Musings

A potpurri of observations:

-I don’t think I want to be away from kids for any longer than 11 days. This trip was just about right for truly getting away, but we love them so much and want to get back. It will be very interesting to evolve in the coming years to traveling with them. It will be be exciting and cumbersome and rewarding and annoying. I can’t wait.

-Bruges is really neat. It’s also a lot like Venice. But there is a focus on beer, chocolate, and waffles. 

-For someone borderline conversational in French, fluent in English, and with zero Dutch/Flemish, it is entirely unclear what language to speak in Bruges, but they don’t care, and they generally all speak flawless English, eventually.

-The USWNT fan base is my favorite rabid/crazy fan base. They’re obnoxious in similar ways to other fans (think college football), and a tiny bit desperate to prove the legitimacy of their fandom (think all U.S. soccer), but they are tirelessly positive. They also travel by the thousands across the ocean to support the most bad ass women athletes the world has ever seen, and I am fiercely proud to have marched with them while shouting out for equal pay one minute and singing America the Beautiful the next. 

-Soccer matches in Europe with an engaged and invested crowd are the best sporting events. We felt it in Barcelona 5 years ago, and we felt in Paris this week. My parents commented on the wall of noise that hits you when the home team scores. They sing, they chant, and when they really find their voices, you feel it in your core.

-Stephanie really likes the France women’s world cup jerseys. She’s not totally wrong.

-There’s like a secret code for getting free water in French restaurants, which is basically ask for it in a carafe.

-Brussels midi train station, confusingly, is not the same as Brussels centrale train station, but instead is the same as Brussels south train station.

-Paris is a completely different place during the summer tourist season than in the Fall or Spring, and all of them are wonderful. This time around, everything seemed about 10x as crowed as our prior visits, but the parks were full of life, both with green trees and flowers, and with people enjoying every inch of available park space. The city was full of people and full of energy. For our first several days there, the weather was ideal, which made walking everywhere and staying up late a real pleasure. The brutal heat of our last few days served to offset the overall positive experience of summer in Europe.

-In June, in northern Europe, it’s hard to stay up until it’s dark, but it’s totally worth it for the glowing lights and the youthful energy on the streets.

-When traveling in Europe, we like to live like the locals do. That's actually not really true. But what we do like to do is try out weird snacks that locals (maybe?) eat. Especially weird flavors of potato chips.

The Bad Parts

Probably more than any of my past trips to Europe, this one brought a mix of bad with all of the great. Let’s take some space to discuss what went wrong:

-Aging: the pitfalls of growing old presented themselves in a few ways on our trip. Part of this is a result of our borderline frantic approach to touring, but we wore out my parents, and eventually ourselves too. Most of our group ended up with blisters of one kind or another, and everyone was tired by the end. Dad’s fall in Versailles was disappointing, as he’s been riding bikes forever, but was just somehow kind of off that day. Mom’s hearing is sometimes a struggle, especially when dealing with a different language or an impatient son. Stephanie and I are older too, and the occasional guilt when thinking about our kids or work crept in a few times.

-Pickpockets: it really sucks that my dad was robbed, pretty aggressively, and more less in plain sight in the middle of the day. That made us all pretty mad and sad. There were also several other attempts, although less bold, and more annoying than threatening, throughout our trip. It sucks to have to be super vigilant when touring anything in Paris.

-The rude French: to be clear, most of the people who served us in various capacities were kind and patient with us, but not everyone. Also to be clear, there are rude people everywhere, including in famously nice Iowa. But on occasion, we did run into people who came way too close to confirming the caricature of rude French waiters who clearly don’t want Americans in their establishment. I promise I tried very hard to converse as completely in French as possible, but sometimes that wasn’t cutting it, and I guess maybe it doesn’t matter. This one was not a big deal, and we completely survived these situations.

-Bugs: some of us, but especially me, fell victim to a whole bunch of some kind of biting bugs. We think it was in Bruges, and we mostly think it was bed bugs. I’d show you pictures of my arm, but we didn’t take any, and it’s gross anyway. If it wasn’t bed bugs, it was flying insects that invaded our apartment, when we opened most of the window to help with the heat, which brings us to:

-The famous lack of air conditioning in Paris: upon our return to Paris, we faced a record breaking heatwave with unprecedented high temperatures for June. I really hate to join the chorus of Americans blasting Parisians for not being able to handle the heat, but it was pretty oppressive most of the places we went. Nights with a fan were absolutely tolerable, and we did find some cooler places to tour and rest, but it did sap some of our already waning energy to be sure. The heat also meaningfully detracted from a couple restaurant experiences that otherwise would have been superb. When you have to seat through a meal then wait 20 minutes for the check to escape to the relatively cool 85 degree evening air, it’s a little harder to enjoy the truly exceptionally cuisine.

-My lack of patience with all of the above: I’m not proud of some of my reactions to a lot of what went wrong. I was snappy, impatient, and selfish. Everyone in my family was very kind and handled things quite well, but I was too often grumpy in response to things going wrong. Sorry guys, and thanks for putting up with a whiny teenager of a 34-year-old.

