Hi all!

Yesterday was super rainy and was a sort of lazy day. We woke up early to visit some flea markets north of Montmartre. The rain was heavy and cold. There were a ton of shops to look at, most with antique furniture. There were some fantastic pieces that had both Al and I drooling. Alas, I don’t think they will let me bring a desk as my carry-on…

Luckily the rain stopped right as we were climbing the hill to Sacre-Couer. The church steps have a great view of the city, and supposedly the dome does to but we were in no mood to climb anymore. We circled our way down the hill to Place du Tertre. The central square, it is where many local artists set up easels and sell their art. You could buy anything from portraits to scenic views. Everything was beautiful, and if I could find a way to fit a canvas in my bag I would have. We had lunch in the square and sat outside like proper Parisians.

Sensing the rain was headed our way again we finished the day outside the Moulin Rouge. Tired after a long week we came home and watched some movies. We packed, cleaned, and we’re ready for beer and Germany. In that order.

Today we traveled a lot. There is no direct train from Paris to Munich so after a fond farewell to the flat we left for the metro at 7:15. As a side note, I had an apricot muffin today that was filled with jam and I’m not kidding…it was straight nectar of the Gods.

Our first train to Strasbourg took about two hours. We then had 8 minutes to connect with the next train to Offenburg which only took us 30 minutes to Karlsruhe. We had another 6 minutes to get on the train from Karlsruhe to Munich. Finally after three hours we were in Munich.

Our hostel is right around the corner from the train station and soon we were checked in. We met a girl from Ontario and invited her to dinner with us. We went to a local brewery called Augustiner Braustuben. Picture a Bavarian dining hall with massive tables and big mugs of beer and you have this place. I kid you not, at one point someone started singing. They store the beer in wooden kegs and have a machine in the center of the room that brings the kegs up from the basement. I had a radler which is a blond lager mixed with lemonade. Hoo baby. So light, and perfect. For dinner I had the tavern masters special which was way too much but a sampler of everything. It had a meatball, pork saddle (?), mushrooms, a kind of ravioli, and dumplings. Sigh and drool. So good and hearty.

Tired after a day of travel and an early rise, we are going to bed early. Tomorrow we are going to Marienplatz which is the center square. We hope to catch the Glockenspiel and then head to the Deutsche’s museum. It’s a science museum for a change of pace! Then we are going to the New Pinakothek for some more Impressionist art. Woot!