July 27th (times two)

Today, we got to have two July 27ths. We departed from Paris at 11:20 and we were scheduled to arrive in Denver at 4:30. That’s only five hours, but we were actually traveling for about thirteen hours. Explain that one math teachers. Our day was kind of hectic with lots of walking, train riding, and airplane flying. First we had to walk to the Train station from our hotel, then we caught the packed subway to the Charles de Gaulle airport. Once at the airport we had to wait for some problem with our tickets to be cleared up. As we approached the line to security, it was time to start boarding the train. Thankfully, they sent some of us to a shorter security line. Our plane was delayed in leaving for some reason, but it was a relatively nice flight. Since our flight was delayed and we had to go through customs, I thought we were cutting it a bit close to our connecting flight, but it turns out that that flight was delayed to our benefit. I am writing this from the plane to Denver because I know life will get crazy again once we land. We’ve had a fantastic trip with memories we’ll never forget and now await a nice get together at home to see us off to Montana.

Advice on [European] travel
do it
don’t plan every detail
tourist/information offices have great advice and often maps and lists of hotels
B&Bs/pensions are cheap and lovely places to stay
Try the food, not the water
Have extra batteries on hand
Talk with the locals
Talk with the foreigners
Always close your tent when heading out for a while
If you see somewhere you’d like to go from a train window (regardless of plans), just get off
There is more to see of a country than all their tourist sites-ask locals for recommendations
Always have food on hand
Take a siesta
Jaywalk as often as possible
Don’t tell British people “Happy Fourth of July” (as one of our friends found out)
Also, don’t ask British about soccer when they’ve just tied with the US in the World Cup (as the same friend found out)
Bring toilet paper and soap into a French restroom
Switzerland is expensive, but beautiful
Bring ENGLISH books
Stay at places you can cook your own food
Camping is the cheapest way to do it
RVs are a great solution for family travel
Eurail passes are good, but confusing
Always validate/stamp your train ticket at their little machines (or get fined)
(for eurail users) trains that need a reservation will have an r with a box around it in the timetable
Bring your own food on the trains
Plan to take your bike back on the plane with you instead of shipping (British Airways is pretty good with that)