Our Chalet

We left Paris without breakfast to be able to catch our train on time. I joked with the group that we were taking several trains, a bus and donkey to get here. We did have several train changes and some with fairly close connections (and train employees that only spoke German), but we made without any problems. There were a couple of other groups heading to Our Chalet on the train with us. When we arrived in Adleboden we were met by a couple of the Our Chalet program volunteers. We left our luggage with the van driver and then headed on our 20 minute hike up the hill to Our Chalet. Once there, we registered and were shown to our rooms. Sunday night was a time to settle in and we just had dinner on the schedule. The adults are in one room in Spycher, three are in the Baby Chalet and the girls are in the attic of Spycher.


This morning we started the schedule with breakfast and an opening flag ceremony. Then we had an onsite day to get familiar with the other people here and to learn more about Our Chalet. Some of the adults left in the afternoon to go down to Adleboden to change money and buy groceries. It is a 45 minute walk to town, first down hill and then UPHILL! We should be in shape when we get home with all of the walking in the mountains that we are doing. It is beautiful here. You want to just run in the mountains and sing songs from the Sound of Music. I keep expecting Heidi to appear although I have not seen any goats yet. Last night was our International night where every group presented a little bit about their countries. We had a good time and our presentation went well. We have groups here from Denmark, Norway, and of course the USA (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania). We finished the night with SWAPS and getting our laundry done. We did have a bbq at lunch in honor of the 4th of July.

Paris

I think that I will try to do Paris in one blog posting. We left Dover early in the morning after having a good English breakfast at the B&B with eggs, toast, bacon, tea and baked beans. We caught a local train to Ashton. At Ashton we caught the Eurostar train to Paris. The trip was a lot shorter than we thought it would be and we were in and out of the Chunnel before we knew it. We arrived in Paris at the Paris Gare Nord (North Station). After getting our bearings and figuring out where to go we headed to the Metro and to our hostel. Because it was a hostel, the rooms were pretty spartan. But we just needed beds to sleep in. The girls were a little disappointed at first because Paris is a large city and not the romantic place that they imagined, or maybe saw in movies. We checked into the hostel and headed out into the city in search of food and maybe the Paris that they were imagining.

So we headed to the quinessential Paris landmark, the Eiffel Tower. On the way we looked for a place to eat. Our group was large and so we overwhelmed sidewalk cafes. We ended up at a place where we paid way to much for okay food. We also learned some lessons, such as getting take out on a street was okay. After eating, we headed to the Eiffel Tower. The girls were amazed by it, but the lines were too long and we would not be able to go to the top. So we found souvenir shops instead. We planned to come back the next day to see the Eiffel Tower.

So our 2nd day in Paris, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Even our girls that were a little afraid of heights went up to the top. We were really proud of them. We were able to ge some great pictures from the top of the Tower of downtown Paris. Once we finished with that, we came down and ate our lunch. There were tons of guys running around the tower with cheap replicas trying to get people to buy. We caught our tour bus for the day and began riding around it learning about the various Paris sights. When we came to Notre Dame we got off to go and see it. We visited the church and were amazed by the beauty inside of it. After we were done we visited the bathroom. Now you may be wondering why I am commenting on the bathroom. It was near Notre Dame and had three female attendents. If you took too long in the bathroom, the knocked on the door to let you know that you needed to come out. That day we also visited the Champs D'Elysees, ate at McDonald's (not my choice), saw the Arc de Triomphe, and visited the Hard Rock Cafe before heading back to our hostel for the night.

The next day (our 3rd day in Paris), was our 'free' day. I asked the girls what they wanted to do and of course shopping was one of the main options. We first went to Napolean's tomb because Brittany had a list of things to do and that was one of them. His tomb is in the Hospital for Military Invalids, in a large chapel. It is carved out of marble and huge. The chapel or church is really beautiful. After we finished with that we caught one of the tour busses and headed on a different route from yesterday. This route went through the Moulon Rouge area with the sex shows and shops. Then we got off the bus at the Sacre Coeur stop to go see that church. The street leading up to it was full of souvenir shops, so we shopped our way up the street. At the top before we started the climb up Montmarte to Sacre Coeur, there were a couple of food shops where we could get crepes. Most of us had an egg, ham, cheese and tomato crepe followed by a dessert crepe. The food was wonderful. Then we climbed up to the church. It too was beautiful and you had a great view of Paris from the hill. Then we shopped our way back down. We later learned that it was a big festival for the church.

