Well that 's all the german I know. I had a wonderful trip. I left here, bags and all, taxi at the door with 2 offers from the boys next door to carry my suitcase (which weighed quite a bit) down the stairs. Of couse I said no. What people need to know about me is the I will ALWAYS say no the first time because I am shy and don't want to disturb anyone but you have to ask me a second time, then I will most probably say yes, you can help. However, I dragged that suitcase outside and the driver took it from there. I did NOT miss my train, however, I was not sure if I was going to make my plane. When looking at my ticket the night before, I noticed but that my plane was leaving from Terminal 1 and the train arrives at Charles de Gaules Airport Terminal 2. I needed to take like a tramway to Terminal 1. Who only checks that the night before. Obviously, me. This was not giving me 2 hours before my flight and didn't know how to get to Terminal 1. Of course, I called André who knows everything and he knew exactly what to do. What a man. He should be called a genius. However, just to make sure that I didn't get into panic mode just thinking about that, I did the logical thing and had a little drink. It worked. I didn't panic.
Got to Zurich and saw the most unbelievable picture. The Swiss Alps. Until you see them, you cannot imagine what it looks like. This is being put on my bucket list. I will go back and spend some time.
Claudia was at the airport to meet me and it was so nice to see her. All week I was treated like a Queen. Now that I think of it, I should have a tiara if I am going to be treated like a queen. There was no tiara......next time.....tiara, dollar store, plastic tiara for MOI. Tuesday Claudia and I left in the morning to go get Mirjam at university in Chemnitz. Not sure if this is how you spell it but that's OK, none of my friends know where it is so the spelling doesn't matter. It's 2 1/2 hours from Nuremburg and is in East Germany.
Mirjam has a very nice apartment and we had ladies movie night with wine and chips. Mirjam and I are the only ones that ate chips but Claudia sat in the middle because we needed someone to hold the bowl. Thank you Claudia. We can always count on you. We watched PS, I love you. We came back the next day and I had a great week visiting them. I ate too much, always 2 plate fulls and just so you know Claudia and Mirjam, you accomplished what nobody else has ever been able to, and Diane and Philippe plus my aunt Pierrette would be very proud of you......drum roll..........I ate cooked carrots. I only eat them raw and this is from way back in my childhood. Cooked carrots and me just don't get along. They look at me and I look at them and I win all the time, but I wanted to make you proud.
Mirjam and Claudia made supper but I did the dishes...alone. They said that I had to earn my keep so they forced me.
See how color coordinated I am. Mirjam gave me this beautiful scarf for Christmas and it matches my sweater and the placemat. I'm not just a pretty face. I have taste... She also gave me a memory game with 25 sets of pictures of her and I. Now that is very original and special. We played, she won, I am not playing again. Only kidding. I let her win. It's things a mother does.
Yesterday, I ventured to Nuremburg all by myself. You have to know that Claudia and Werner live in Grosshabersdorf which is a village about 20 minutes away. Werner printed me a map of the inner city (colored may I add. Nothing but the best), Mirjam wrote all the phone numbers down that I might need and which stations to get on and off. But I was being watched from all over.
Oh I took the map out so I would look like a tourist, then would turn to the right and look, then turn to the left and look. Turn my map upside down pretending that I didn't know which way to look at it because it was in German. Can you get a visual. Oh, believe me, I played the part. Not a soul asked me if I needed help. Bummer. Everywhere I went, I always said Guten tag and Danké. I think they thought that I was a local. I'm a natural, it's in me. It's a gift I have. Only kidding. Here are a few pictures of what I saw. But I was never alone. I think that spies were hired to keep a close eye on me. These men were there making sure that I didn't get lost. I didn't stand a chance. Everywhere I went, there they were.
At one point, I found a city map and I was trying to find where I was and looking for: YOU ARE HERE but all I could find was: YOU ARE LOST. No I wasn't.
After myday, I met Mirjam at Oma's apartment. Oma made a cake for me. She is such a joy to be around.
OK, this is a long blog so you might want to take a break. I'm not done yet. Lots happened. Do you need a pee break. I can wait.....OK, are you back. Let's continue. One of the challenges that I have here, living in France, is how to put a duvet in a duvet cover. I mentioned it in my previous blog and Mandy, thank you for your suggestion. However, while I was at Claudia, I learned from the best of the best on how to put a duvet in a duvet cover. Pictures to prove it. Duvet 101. I also learned how to open a beer from Werner which is very important. See Bird concentrating. This does not happen often, just for important things.
Today I came back. Mirjam, Johannes and Dominik brought me to the airport. We parked the car at Oma's (Claudia's mother) and then we took the underground to the airport. The boys were real gentlemen, they took care of my suitcase.
Dominik is always being funny as you can see from this picture. I thanked them, said goodbye and went through the gate. Ah, what nice duty free stores they have and while I was browsing, the moment I had been waiting for all my life happened. They called my name on the speaker. ME. German, german, german, Louise Webster, german german. Well how proud was I. Not once but twice. It takes me awhile to catch on. I guess my browsing through the stores was taking a little too much time. Too bad because I was buying all of you some gifts and I had to run because I almost missed my flight. So I guess nobody is getting anything. On the plane from Zurich to Paris, I think that I was sitting with a superstar because he left his sun glasses on the whole time. He did not want to be recognized. Incognito... He must have been someone big and maybe going to the Oscars or something. I just played along and talked small talk because I didn't want to be like the paparazzi. What I did find out is that he was just flying back from Cape Town. He had been there for 5 months. I'm telling you, this guy was somebody and I got to sit with him. He ate a sandwich, had a glass of apple juice and water. Asked for a second sandwich and the stewardess said NO. Who does that. They were the size of my little finger.
It was a nice week. I spent quality time with Mirjam and Johannes. Good conversations with Claudia and Werner and I saw Oma and Dominik who is still as cute as ever.
Monday is back to work and back to the routine but the best part of having been gone is that some guides sent me emails saying that they missed me. How cool is that. I was very touched. For some odd reason I think they like me and I really don't know why but I'm not asking any questions. If I can fool them in thinking that I'm nice until the end, that's OK. Works for me.
PS....fly Swiss Air, they give you free booze and chocolates but only one sandwich but the chocolates were worth the trip. Big ones and I took 2. Actually I took 6. 2 when I walked in the plane, the woman gave me 2 at my seat then she held the basket on our way out. They were so happy that I flew with them that they kept putting signs all over to thank me. I guess I'm just one of those people...OK, I hope you feel the sarcasm when I'm saying this. Anyway, see for yourself.
Well this is the end of my blog. One week in one blog. Now waiting for my company to arrive. Lise and Gordon, your room is ready.
Bird xoxox
Well written and great photos Loulou. We really get a sense of what you did while you were there. Enjoy your visit with Lise and Gordon.
ReplyDeleteTalk to you soon,
Love, Becky