European Road Trip

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Maggie’s awesome mid-life up and quit her job went to Europe for two months road trip

Posted on by maggiewilliams

Last summer I up and quit my job, probably not the brightest thing I’ve ever done considering the current economic climate, but I really needed a break, so I’m taking the rest of ’08 off.

The first thing I did was take a solo two month road trip through Europe, something I’d wanted to do for a long time and I figured this is the time.

I flew into Paris, where I picked up my car and visited the places listed below.  bookversion2Staying mostly in hostels, I shared wonderful times with people I had just met, had some neat adventures, explored beautiful places, got exercise, and rejuvenated my soul.

Scroll down to see the links to each day’s post. I hope you enjoy, please feel free to leave comments or questions.

July 21, 2009 – I’ve just released the book version of this trip in hard copy or PDF formats:

Cheers, Maggie


My stops along the way:

  • Paris, France
  • Versailles, France
  • Dinan, France
  • Mont Saint Michel, France
  • Sainte-Mère-Église, France
  • Normandy Beaches, France (Utah, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha, American Cemetery)
  • Cherbourg, France
  • Vernon, France
  • Giverny, France
  • Bruges, Belgium
  • Brussels, Belgium
  • Malamedy, Belgium
  • St. Goar, Germany
  • Bacharach, Germany
  • Heidelberg, Germany
  • Rothenburg, Germany
  • Bavaria (Schwangau, Füssen)
  • The Zugspitze, Germany
  • Salzburg, Austria
  • Hallstatt, Austria
  • Zell Am See, Austria
  • Appenzell, Switzerland
  • Zϋrich, Switzerland
  • Gimmelwald, Switzerland (Mürren, The Shilthorn, Lautebrunnen, Kleine Sheidegg, Jungfrau)
  • Chamonix, France
  • Aix-en-Provence, France
  • Pont du Gard, France
  • Cannes, France
  • Monaco
  • Lake Como, Italy (Menaggio & Bellagio)
  • Venice, Italy
  • The Dolomite Mountains, Italy
  • Rome, Italy
  • The Cinque Terre, Italy
  • Bourg en Bresse, France
  • Colmar and the Alsace, France
  • Baden Baden and the Black Forest, Germany
  • American Cemetery at St. Mihiel, France
  • Verdun, France
  • Disneyland Paris

Daily Journal entries and pictures:

July 24 – I’m outa here

July 29 – Just getting here – Lynden, WA USA to Paris, France

July 30 – My walk through Paris – Paris, France

July 31 – Ah Versailles – Paris France

Aug 1 – Picked up my car – Paris to Dinan, France

Aug 2 – Kicking myself – Dinan to Mont Saint Michel to Sainte-Mère-Eglise, to Cherbourg, France

Aug 3 – A sea of 9,387 white crosses – Cherbourg to Normandy to Vernon, France

Aug 4 – It sounds like this – Vernon, France

Aug 5 – It’s hard not to hit them – Giverny, France to Brugge, België

Aug 6 – As luck would have it, today is Wednesday – Brugge, België

Aug 7 – Well, that’s no dog – Brugge to Bruxelles to Malmedy, België

Aug 8 – $9.25 USD per gallon – Malmedy, België to Bacharach, Deutschland

Aug 9 – An easy evening at the castle – Bacharach, St. Goar, the Mosul River, Deutschland

Aug 10 – Good on ya Hans – Bacharach, down the Rhine to Heidelberg & the Castle Road, Rothenburg, Deutschland

Aug 11 – Invisible cows – Rothenburg to Schwangau, Deutschland

Aug 12 – The hills are alive – Schwangau to The Zugzpitze, Deutschland to Salzburg, Österreich

Aug 13 – I guess I’m not going to town tonight – Salzburg, Österreich

Aug 14 – Anticipation – Salzburg to Hallstatt, Österreich

Aug 15 – Overdosed – Hallstatt, Österreich

Aug 16 – Time to say goodbye – Hallstatt to Zell Am See, Österreich to Appenzell, Schweiz

Aug 17 – Fell down an Alp today – Appenzell to Gimmelwald, Schweiz

Aug 18 – Avalanche – Gimmelwald, Schweiz

Aug 19 – We just wanted to get down – Gimmelwald, Schweiz (Lautebrunnen, Schtekleberg, Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfrau)

Aug 20 – That horse must have mad cow – Gimmelwald to Ballenberg, Schweiz to Chamonix, France

Aug 21 – Blue skies & Hell’s Angels – Chamonix to Aix-en-Provence, France

Aug 22 – Culture – Aix-en-Provence, France

Aug 23 – 36° C – Avignon, Pont du Gard, France

Aug 24 – I kicked their ass – Aix-en-Provence to Cannes, France to Monaco, to Lago di Como, Italia

Aug 25 – I’m the one with mad cow – Menaggio and Bellagio, Italia

Aug 26 – No bad smell – Lago di Como to Venezia, Italia

Aug 27 – Bella – Venezia, Italia

Aug 28 – As if it were an afterthought – Venizia to the Dolomite Mountains, Italia

Aug 29, 30 – Up my nose – Agordo in the Dolomite Mountains to Roma, Italia

Aug 31 – I gotsta get outa this place – Roma, Italia

Sep 1 – 2 of 2 – Roma to Manarola in The Cinque Terre in the Liguria region, Italia (northwest Mediterranean coast of Italia)

Sep 2 – Don’t these people know what I just did? – Manarola, Cinque Terre, Italia

Sep 3, 4 – Somebody has to do it – Manarola to Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italia

Sep 5 – …three seconds flat, she was still screaming – Vernazza, Italia

Sep 6, 7 – Days like this are why I did trip – The Cinque Terre, Italia to Bourg en Bresse, France to Colmar in the Alsace region of France

Sep 8 – The Black Forest isn’t really black – Colmar, France to Baden Baden, Deutschland

Sep 9 – Lady Day – Baden Baden, Deutschland

Sep 10 – A really happy frog face – Baden Baden, Deutschland

Sep 11 – I like a little bit of privacy when being spanked thank you very much – Baden Baden, Deutschland

Sep 12 – It was my honor – Baden Baden, Deutschland to Verdun, France to Magney-le-Hongre, France

Sep 13, 14, 15 – That damn song – Magne-le-Hongre, France

Sep 16, 17 – Ought to be a real page turner – Magne-le-Hongre, France

Sep 18 – Going home – Paris, France to Lynden, Washington, USA


Some places I stayed, some things I did, some places I saw:

Berggasthaus Äescher, the cliff house on Eben Alp near Appenzell Switzerland

Champ du Renard B & B in Vernon, France

Esther’s Guest House in Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Gasthof Simony in Hallstatt, Austria

Gästehaus Raidel (hotel) in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Hotel Marina Piccola in Manarola, Italy (Cinque Terre)

The Nightwatchman of Rothenburg

Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe

Vatican Museum

Chateau de Versailles

The Louvre

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Claude Monet’s House and gardens in Giverny, France

Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria

Berggasthaus Aescher in the Swiss Alps

The Zugspitze in Bavaria

Ballenberg, a Swiss open air museum

The Shilthorn, above Mürren, Switzerland

Pont du Gard, the ancient Roman aqueduct in southern France

Hiking The Cinque Terre

American Cemetery at St. Mihiel, France

Disneyland Paris

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