Then we took the bus back towards the Louvre because that was our activity for the evening. We visited the highlights such as the Mona Lisa and spent about four hours looking at paintings. Then we walked back towards a metro stop along the Seine river so that we could see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.

The next morning we got up and headed to Versailles for the day. We just bought tickets for the palace since the younger girls got in free. We had a great time going through the palace and sneaking looks at the gardens through the open windows. There were so many people there that at times it felt like cattle going through a chute. After spending several hours at Versailles, we grabbed dinner and went back to London on the train. We arrived home earlier than we had been to be able to visit a grocery store across the street and to pack. Thus ended our time in Paris.

Catching Up

So it has been a few days since I posted to the blog. We have been busy and our Internet access in Paris was not very good. So we are now at Our Chalet and the Internet access is better here. Not cheap, but at least it is better. We should be in shape when we get done with this because of the hiking that we are and will be doing.

So to update everyone. I last left you when we were headed to Dover. We arrived in Dover without any problems about noon. It was a nice train ride. Our B&B was close to the train station. We checked in and settled into the rooms.

Then we decided to hike 20 minutes to Dover Castle. Unfortunately, Dover Castle was built on a hill and most of the hike was UPHILL! I guess it was good practice for Switzerland. The castle was neat to see. It was built in the 12th century and they had it decorated and furnished in that time period. It was interesting because I am reading a book right now on Eleanor of Aquitaine who was the wife of the Henry that built the castle. We were able to climb to the top of the Tower in the middle. While I was up there with a couple of girls, we watched a thunderstorm roll in across the Channel from France. The castle was built in the 12th century, but there was also a lighthouse from Roman times and a church that was between the two time periods. The other interesting thing about the castle was the underground tunnels. These were built in the 18th century and used for housing troops and supplies, especially during the World Wars. A hospital was also located in some of the tunnels. After spending several hours at the castle, we walked back down into Dover.

Since we were running out of clean clothes. We found the laundramat and did laundry. There was a restaurant across the street where we all ate dinner. They had good English food that we enjoyed. Once our laundry was complete we headed back to the B&B to go to bed to be ready to go to Paris in the morning.

This day was Brittany´s 17th birthday. At breakfast we gave her a card signed by everyone and sang Happy Birthday to her when she came down for breakfast. I had a card for her from her mom and dad and she enjoyed it too. Later in Dover we bought cakes and had a small party on the front area in front of the B&B.

Bus Trip out of Town

Today was our bus trip out of town. We had to leave really early before breakfast, so we grabbed our snacks as breakfast. We needed to be to a location near Victoria Station by 8:30 and I didn't want to be late and miss it. Since it was rush hour on the train, we worked out a system for keeping track of everyone. Today we didn't lose anyone and we seem to be getting pretty good at navigating the Underground system. We made it about 8:10, so we had time to spare. Once our tour guide came, we loaded the bus.

Once we were underway, the tour guide informed us that the Queen had closed Windsor Castle for the day because she was using it. So that loss, actually became my gain. Because their backup site for the tours is Hampton Court Palace, where I wanted to visit, but thought I wouldn't be able to get to. It was one of Henry VIII's favorite palaces and I really wanted to see it. Built in the 15th century, the building is in remarkably good condition and had wonderful ceiling paintings, gardens, and wordwork. It has over 1,200 rooms. There is a clock tower that is amazing with a clock that not only tells the time, but also the day, month, moon phase, tide level for the Thames, and astrological sign. It also still works. We didn't get to see the ghost of Catherine Howard in the haunted hallway though. But as we were leaving Good King Hal and one of his many wives, maybe Catherine Howard went strolling through the courtyard into the castle. We learned, while looking at portraits, that often to get a full-checked impression in pictures, the person sitting for the portrait would have a fruit in their mouth.

