Five European Side Trips to Get off the Tourist-Beaten Path

Tarragona, Spain

Even the most neophyte traveler knows to put the main attraction cities at the top of a list. Paris, Venice, London, and even Barcelona are full of them. But the adept traveler knows that just as much, if not more, wonderment can be had in the cities that aren't trampled by tourist Birkenstocks.

As a family of 6, we've put a lot of kms (and even more miles) into road tripping around Europe--more than 30,000 kms actually.  As much as we've enjoyed the Louvre, St. Mark's Square, Buckingham Palace, and the Sagrada Familia, we've found even more enjoyment in the side trips where local culture trumps consumerism.

1. Etretat, France - 2.5 hours from Paris
Let's be honest, you could pick any of the shanty towns on the northern coast of France and get a similar experience, but we picked Etretat because of its majestic cliffs. It has all the charm of a beach side village, the rustic shops, and laid-back lifestyle of fisherfolk and locals. It's also historically significant as a town where Van Gogh painted. And yet, it's relatively untouched as a tourist destination. When we visited in the Summer time (mid-June), the only "tourists" we could see were school kids on an outing.

2. Bassano del Grappa, Italy - 1 hour 15 min. from Venice
There are at least a dozen towns within an hour or two from Venice that are worth seeing, including Padua, Treviso, Cittadella, and even Romeo & Juliet's Verona. But we choose the smaller, but historically significant town that's equally as charming. As a historical visit, Bassano is where Ernest Hemingway served his tour of duty as an ambulance driver during World War I, and which served as an inspiration and backdrop for his classic A Farewell to Arms. Bassano also boasts some seriously beautiful views and a quirky but expansive weekend market that makes the visit even more worth it. It also has my kids' favorite place for Kebabs - Indiana (just down from the bridge).

3. Vicenza, Italy - 1 hour from Venice

So, it was impossible to pick just one side trip from Venice. If Bassano is the small town with the Italian local charm, Vicenza is the hidden gem with architectural splendor. Vicenza is the home of Venetian Architect Andrea Palladio, widely considered the most influential individual in the history of architecture. If Venice is the town Palladio built, then Vicenza was Palladio's playground. The town's center (which prohibits any tourist driving) features a plethora of picturesque places. Our favorite is the Teatro Olimpico, but the plaza and several other buildings are worth a visit, including Santa Corona, a Gothic Church that was built to house a thorn from Christ's Crown of Thorns given to the Bishop of Vicenza by Louis IX of France. 

Palladio's Teatro Olimpico

4. Tarragona, Spain - 1 hour from Barcelona

This Catalan city may not be the non-touristy hideaway that other places on this list are--it's the home to one of Spain's big theme parks, Port Aventura. But it certainly doesn't feel like a tourist-trodden town. Tarragona has the perfect mix of old Spanish town, ancient Roman stronghold, and beautiful beach. We liked Tarragona so much that no only are we doing an Expat Snippet video on it (stay tuned), but we're making it a regular visit on our Study Abroad trips to Barcelona each Summer. There's enough to see to spend a weekend in Tarragona, and what's more, it's extremely budget friendly. Tarragona boasts a set of intricately preserved Roman structures, including a forum, circus, and Roman walls. A family ticket to see all of them cost us 17 euro (!!).  Incredible views and easy on the pocketbook? Yes, please.

5. Oxford, England - 1 hour 20 minutes from London

Ok, so Oxford isn't exactly undiscovered country, but that doesn't make it any less worth a visit to get away from the maddening crowds of tourist-heavy London. Oxford is college-town, level-up--with superior architecture speckled all over the city, and nice access to the Thames. It's best to park outside the city at the Park n' Ride off the exit toward Oxford and take a Bus in, since parking is extremely limited. Christchurch is a good place to start, as it features the inspiration for Hogwarts' Great Hall, as well as the setting and inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (as Carroll, born Charles Dodgson, was a student there and based Alice on the Dean of Christ Church's Daughter, Alice Lidell). 

Gryffindor!

Expat Snippet: Paris on the Cheap with Kids (or that time Arnold Schwarzenegger followed us around in Paris)

Our latest video is up! This time, we do Paris on the cheap, including Versailles, the Musee d'Orsay, Rodin Sculpture Garden, and the Eiffel Tower.

