We went to our doctors’ appointments – and my very critical hair appointment – saw a few friends and family members in Minnesota then flew back to Paris. Our goal for this trip was to visit Disneyland Paris and parts of southern France.

We landed at 6:00 a.m. Our hotel wasn’t available until 2:00 p.m. We had given ourselves a “day of rest” so we had nothing pressing. We found a lovely little cafe at the end of the block near our hotel. We first sipped cups of coffee at a snail’s pace, then ordered something for lunch. We absolutely adored the cafe! The coffee was wonderful and we were happy to relax in a lovely setting while we worked very hard to stay awake before going back to the hotel.

We arrived a second time at the hotel between noon and 1:00 p.m. We headed to their small eating area that included some sofas. I sank down on one sofa and listened to Michael chat with guests. Before I knew it, it was time to check in. Michael informed me that I had been snoring and capturing the attention of other guests. Oops!

We took a nap (a second one for me, apparently) and went to the same cafe for dinner. At that point, we were all about location.

Our second day was devoted to Disneyland Paris.

We had to schedule a trip to the US in February to see some doctors. We decided to spend a couple of days in Paris before going to the US then spend eight more days in France on our return trip.

The Musée d’Orsay is on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography.

To be completely honest, the main reason I wanted to visit the Musée d’Orsay was to see the view from the clock. We never did find the view from the clock, but we enjoyed our visit, especially the sculptures. Here are just a few pictures of the museum and the sculptures on display.

This next sculpture – Ugolin -has a rather dark back story.

Seahike had been standing still in Tunisia for about 3 ½ months by this time. She would be sitting still for another six weeks or so until we started our sailing season. We decided that this would be a good time to have her hauled out to get her bottom power washed, sanded and repainted with primer and anti-fouling. We also took the opportunity to have her tops and sides polished, have a mechanic look at the starboard sail drive and engine, and replace the sacrificial anodes.

We planned to leave for the US via France in February and wanted to be around for the haul out. (You will also recall that we’d planned some time before this to have her hauled out, as that is why we returned from our trip to Germany and Switzerland earlier than we had wanted.) The haul-out was scheduled for January 31. A beautiful sunset kept us company as we took Seahike to a nearby port where they have haul-out facilities.

We were instructed to be at the port at 8:00 a.m. We were. We waited until 11:00 a.m. to actually get Seahike hauled out. I hadn’t witnessed a haul-out before, so I rather enjoyed it.

The huge travel lift has straps that are placed under the boat which then lift it slowly out of the water. Then the travel lift drives the boat to its resting place in the yard, where workers place (in this case) wood under the hulls. The travel lift and its straps then drive away to repeat with another boat.

I am starting with the horrifying site: The Topography of Terror

From Visit Berlin: “Remembering terror and persecution – the documentation centre Topographie des Terrors is one of the most-visited places of remembrance in Berlin.

A place where terror is tangible, a place of remembrance and a warning from history, the “Topography of Terror” exhibition is located on the site where between 1933 and 1945 the principal instruments of Nazi persecution and terror were located: the headquarters of the Gestapo, the high command and security service of the SS, and from 1939 the Reich Security Main Office.”

A description from Germany/travel: “The Topography of Terror is different to the other places of remembrance relating to the rule of Fascism in Berlin because it is the site of the perpetrators. The exhibition at the heart of the capital city informs visitors about the headquarters of the SS and police state, which makes the European aspect of the Nazi reign of terror all the more real.

The site that has been home to the Topography of Terror since 1987 was once used to plan and govern the majority of crimes committed by the Nazis. Between 1933 and 1945, the main institutions of the Nazi instigators of terror, the SS and Gestapo, could be found here. Having been partially destroyed during the war and then changed beyond all recognition later on, this historical site was gradually added back into Germany’s memory of its past from the 1980s onwards. “

The major focus of the permanent exhibition of the “Topography of Terror” is on the central institutions of the SS and police in the Third Reich and the crimes they committed across Europe. The exhibition panels mostly present historical photographs supplemented by introductory texts and short quotes. Under the panels are consoles where thematically arranged documents are displayed.

