Day 1 - As soon as I returned home from teaching an early morning yoga class (6:45 -7:45am) the boys and I had breakfast and took a cab to the Edinburgh airport. Flew into Hahn, Germany (near Frankfurt). Took a bus and then train to small town on the Rhine River called Bingen. Stayed at an absolutely great hostel (easily the nicest one of our entire trip) ... they had great food, a terraced patio overlooking the town and river, playgrounds for children.
Day 2 - Took a KD boat trip up the Rhine from Bingen to Cologne (Koln) ... took all day from 10:30am to 8:00pm. This was included in the eurorail pass as a free benefit and we loved it. The boat trip passes several dozen castles and you get spectacular views of steep hills with Riesling grapes growing along row after endless row. The boys had a really fun time ... especially on the upper deck playing on a slide and sloshing around in a wading pool. The food on the ship was surprisingly absolutely jaw-dropping delicious. Stayed in a hostel on the north-east end of the city.
Day 3 - Went to the Cologne zoo which was conveniently a short walk from the hostel. The best zoo that any of us has ever been too (and that's saying something!) ... huge exhibits and a great aquarium onsite too. Highlights included a butterfly garden in which they came up and landed on us! Later that day went into centre town to celebrate the Cologne nights summer celebration (the biggest fireworks show in Europe). We had to goto the train station though and the boys fell asleep before the big light show. Caught a late overnight train from Cologne into Switzerland.
Day 4 - Great train connections to get into Geneva early in the morning ... went to their Museum of Art and History (I highly recommend it!) and saw awesome exhibits on many cultures including Greek, Roman, and Egyptian. I really wanted to include a lot of educational events for the boys in the trip. Harrison was really happy about it since he is seriously into Egyptian history (since going to the Tutankhamun exhibit in London at Easter time). A huge museum that really wasn't very busy at all. Later in the afternoon we took a tour of the underground ruins at St Peter's Cathedral in the heart of Geneva's old town (I wanted Harrison to see that archaeology is more than just about Egypt). In the afternoon, travelled to Lausanne where we stayed at a hostel for a couple of nights.
Day 5 - The day before Harrison had seen countless store windows with watches and Swiss army knives. We decided that he could get a small authentic Victorinox Swiss knife as a souvenir (to use responsibly) so we went shopping and Parker got some cute socks too! Once that was out of the way we took a short train to Montreux and had a great afternoon walking and playing along the shores of Lake Geneva (called Lac Leman there). We took a boat from Montreux back to Lausanne / Ouchy (also included in our rail passes) and then returned to the hostel.
Day 6 - A big travel day! Train to Montreux where we caught the Golden Pass (a particularly scenic train line) that took us through various alpine communities to see another and very traditional part of Swiss life. We had a 3 hour stop in Zwiesimmen so Harrison suggested we take the cable car up to the top of the mountain (great idea!). We enjoyed unbelievable views, a playground and restaurant at the top. Later took other trains through Switzerland until we caught an overnight train (this time with proper beds / couchettes) to the south of France.
Day 7 - Arrived in St Raphael in the morning and had a breakfast of croissants and fresh fruit on a sandy beach of the French Riviera. Checked into our hostel on the outskirts of town (in neighbouring Frejus) and then returned to the beach where the boys enjoyed playing in the sand and water. Later that evening Harrison starts to talk about not feeling great (I chalked it up to too much travel and not being used to the heat).
Day 8 - Super fun action packed day at Aqualand ... a waterslide park in Frejus ... a great way to beat the hot, hot, hot sun! Both boys loved the slides (particularly Parker who is a natural daredevil). Everyone is exhausted at the end of the day (not helped by walking over an hour back to the hostel since no cabs around and public transit ended early that day) and Harrison feeling really tired/sick at night.
Day 9 - Harrison feeling really sick and is now scared of being in the direct sun. So we spent the day trying to minimize activities and passing time indoors in threatres watching children's movies in French (hey, at least it was eductional for them to see "Kung Fu Panda" in another language). Waited at the train station until we caught a night train to take us to Paris ... Harrison very glad to be leaving south of France but not thrilled with the motion of the night train.
Day 10 - Arrived early in Paris to much cooler weather (thankfully). Simple plan for the day, check into our hostel along the north-east end of the metro system in Clichy and have lots of rest. Harrison had a big nap and went to bed early but still complaining of severe abdominal cramping ... I am getting worried it might not be the heat or travel. Another tough night!
Day 11 - I took the boys to the children's hospital ... all vacation since Switzerland I had been speaking lots of French but now I was particularly thankful that (for the most part) I am fluent in it so that I could interact with and understand the staff. The hospital was awesome and they even waived the hospital fees for us (lucky for us since although we had insurance we would have had to pay for it and then get reimbursed later). Harrison got looked at and x-rays of his abdomen showed he was severely constipated. A few hours later with medication and after an enema back at the hostel Harrison began pooping again and feeling better immediately. We took a metro into Paris, walked along the Champs Elysees, had the best cheese omlettes of our lives (ironically at an Irish pub in Paris), and then met up with very good friends from Calgary Canada who were in Paris at the same time. Meeting with them was probably the tipping point in deciding to go on a European holiday in the first place. They have been very good to us taking care of our dog Riley for the past year and their son Jake is one of Harrison's best friends ... so it was important to us to make the effort to see them while they were overseas. Harrison went to bed early and had the best sleep in a week.
Day 12 - Met Jake (and his dad Roland) and took an early train to Disneyland Paris. We had a great day there on various rides and really enjoyed staying on-site at the Disneyland Hotel Sequoia Lodge ... super swank, awesome pool, great restaurants! Our friends stayed with us at our hotel room.
Day 13 - Up early for breakfast and to enjoy Disneyland for a couple of hours before the general public could enter. Another action packed day at the park before returning to Paris where we stayed at our friends hotel for the night. I took care of all the kids swimming, returned back to the Irish pub for more cheese omlettes, and then put them to bed. Roland and Carolyn were happy that I could babysit their son too so that they could go out on the town as a couple for the evening while in the city of lights.
Day 14 - Our friends left to goto the airport and we said goodbye to them. Since their hotel was along Rue de Rivoli and we were close anyways, the boys and I went to the Louvre for a couple of hours and toured just a portion of their Egyptian exhibit. It is a massive place (as Harrison said 'you could get lost in it') and was very busy. Returned back to the hostel to wash some laundry and pack. Had a nice 'victory supper' to celebrate our vacation at a great Italian restaurant in Clichy ... by the way I loved this part of Paris (hardly any tourists go there so it is a real authentic residential part of the city).
Day 15 - Travelled home ... 3 metro trains, train from Paris to Beauvais, bus to airport, flight to Scotland (delayed 1.5 hours), train from Prestwick airport to downtown Glasgow, train from Glasgow to Edinburgh ... I'm completely done! Arrived home to a wonderful welcome from Harriet (decorations & all our favorite foods).
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