Funny story about the Rodin Sculpture Garden. We were in Paris while Arnold Schwarzenegger was promoting his latest film. As we walked into the sculpture garden, we saw an entourage coming towards us. We didn't think much of it until we noticed Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the head of the entourage. He walked right past us, gave us a nod and kept walking.  We carried on with our visit, and had the Arnold following a statue behind us the rest of the visit. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was following us!

Back in the Saddle: The Hotel Carrousel

Six months ago, we returned from our expatriate life to everyday life back in the U.S. Thanks to some great study opportunities, we're back in Europe, this time based in Spain. This time, we started our tour with a flight to London, a night's stay in the airport (with 4 kids, yep), and an early morning flight to Paris. From there, we rented a car at CDG and traveled around Belgium, the Netherlands and back to France and Paris.

Expatriate life in Europe can be quite hectic, especially when you spend 1-2 days each in a different country. We found that one of the hardest things was picking the right place to stay. We often use Booking.com, but even that can have some misrepresented places (as we found in northern France). This time around, we started using Ibis hotels, which are the bare minimum in staying. Most of the hotels were clean, with the exception of the Le Havre budget Ibis, but they made for fairly inexpensive stays. They made most sense because all we needed was a place to sleep and leave our luggage.

Our favorite Ibis was the Bruges Central Station Ibis. It was perfectly located to park your car and walk into the beautiful downtown area. It's next to the train station, and parking was fairly cheap (3.50 Euro a day).

Our favorite place to stay overall was in France, about 45 minutes outside of Paris at the Domaine de Crecy Golf Course and Resort. The rooms were large and beautiful, and the price was nice at about 125 Euro a night. Of course, it's a little out of the way, but makes for an enjoyable stay. It's only about 15 minutes from Disney, though.

Carcassone: The Castle City

After playing the game Carassonne for so many years, we had to see the city. For those who have played the game, you'll be happy to know that there are no tigers in the fields and the castle city is bigger than two tiles!

One thing worth noting is that despite the sheer coolness of France's medieval city, you can easily see it all in one day. A quick road trip is enough to walk the walled interior, and you don't need to pay to do a tour--there's enough to see walking the cobble-stone streets to last a couple hours of sight-seeing. We stayed a night and saw the city in an hour in the morning. Carcassonne is a good stop off place to see other cities like Toulouse (to the North) or Cannes and Nice (to the East).

Sunday Excursions

With the plethora of cultural and historic experiences available here in Europe, one of our favorites has been attending Church on Sundays. In the last 6 weeks, not only have we attended a different Ward or Branch (LDS-lingo for a congregation) each week, but we've attended in a different country each week as well.

Despite the differences in culture, language, and history of each place we have visited, the gospel message in each congregation has been the same.

It has also been fun for the boys to see that it doesn't matter where you meet, the Gospel is still the same. Some branches have met in an apartment building, others in a  business building, and very few in a stand-alone chapel.

Salzburg, Austria

Paris, France

Rijeka, Croatia

Rijeka, Croatia

One of our favorite experiences was in Croatia, where we attended during a fast and testimony meeting--the LDS meeting where members share their beliefs. The Branch was extremely small, but it made for an even more intimate and enjoyable experience. When the meeting started, one of the missionaries said he would translate for us if we wanted to share our testimonies. So we did. After the meeting, the missionary told us that it was the longest testimony meeting they had ever had :)

We've also enjoyed the openness of the small branches we've visited. Coming in with our party of 6  can be a sight to behold, but every time we come to a new branch, we're welcomed with open arms and accepted as part of the branch almost immediately. In fact, today we went to church in La Spezia, Italy, and one of the leaders had Parker fulfill his Bishop's messenger duty as a Deacon.

La Spezia, Italy

A Review of Disney Paris in the (so-called) off season

First, tour guides will tell you that Disney Paris is always packed, and there's never an off season. We visited France's Happiest Place on Earth on a Friday in September, so we were bracing for some really long lines, heavy crowds, etc. We were pleasantly surprised. Here are a few highlights:

1) Lines were easy, and even non-existent at some rides. There were  a few sets of lines in the smaller Hollywood Studios, but for the most part, we walked on nearly every ride in less than 10-15 minutes. That doesn't even happen with a Fast Pass in the U.S. anymore!