-Our lack of creativity in sight-seeing: I’m starting to fell bad about how much we revisit the same sights in Paris. I’m sure we’re missing out on some fantastic new adventures. This one doesn’t fell too bad though, as we really like the sights we like.

Fin - the end. These are the bad things. Our trip was truly great, and I’m very glad to have shared it with these three companion travelers.

Last Day in Paris

For our final day in Paris, we took things relatively slow. We all slept in after a late night of cheering on the USA and meandering home afterward.

We decided to head over to the Rodin museum, which was only a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and would be a new experience for all of us. The museum is a hybrid indoor/outdoor experience, set in a stately old house that Rodin lived in and the beautiful gardens that surround it. We toured it all leisurely, enjoying the world famous sculptures and also the beautiful setting, inside and out. Among other things, we enjoyed a break at the cafe in the well-shaded garden.

We ended buying passes that also included a free entry to the Musee D’Orsay, which we visited immediately after the Rodin. It was nice to spend a little more time enjoying all the impressionist masterpieces in the beautiful setting of the former train station. We even lingered in the penthouse cafe and enjoyed a light lunch.

Finally we headed back to the apartment, and enjoyed one last dinner together at an Italian restaurant just down the street. 

Le Cirque du Shitshow

Let me tell you about the greatest spectacle women’s soccer has ever seen. U.S. national treasure Megan Rapinoe had earlier in the week expressed hope that the game would be a total "shitshow circus." It was the United States versus France in the quarter final of the world cup. The U.S. came in as the reigning champions, confronting their strongest challenger playing at home in their capital city. 

Having been to other USWNT matches, and knowing how many Americans we had run into in Paris in the days leading up to it, I was expecting a majority U.S. crowd. I was wrong. The U.S. fans did show up in great numbers, and in full voice, but to be honest, it was very clearly a home game for Les Bleues. The setting was the cavernous Parc des Princes stadium in western Paris, along the Seine, late in the evening after a long, hot day.

For us, game night started at the pre-game party with the American Outlaws supporter group. The party was in a park/outdoor bar area about a mile from the stadium, and the beer was flowing, the stars and stripes were waving, and faces were painted. From there, it was time to march. Something like 1200 of us marched through the streets of western Paris, singing, clapping, and waving to surpassed residents hanging out their windows and observing the parade of Americans literally parading through their neighborhood, most of them capturing videos of us on their phones as we passed by. It was weird and wonderful. 

The game was at 9:00 local time, so the heat wasn’t as intense as it had been in Reims for the game against Spain, but any relief in heat was more than offset by the wall of noise the French fans made with their many songs, chants, and cheers. Some of that tension was cut almost immediately, when Megan Rapinoe opened the scoring wishing the first 10 minutes, driving a free kick through was seemed like all of the other players on the field, and ultimately into the French goal. 1 - 0 U.S. We were off and rolling. That was the end of the scoring in the first half, and we entered half time with a lead, albeit an uneasy one. Not to far into the second half, Rapine added another to make it 2 - 0. It must be said that while we were up, France was kind of dominating the game. They had more of the ball, and the game spent far more time near our goal than theirs. It looked like we had added a third goal not long later, but it was ruled out due to a marginal (and bad?) offside call. A French fan near me was happy to wave a correcting finger as I celebrated the goal. Instead of up 3 - 0 it was still 2, and it was 2 -1 not long later when France’s giant defender Wendie Renard struck with her head on a well-executed set piece. The crowd roared, and didn't stop until the end of the game. That led to a final 15 minutes of hanging on and survival for the U.S. It felt like a repeat of Spain, where the opponent had numerous opportunities to tie the game, but our women held on strong, and preserved victory.

Later on, my parents commented on the visceral experience of the noise that the French fans made, how you could feel it in your core after they scored. That feeling is why I also say that European soccer matches are my favorite live sporting events, and this game did nothing but reinforce that. But the USA prevailed, and we made our way through the late night streets of Paris back to our apartment to rest up for our final day in Paris. 

Go USA!

Pre-game USA fan party

Team USA huddling after securing the win

Back to Paris

After our excellent express tour of Bruges, it was back to Paris. While it had been nice and cool in Bruges, we knew that it was going to be boiling hot back in Paris, so we tried to soak in the pleasant weather before we departed.

We took a bus to the train station in Bruges, and found our train and off we went. We arrived back in Paris without incident. Stephanie and I had to go pick up our luggage, which had been stored in a locker at a really helpful place just for that purpose. Mom and Dad braved the teeming crowds and aggressive panhandlers at the infamous Paris Gare du Nord train station. We reunited after gathering our bags, and we all hopped on a very crowded metro headed toward out apartment for the last leg of our trip. Dad barely made it on the train and was jostled around a lot by a crowd of men near the door.

Eventually, we made it to our new apartment, which was excellent. The forecast had been correct, and it was hot, but nothing a fan or two couldn’t make bearable.