Then we moved onto Stonehenge. It started to rain when we got there but it didn't last long. The rain was kind of funny because it rained that last time I visited Stonehenge. Last of all we visited the Roman baths in Bath. Bath is a really unique town and one that would be worth visiting again. It was neat to learn about the Roman baths there and how they functioned. We got back to town about 7:30. Most of us headed back to Pax Lodge, but a few looked for some souvenirs. Tomorrow we leave London to head to Dover. Today was pretty relaxing, even though we covered a lot of ground.

Seeing London in 2 days

I knew that trying to see all of the important things in London in two days was going to be difficult. So we have had a couple of very busy days looking at all of the sights and the girls are tired when they arrive back to Pax Lodge. Tonight we tried to come back early, but despite our best efforts, it was late again. So on Saturday, we set out for central London and spent most of the morning and some of the afternoon riding the Tour Bus (double decker) around London and seeing the sights. The busses drove fast, so sometimes it was hard to get pictures. We also went to the Hard Rock Cafe to shop and see the vault. We walked along one of the Parks (Green Park, I think), to look at some art by local artists. Then we caught another bus and finished out our day at the British Museum looking at all of the cool stuff there. I was especially interested in the Mummies, the Parthenon sculptures and the Chessmen. We then had tickets for a river cruise on the Thames and went from Westminster to the Tower of London. When that was done, we headed back towards Pax Lodge stopping at a restaurant names "Giraffe" for dinner.

Today, we participated in the flag ceremony at Pax Lodge. I should have learned the tune of the World Center song before coming, not too good on the singing. We then headed out for the day trying to get to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. We couldn't see much though. Then we walked to Westminster Abbey, visited the City Loos (50 pence to go in), the Abbey gift shop and took pictures of the outside. Then we headed to the Tower of London.

We took a tour of the Tower led by one of the Beefeaters and learned alot. We then split up. I went with a group to see the torture instruments, many looked very painful. We also saw the armor in the White Tower and walked along the wall. You might want to privately ask me how I think Henry VIII viewed his manhood with his armor. LOL. I can show you a picture. Then Brittany wanted to see Abbey Road, so we found it and spent a lot of time trying to take pictures crossing it and getting it right. There was a bunch of traffic and a bunch of people there. By this time we were all exhausted and hungry. We headed back on the Underground towards Pax Lodge. We split up for dinner. I ate with a group that went to the George Pub. We had good traditional British food, but alas, no beer, :(

So that is two days in London in a nutshell. Tomorrow we do our tour of Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge.

Heading to Europe

Well we had a shaky start on Thursday. In Emporia everything seemed fine. We met at the Amend GS Center and divided into cars and headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight, or so we thought. When I went to ask about checking the group in, they told me that our flight didn't exist and we had been put on the flight that was leaving in 15 minutes. Talk about panic. The United Customer Service staff were great and got us checked in quickly and held the plane for us. Now our worry was that our luggage would arrive with us. We made the flight and from then on our trip was pretty uneventful. We did have a couple of meltdowns because some didn't have time to get food in KC before we left, but we fed everyone in Chicago and actually had a little extra time there.

Except for a little turbelance in the beginning, our flight from Chicago to London went well, except that every one was tired when we arrived. We managed to navigate the London Underground with our luggage and made it to Pax Lodge without too much trouble. We left our stuff at Pax Lodge and then went to the Camden Markets to do some shopping and grab a bite to eat. Then we had a tour of Pax Lodge and a Royal Cream Tea. Now we are meeting to head to the Lion King and then collapse in our beds for the night.

Europe Trip

Well our Europe Girl Scout Trip is coming faster than I think that I am ready. We have 9 girls and 7 adults to go to Europe, and we are leaving in 15 days. We have been planning this trip for the last two years and now the rubber is meeting the road and we need to finalize all of our details. We have a couple more meetings left to plan the last few details such as a Swaps, our presentation for international night, etc... I need to sit down with a last minute to do list to make sure that I have everything taken care of for the trip. We have plane tickets, train tickets, lodging. All of those are paid and taken care of for the trip - along with tickets for Lion King and our tour information. I plan to use this blog to help keep people informed a long the way on our trip.