2) Some things are VERY Parisian. For example, the Autopia ride was almost an exact copy of driving in Paris. Backed-up, bumper-to-bumper traffic after only a short minute or two of free lanes (no joke, I had to get a picture to prove it!) We sat in Disney traffic for 5 minutes of the 6 minute ride! When we got off, I complained, and the ride operators said: "Do you want to go again?" Sit in traffic again? no thanks.

3) Many of the rides are better. Space Mountain is an obvious upgrade to the Cali and Flori fare. The Indiana Jones ride was a basic roller coaster in the same vein as the Mullholland Madness ride at California Adventure. Buzz Lightyear actually has the secret spots and point earning potential that the California version does (and that the Florida one lacks).  Big Thunder Mountain is just as crickity, but I'm certain it goes through an under water tunnel at one point. And the Nemo/Crush ride is above and beyond superior to the snore-fest that is the Nemo ride at Epcot.  Star Tours, however, is lame (as it's the 1980's version of the ride) and the Tea Cups they've obviously tightened the screws a bit making it nearly impossible to get the cups spinning at a nauseating rate. The Haunted Mansion was flat out lame. There weren't even any ghosts in your carriage to "follow you home"...instead we all stared at ourselves in the mirrors as we passed by them to end the ride.

4) Everything is in French. Yep, though they do translate some of it into English too.

A big highlight for our trip was getting Amadeus over his absolute fear of rides. We pushed him a little too fast a few years back in Florida, so this time around, Curls gave him some options, and he chose to go on Big Thunder Mountain. He ended up loving it.

 

French PDA's

When in Paris, we simply couldn't resist soaking in the romantic atmosphere of the city...whether at the Eiffel Tower:

ON the Eiffel Tower:

at the Lock Bridge:

Or even at the gates of Versailles (which was an awfully long train ride to get a kissing photo)

I don't know what's worse, that we took so many PDA pics, or that we had our 13 year old take them!

The Hunt for the Drinking Fountain

One thing you don't expect before you come to Europe is the surprising lack of drinking fountains. Even major cities like Paris have no drinking fountains. We even asked someone at the Louvre, and he said: "Drinking fountains aren't really Parisian. There's water in the restroom, but it's not very good!" We have quickly learned the value of bringing your own water bottle when visiting cities in Europe. If you don't, you end up overpaying for water you can get for free in your hotel or residence.

How to Survive the Louvre with Kids

In college, I majored in the Arts and Humanities...which they told me I could use for any job, but which meant job prospects with a degree in the humanities were nil. I eventually figured out how to use it to my advantage professionally, but one of the things I took from my degree was the beauty of art, music, and literature. I looked forward to the day I could share that beauty with my own children...and what better place to do that then at the Louvre?

Fast forward 15 years, and I've taken my boys to several art museums. However, one thing I didn't realize 15 years ago, is how I'd feel about showing my own sons all the nudity there is in art. 15 years ago, I probably looked past it all, and I get it...the painting and sculpting masters considered the human body God's most perfect creation, so replicating it was the highest form of artistic creation one could achieve. But in today's world of immorality, and being a father of 4 boys, I must admit that I don't like the display of the human body in art--which is probably why I've always been more of a fan of the impressionist works of Monet and Van Gogh, who focused less on the body.

Taking all of this into account, I was both ecstatic and hesitant to take my boys to the Louvre in Paris.  If you've ever been there, the museum itself is more than a gallery, it's a virtual department store of the history of art. Taking it all in requires an entire day...something that even the most artistic youth would tire of.

Plus, with only a day or so in Paris, who wants to spend the whole time in an underground museum? So here's what we did:

1. Find the most memorable art pieces and only see those. I know what you're thinking...isn't that a waste of money? Well, not so. Kids under 18 are free, and you're only paying 13 euro per adult. Our choices? The Mona Lisa (which is so small, it's actually quite underwhelming) was top on our list

2. Celebrate the art that isn't undressed. The Winged Victory is a nice piece for that, as were pieces depicting the Last Supper, the Crowning of Napoleon, and Artemis.

3. When necessary, use a censor.

 Lord Byron was happy to help censor Venus Di Milo