We decided to go on a shopping/tourism outing to Le Bon Marche and La Grande Epicerie, the former a classic Paris department store, and later the biggest and nicest kitchen store there is. For one of the only times on the trip, we had to drag Mom along, as she stopped and shopped for various items along the way.  On the walk home, we did more modern shopping at very nice, but more or less standard grocery store. Once back in the apartment, we had the first of what would be several good long sits in the heat of the apartment living room.

it was around now that Mom listened to a voice mail, which let us know that suspicious activity had occurred on one of their credit cards. This led Dad to the realization that he no longer had his wallet. We think it was very likely the aggressive men on the metro who relieved him of it. That was a huge bummer, and sucked a bit of energy and goodwill from our group. Credit to Stephanie, who jumped to action to help get everything cancelled and communicated, and to notify the credit agencies. She was awesome at a pretty lousy moment.

When evening arrived, we made our way up to the Seine, and poked our heads into Shakespeare and Company, the famous book store. There were authors reading from their books outside, and nooks, crannies, and corners filled with books inside. We walked on the left bank, right across from Notre Dame, and saw some of the damage from the recent fire. The absence of the spire was notable and sad. We strolled across the river and stopped on Ile St. Louis for ice cream at Berthilon, the famous ice cream shop. We made our way briefly across to the right bank in search of a cafe we never found, but we did wade into the crowds enjoying the banks of the river. It was a classic summer scene in Paris. Finally, we went back to Ile St. Louis and found a perfect spot for dinner, where we all enjoyed a great French meal.

Bruges

Bruges

In the middle of our time in Paris, the four of us took a quick side-trip to Bruges, Belgium. None of us had ever been to Belgium before, so it was a new adventure.

My expectations were a well-preserved old European city with cobbled squares, canals, and plentiful beer, chocolate, mussels, and waffles. Our stay did not disappoint. 

Upon arrival in mid-afternoon in Bruges, we took a cab to our bed and breakfast. I was facing backward in the van, and it felt like a poorly calibrated amusement park ride. Lots of twists and turns, never knowing where we were headed next. We did get to our place with no problem, and claimed a few flights of stairs into our finished attic/loft of an apartment. It was super cool.

Once settled in, we made our way out and oriented ourselves to the Bruges city center, which is definitely best experienced on foot. If you’ve ever been to Venice, there are a lot of similarities to the layout. It’s really a labyrinth of narrow streets that wind in whichever direction they please. There are also a series of canals crisscrossing the city. it’s really lovely. To aid in our orientation, and to beat some unexpected heat, we took a canal tour on a little boat. The tour guide was difficult to hear, but we got enough of the gist (there are lots of canals and lots of old buildings - mostly churches. it was an easy way to see some of the sights. 

The remainder of our time in Bruges was dedicated to aimless wandering, beer including a brewery tour, and eating (including a visit to the open-air market in the central square).

Our time in Bruges really hit the spot for a cooler weather change of pace.

Our Bruges B&B

Boat tour

Boat tour

Excellent beer terrace

Market

Waffle

The brewery tour included great views

Brewery tour

Beer

Family waffle dinner

Our B&B was a very old Belgian house, with many interesting features

Enjoying breakfast at the B&B in front of this amazing window

Reims and USA vs. Spain

Yesterday, Stephanie and I took a one-day trip to Reims. For those of you like me who perhaps do not know the proper French pronunciation of Reims, start with the word France, then drop the F at the beginning, then make the n a hybrid of an n and an m, so something like rams or rance. Reims is the unofficial capital of the Champagne region of France, so we were sure to pay proper homage at a cafe on the place de la crypt (or something very like that).

Soon enough, though, it was time to prepare for the main event, the reason were in Reims in the first place - it was time to prepare for the United States Women's National Team to take on Spain in the round of 16 of the world cup.

Quick aside - a good chunk of the inspiration for this entire trip was a trip Stephanie and I took 4 years ago to Vancouver during the last women's world cup. We so enjoyed it that Stephanie decided we were definitely coming to France this time. So here we are.

Back to Reims. It was clear even in Paris that American soccer fans were flooding in for the tournament, and to support our team. That become comically obvious on the train from Paris to Reims, and we met up with the supporter group watch party ahead of the game. The whole group marched through downtown Reims over to the stadium.

The game was at 6:00 local time, and it was freaking hot. Like, I assume the players didn't have 3 glasses of champagne before the game, but it was a physical challenge to sit in the sun that long. The stakes were serious now, with the winner moving on and the loser being knocked out of the  tournament. Spain came in as something of an unknown. They have improved a lot in the last few years, and that showed up on Monday. They were tactically and technically very strong, able to deftly control the ball and keep possession far more than most U.S. opponents. The game was tight, with both teams scoring in the first 15 minutes, then nothing for the next hour of play. Between the heat, the pressure, and the strong opponent, things got tense. And then American Hero Megan Rapinoe ensured the U.S. would play another day by finishing off her second penalty kick of the game, and we celebrated a hard-fought victory.

And that means we get to see one more game, this one back in Paris, agains France (the home team for those of you not keeping up). Rapinoe is hoping for, and I think she will get, a shitshow circus around the match on Friday, and all four of us will be there for it. Stephanie barely survived the first game (see her below on the train back to Paris this morning), who knows if any of us, or the USWNT will survive the next.




USA!