Happy New Year

Bonjour!

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. We spent New Year's Eve in Frankfurt and have spent today, New Year's Day, in Paris. First about our 2nd day in Frankfurt. Thankfully after the plane delay and long day touring the castle, we were able to sleep in a little and eat a casual breakfast before heading out for our Rhine River tour. We were on a small bus for this tour (about 18 people total) and the day was pretty nice and very cold. We saw a beautiful statue outside the city, saw many vineyards and were very entertained by our tour guide on the bus. We then stopped for lunch in a small German town and we had lunch with all kinds of people at our table (even Asians!). The food was not very typical German (baked chicken, french fries, and some cabbage slaw), but still it was very good. We then went next door for a short wine tasting b/c the area we were in is famous for their wine (including red wine and a special variety called Ice Wine). The story behind ice wine is very cool...On the night of the first "real" freeze (-7 degrees Celsius), people storm from their homes around 1 or 2 in the morning to pick the frozen grapes and immediately press them to make the ice wine. Because the grapes are naturally frozen, it gives it a super concentrated flavor but requires lots of grapes for only a few bottles; therefore, it is very expensive. The guide said places in Canada, upstate New York, and even New Zealand have tried to copy the act, but nothing compares to "true" ice wine from Germany. Glad we got to try this for sure!

After the wine tasting, we got on the bus ago for the actual river tour. Unfortunately, the tour lasted only 1 hour and it was raining most of the time so we dind't have great views, but it was still very enjoyable. Once off the river, we drove to a small town where people could get out and do some quick shopping, but since it had rained earlier and the temperature had dropped, the streets were covered in ice. Two people from our tour fell while getting off the bus, so we were hesitant to leave, but we strolled into a small restaurant and ordered 3 bratwurst to go (hehe go Daniel family). Once back on the bus, we ate, took naps and headed back into the city.

We went back to the hotel and prepared for our New Years Eve celebration...although we didn't have plans yet. We headed to one area recommended by the front desk man at the hotel which he said was more "local" but everything was closed. We then went into Old Towne, which looks less like a big city and more like typical Germany. There we found a very crowded, very hectic German restaurant and decided to wait amongst the chaos for a table. After almost an hour, we sat down to huge steins of beer and a large platter of German sausages, potatoes, and sauerkraut. Needless to say, we were all very happy by the end of the dinner. We got done around 11:35 and decided to head back to the hotel room since we would be up early this morning, but made sure to stop and get some bubbly on the way back. We opened the bottle on the public transportation, started drinking and rang in the New Year.

This morning we woke up to a cold Frankfurt and headed to the train station. This time we were more prepared for the experience, and the train was very much nicer than the previous ride. We were able to relax and cruised into Paris on time and ready to see the city. It required 3 metro line changes to reach our hotel (disasterous with all our luggage), but once here it was amazing. You can see the Eiffel Tower from our hotel window!!! We got onto a bus that we are allowed to use to tour for the next 2 days and started to ride around the city. We hopped off at the Notre Dome stop and walked to find some late lunch/early dinner and as luck has it, found an awesome place. The waiter was very kind and accepting of us Americans and the food was very nice. We enjoyed everything, got back on the bus to our hotel while seeing the Arc de Triomphe, Champs de Elysses street, and the Eiffel Tower up close. What a great way to end our first day in Paris. We plan to go into most of the sites tomorrow (as all were closed today) and hit as much as possible in one day. Again, Happy New Year!!!

-Melissa