B-fast in Paris, Lunch in Lichtenstein, Dinner in Austria (Mon July 16)

We headed out Monday morning from our little Paris apartment and caught the train to Zurich.  We had a better train experience this time.  Gard Lyon is much cleaner and easier to navigate (although still not simple—why can’t everyone lay out a terminal like the Atlanta airport!).  The French TGV trains aren’t quite as nice as the British Eurostar trains, but were very well run and a notable improvement over the Dutch-German Thalys trains.

Bolton Mobile Regiment on the move!

At Gare Lyon.  A notable improvement from our previous train
station experience.  We still can’t help but be early,
but this did allow time for one more croissant before leaving France.

On board the TGV train, next stop "Brain Rot Crossing."

Troops off-loading for rapid deployment in Zurich.  You climb in at one place and everyone is speaking French.  You climb out the other end, the buildings are different and everyone speaks German.  Kind of like being teleported.

We picked up our rental car in Zurich.  We brought our GPS from home.  It took it a while before it would believe that we really did jump half-way around the globe, but then it worked like a charm.  We had almost all of our destinations pre-programmed in the Favorites menus so all we have to do is punch in the next destination and go.  That gizmo has been invaluable on this leg of our trip.

Have Gizmo Will Travel

A random Zurich fountain.  Actually seems out of character for the place,
which was very clean and well organized. 

Along the shores of Lake Zurich

Switzerland whizzing by.

Welcome to Lichtenstein.  Strictly speaking it wasn’t the fastest way to go,
 but we decided to add another 15 miles just so we could say we’ve been.

Vaduz, the capital of Lichtenstein. 

For lunch we visited one of the finer dining establishments of Lichtenstein. 

Lichtenstein is one of the wealthiest countries in the world on a per-capita basis.  McD’s comes with a Lichtenstein price tag too!  (Price is in Swiss Francs which is ~1 U.S. Dollar).

We left Lichtenstein and headed into Austria via Germany.  We ran into some construction and a couple of delays that added about an hour, but nothing major.  We even spent some time on the German Autobahn. 

The German Autobahn.  Segments are completely without speed limit.  One of the great tragedies in a man’s existence is wanting to drive this road system your whole life, but when the moment finally comes, finding yourself there in a Polish-Made Station Wagon with 3 kids in the back.

In general we did have a “Good Drive” 

As we got into Bavaria the road opened up into some of the prettiest countryside you could imagine.

We finally made it to our place in Austria, which is a great little country inn just across the border from Germany. 

Ethan on the hill overlooking our hotel.  The building is directly behind him.

The boys hill scrambling up the terraced hill behind the hotel.  This place was just what we needed after 2.5 weeks of urban congestion.

Not only is our hotel in a great setting, but is clean and has great food.  Finally, some real “meat and potatoes.”  We can identify with these Germans!

The boys jumping on the hotel trampoline with French, German, and American tourists. 

Tomorrow, we are off to see Mad King Ludwig’s Bavarian castles and explore more of the Bavarian countryside.  Tuss!  (Bye!)