It was actually quite a horrifying visit. I can’t bring myself to share any of the stories. That said, I think it is important to visit places like this. If you go to Berlin, gird your loins and go.

Now let’s move to the confusing site: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Let’s start with the facts: The monument is composed of 2,711 rectangular concrete slabs (or stelae), laid out in a grid formation, the monument is organized into a rectangle-like array. This allows for long, straight, and narrow alleys between them, along which the ground undulates. The stelae are 7 ft 9 ½ inches long, 3 ft 1 ½ inches wide and vary in height from 8 inches to 15 ft 5 inches. The site occupies an entire 205,000-square-foot city block.

The rest is open to interpretation.

We braved the cold and strong winds and visited several places in Berlin. But first, let’s talk about our hotel and Checkpoint Charlie. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel and Residenz Berlin Checkpoint Charlie. It is a nice hotel, in a good location, and just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie. We recommend it.

For those who need a refresher, Checkpoint Charlie was the best-known border crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. It became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West.

When Berlin was divided into East and West, the former military checkpoint was controlled by the Americans. Only foreigners, employees of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in the GDR, and GDR officials were allowed to cross the border here.

Important Site of the Cold War

There was hardly any other place where the atmosphere of the Cold War was as frosty as at Checkpoint Charlie. The border crossing gained notoriety in October 1961 after the construction of the Berlin Wall: in the last days of October, American and Soviet tanks took up positions here after members of the US mission were asked to identify themselves at the GDR border post when passing through the Allied checkpoint. Soviet and Allied tanks faced each other with live ammunition and a third world war almost ensued. In the years that followed, the checkpoint was the scene of spectacular escapes which often ended in death.

Here it is today! The “sandbags” are made of cement.

I bought this cup at the museum you see in the picture. It isn’t glass or ceramic so it should last on Seahike, unlike the glass glasses we foolishly brought onboard.

We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Lucerne. But because we were on the fastest trip ever to see several sites in Switzerland, it was time to get a move on. Our next stops were Interlaken Ost and Grindelwald. We arrived in Interlaken Ost the evening of the 20th, so we had the full day to visit Grindelwald. If we’d had more time, we would have spent a full day in Interlaken West.

On the walk to the station to go to Grindelwald, we saw a paraglider – yes, paragliding in the middle of the cold winter! Don’t get me wrong, I liked my paragliding experience and I liked my 46 (? – give or take, I don’t recall exactly) skydiving experiences, but I did them when it was warm. No thank you to what this guy is doing! Here he is landing in the park right by our hotel.

Here are two more pictures of Interlaken Ost.

And just like that, we were in Grindelwald. Initial pictures:

If you haven’t read the January 16-18 blog about our visits to Munich and Ulm, you might want to read that first. In the end, the order is immaterial. Just sayin’ that there’s another blog about Munich.

Our main goal (we had a late start) was to get to the glockenspiel before noon to see the re-enactment of a Medieval tournament. It does this at 11:00 a.m. and noon. We had time to visit St. Peter’s church on the way. Actually, we didn’t really visit it so much as utilize the tower for a view. Michael decided to hang out down below while I climbed the 306 steps to the top. The view was quite nice.

Everything that happened next was all about the glockenspiel. I took a video with my phone and grabbed screenshots, so the pics aren’t that great, but I hope it gives you an idea of the “show.”

First, it just shows people and knights hanging out. There is a bit of jousting, but no one is hurt. Then one of the knights gets the other one with the joust. When that happened, Michael said with a dramatic flair, “Oh no, he got him!”

It was time to take another trip. We had planned to go to Germany, Switzerland, and Spain, but we had to limit the trip to Germany and Switzerland. Here’s why: We had to wait until we had been out of Schengen for 90 days, so the earliest we could go to a Schengen country was January 13. Plus, Michael wanted us to return to Tunisia no later than January 26 because they were going to work on Seahike (sand her bottom and apply new antifoul paint) “sometime in late January.”

