Behringers in France

Zack and I were delighted to welcome our first visitors - Kathy, Jeff and Laura Behringer. We gave them a walking tour of Angers and visited the local chateau here (behind them).
Then, we rented a car and visited a French castle "Chenonceau". It was built by the King of France (Henry IV) solely for his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, in the 16th Century. During the German occupation of France of WWII, the chateau was used as a hospital. Since it spans the Cher River, the front door opened up to Nazi occupation while the back door opened up to the Allied Forces.

Next, we drove to the beaches of Normandy to visit the American cemetary (about a 2.5 hour drive). It really is something you should see for yourself.









Then, we drove to Paris and spent 3 nights in the City of Lights. We visited the Louvre, the Eiffle Tower, Notre Dame and drank very expensive tea in a famous teahouse called La Duree.

Zack: While waiting in line to climb the Eiffel Tower with my sister, I noticed a famous actor, Colm Feore, along with his wife, behind us in line. I'm 99.9% sure it was him - we brushed past each other about 5 times while zig-zagging through the line over an hour's time. I didn't say anything, and no one else did either, probably because he's not extremely famous. I'm sure he prefers not to be hassled anyway.




We briefly visited Geneva on our way to Zurich, where my parents and sister were flying out of. There was a cold front last week, but we ventured outside long enough to see lots of picturesque views of the Alps. My camera lost its charge before we went to Switzerland, though, but you can see how charming it was.

There we went to a real fondue restaurant. They also have Raclette (melted cheeze for dipping) for sale in the train station. That is the pinnacle of stinky cheeze. When we got off the train I thought the station was situated next to the city dump.