Trip Dates
June 9 - 22, 1999
Trip Itinerary
Flight from Dayton, Ohio to Paris via Amsterdam
Disneyland Paris
Eiffel Tower
Jerome and Becky's wedding
Paris Tour
The Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triumphe, Champs Elysses and Hard Rock
Cafe
Switzerland
Basel, Bern, the Alps, Brig, Zermatt, The Matterhorn via cog train
Glacier Express train
"Heidi" tour
Liechtenstein
Austria
Salzburg: "Sound of Music" tour, St. Peter's Square, Nonnberg Abby,
St. Peter's Restaurant (oldest in Europe)
Fromberg Castle, Boy Scout Office
Germany
Neuschwanstein Castle, Kin Ludwig's castle, Munich
Comments
Terry's parents, Doug and Jan Reynolds, joined us for the trip.
When we arrived at the airport in Paris, a police officer made us evacuate the baggage claim area. One of the bags had not been claimed for awhile and they suspected it might contain a bomb.
The true purpose for the trip was to attend Becky's (Terry's cousin) wedding. A charter bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to city hall where the mayor married the couple. We reboarded the bus and went to a church where they were married again, this time via a Catholic ceremony. Next, we went the reception where a seven course French meal was served. Wine, dance and music finished off the evening and we returned to our hotel at 3:15 a.m.
On June 13 we attended mass at Notre Dame. Although we are not Catholic, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to worship in such an historic church.
At the Louvre we got to check out the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. John's favorite was the Egyptian section.
John and Doug did some night photography at the Arc de Triumphe. The miltary guarded all the historic structures in the area. They were particularly amused when John took a long exposure photo of a building's ceiling by placing his camera face up on the floor and using the auto timer.
Terry and Doug made a stop at a French elementary school. They knocked on a classroom door and were greeted warmly by the teacher. The 7 and 8 year olds sang an American song and practiced their English. It was certainly an unexpected highlight of the trip.
We stayed in the Hotel Excelsior in Zermatt, Switzerland. It was awesome sitting on the balcony of our room and watching the Matterhorn.
John got a speeding ticket while in Austria. The police officer
wanted payment of 300 shillings on the spot. Since we had just entered
the country we did not have that many shillings. We offered him a
credit card (he was not amused) and other types of currency. He eventually
was satisfied with 40 Swiss Francs ($26 U.S.). The actual fine was
$23 U.S., but he refused to give us change.
Return to Combs Family Trips Page
Page created 10/27/00 and last updated 10/27/00