In the end, we had a total of 10 days for our vacation. Due to available flights and weird extremes of costs, we started in Munich, then went to Switzerland, then went back to Germany to Berlin, then to Monastir. Today’s blog is about our first few days of the trip, in Munich and Ulm.

We first want to give a shoutout to Hotel City Demas in Munich. It is a lovely hotel, with friendly staff, and is within walking distance of lots of stuff. We arrived later in the day so our main goal the first night was to go to a beer hall. We got a nice night-time view of the Neues Rathaus along the way. Here is our hotel and Neues Rathaus (which we visited again in the daytime):

The beer hall was fun. You just grab any old table and plop down. We were fortunate to plop down next to two friendly gentlemen, and not far from the little band. The beer, music and company were all excellent. We ate something, but I don’t remember what it was.

This is where we went: Hofbräuhaus München. A legendary history. After centuries of producing beer for the royals, in 1828 the Hofbräuhaus was opened to the public by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. The beer hall quickly became the center of public and political life in Munich, counting famous names such as Mozart and Lenin amongst its regular customers. 

We only have two days left of what was supposed to have been a six-day road trip. We sort of “lost” the first two days due to the package ordeal, but we are still satisfied with the trip. We are especially excited for today.

But let’s get back to last night. We arrived at the Maison D’Hôtes Dar Fatima in the early evening. This is a B&B and what a B&B it is! We 100 percent recommend this to anyone who wants to stay in a lovely home, with delightful and friendly proprietors, and excellent food! Oh, if you like cats, you will like one of their cats. Even they say that one is nice and one is mean! 🙂

Here are a few pictures of the rooms and the terrace:

We ate a big breakfast and headed out the door.

I’d told Michael that I wanted pictures of camels today. We hadn’t seen many at all thus far (maybe three?) and hadn’t taken any pictures. Boy, did we hit the motherload of camels!!! I mean, we didn’t really hit them, we just admired them. First there was just this one guy by the side of the road:

Then, there were 11 camels crossing the road. . . . quite near a camel crossing sign. 🙂 🙂

We decided to take a road trip. As I began investigating places, I learned that several Star Wars scenes were filmed here. In fact, Tunisia is distinguished as the country with the second most number of unique Star Wars film sites (12 in total).

Our road trip began with a bit of a challenge.

Day One:
We first drove to Tunis (2.5 hours in the “wrong” direction) because a portside window that was supposed to have been delivered to the marina was held up in Customs. Not knowing where exactly to go, we went to the airport. One person directed us to an office at the airport. After finding someone who spoke English there, we were told to go somewhere else. There, we located a FedEx agent who told us that we had to go to a different location to see the Customs Inspector. He mentioned that the inspector works from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It was about 2:00 p.m. at this point. He told us we could go there anyway to see if they would release the package.

The building he showed us on the map turned out to be the wrong building. After asking a few people where to go, we found the FedEx building. Here we learned two things: 1) the package was there, and 2) they would not release the package until the inspector had done his thing. We were instructed to return to return at 9:00 a.m. the next day.

We didn’t want to drive 2.5 hours back to Monastir only to have to return the next morning, so we spent the night in Tunis. We stayed at a lovely hotel and had a nice dinner. But we completely missed the site we were supposed to have visited that day.

Day Two:
We arrived at the FedEx office the next morning at about 9:30. The inspector arrived at about 10:30 a.m. He informed us that we needed to pay a 100 TD fee, but that we needed to go elsewhere to pay it. Luckily, the “payment” location was where we’d been the day before, so we knew where to go. We made the payment and headed back to FedEx with the receipt. We paid another 18 TD (why, we don’t know) to FedEx, after which they assured us that they would mail the package to the marina.

We now needed to drive straight to our hotel, so we didn’t get to see what we’d planned to see on the second day. We drove the last hour in the rain and darkness on some iffy roads, with water, sand and rather large rocks deposited at unexpected intervals due to recent heavy rains. We enjoyed the view of the thousands of trees planted along the way, as well as how the terrain changed from orange to tan.