, kids, and family we hauled ourselves out of the car and started walking the kilometer and some to the house.
Amazingly enough- Jake was the only one screaming. Allie pranced the whole way home, chanting “This is SO MUCH FUN!!" Everyone else would have been laughing if they weren’t too busy trying to shield themselves from the wind and freezing rain.
But we all made it.
Dad and I made the trip two more times in order to haul all the luggage to the house. (you know, in case the gypsies are out looking for cars full of luggage in the middle of a blizzard. It could happen.)
A couple hours later Lindsey and I are snuggling down into the warm, comfy, cozy bed when the cell phone rings.
At first we were just surprised, because we’re in Europe and that means that the cell phone rarely ever rings to begin with.
Then we realized that it was 1:30 in the morning, and we were even more surprised.
Lindsey picks up.
"Uh, hello?"
"Hi, Is this Lindsey Beckenhauer?"
"Uh, yes it is."
"Yea, I’m just down the road and I found the note you left on your car with your number. I need you to come down and move your car so I can get by."
"Uh, yeaaahhhhh, if you didn’t notice my car is stuck."
He then goes on to convince us that the snow has all melted. Alrighty then buddy.
So Linds and I pull ourselves out of bed, wrap ourselves back up, and, like the Yetis we are quickly becoming, trudge off down the road again. At this point the freezing rain is really coming down hard. And then the phone rings again.
"Uh, hello?
"Hey Lindsey. Well, I got tired of waiting so I just drove around your car and through the cornfields." (at which point I’m thinking- really? I mean….REALLY.) "Anyway, I was going to try to go pick you up but the road to your house is really bad. You’re definietly not going to be able to drive it home tonight." (Thanks, Sherlock. With the drifts up to my thigh I couldn’t figure that out on my own)
And off he goes. The only English speaker in a 5 mile radius just happens to be driving down our road in the middle of nowhere during a huge snowstorm at 1:30AM.
And then he disappears into the night leaving only tire tracks to confirm that it wasn’t just a really bad prank call.
Sometimes real life is way more unbelievable than the movies.
The conclusion of the story? We re-parked onto a cornfield, removed the sticky note with our contact details, and trudged back home again.
My snuggly PJs never felt so good.
Deutschland!
After Thanksgiving, G went back to the UK and the rest of us drove down to Germany for a few days. Our “home base" was on the Air Force Base in Kaiserslautern (south west of Frankfurt). We took trips to the surrounding areas from there.
It snowed a bit. :)
I love this shot of them.
And this one of them.
We visited quite a few cities and towns, which was really fun. One of the evenings we were able to go see Glenn’s grandma. It was great to spend time with her- the last time I saw her was at our wedding. It was such a blessing to be with her.
One of the days we headed to a town called Bad Wimpfen. My mom and dad loved this place when we lived here, so they were excited to return. Here are some photos of the town:
Another day we went to Cologne.
The cathedral there is one of the largest in the world.
Here are some interesting facts about the cathedral:
- it took over 600 years to build. I mean, really. Can you imagine a contractor in the States announcing that he was going to start a project that wouldn’t be completed for 600 years? They’d be committed!
- It has the largest facade of any building in the world
- It was the largest structure in the world until the Washington Monument was built
Impressive, wouldn’t you say?
Apparently, inside that gold box are the bones of the magi. How they found the magi, and then their bones, and then brought them to Germany is a mystery. But it’s all very legitimate according to them.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Hi Brittany - - - Love your Blog. What a grand adventure and it's kinda neat "seeing" all of you too. Interesting, I'm reading this on the evening of Dec. 22nd and your last post is Dec. 23. We must be on the opposite side of the earth. In Brussels, you mentioned the chocolate, the waffels, the beer and boy pis but you didn't mention the lace. When I was going there in 1989-90 (sooo long ago!) everyone brought home samples of Belgium lace. Mele Kalikimaka to all. - - - Uncle Arnie
Hi Arnie!
You’re right, they are famous for their lace! I don’t know how I forgot to mention it- Mom and Granny only spent an hour looking through one of the lace shops while we froze outside waiting for them! ha!
Hope you have a great christmas!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ghent
I loved Ghent. In my ever so humble that I broadcast it out to the world wide web opinion, I think it is the most picturesque of all the cities in Belgium. Here’s a little look see of what we did that day
What is this guy doing??
A photo tour of Brugge
First, we went to the Brugge Ice Sculpture Festival. It was pretty amazing.
They had sculptures depicting locations all over the world.
It was really cold. I might have gotten a little frostbite.
Then we toured around the city itself. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend coming to Brugge. It’s a beautiful city.
Such a great lunch! If you’re ever in the area, go to the grandplatz, find the ice cream place under the clock, and go upstairs to the restaurant. You’ll love it.
sometimes, life is tragic.
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