Monsoon, Bryan and I embarked on our vacation to Germany and France, with the first stop being Wurzburg where we were to run races ie Bryan and I. The flight itself was smooth because we were flying Luthhansa straight to Franfurt, a relief from changing flights at airports with long stop-overs. Visa formalities were a breeze as we all had travelled several times to Europe already. We took a train to Wurzburg, armed with our Eurail passes. The journey lasted just 80 mins and we were soon welcomed in one of the small family owned hotels. Our room was spacious with mother and son plonking themselves on the bed and directing father to the cot that was placed on the side as "additional bed for child":-) Well, I'm known not to be too particular about these luxuries, so I just plonk the lugguage and settle down with a can of "Guiness"; an insult to the Germans:-).
Wurzburg is a small town in Germany (so much like what John LeCarre described when I read the book as a teenager). It had those narrow cobble-stoned streets with sidewalk cafes and a serene river front. We strolled around in the town square and ate German sausages with hot chocolate, cafe mocha and of course "Wurzburger Hofbrau" beer. The marathon itself was an exciting event replete with German revelry and tradition. The race that we ran has already been described in the blog earlier.
Our next stop was Heidelberg, which was very breath-taking with its ancient castle and church spires and typical German homes with chimneys, sprawled all over the town. We took a boat cruise and enjoyed German cuisine, actually Monsoon and Bryan did, while I sipped on fresh German beer off a tap. The castle grounds reminded us of raging wars in Europe in the 15th century with knights in armour and tales of gallantry. I again brooded on all this while surreptitiously sipping "Kirsch" (a German schnapps) from a hip flask, which I'm sure was not allowed on the castle grounds. Our evenings were spent eating at a Vietnamese restaurant which was a big boon considering that the three of us cannot survive without rice for more than 3 - 4 days:-)
Our sojourn continued on the high-speed TGV (Train a Grand Vitesse)into Paris, from whence we made a panicky dash for the metro as we had a connecting train to Lyon from Paris, Gare de Lyon. We lost valuable time in trying to figure out the ticket vending machines and gave up to settle alongside people standing in a queue to purchase tickets from a woman at a window. We made it in time and settled into our seats as we waited for our heart rate to settle too. The arrival in Lyon whilst initially less interesting than Heidelberg, we were soon to discover the bustling city centre and French Joie de Vivre. Lyon is supposed to be the food capital of the world with its delectable cuisine and choice wines but we rice eaters were not too impressed as we again discovered a Lebanese joint that served us rice with showarma:-) Bryan was particularly thrilled as he states, "I can eat Doner Kebab all year round!" and I of course find wine tastes like piss (yes I actually drank it once:-)). Our visit to the Basilica of Fuviere was very fortuitous because we ran into, what we believe was a God send, a nun who apparently grew up at Takhshila in Andheri(E), a stones throw away from our appartment! She showed us around the Basilica that was built to commemorate our Lady for her miraculous help in saving Lyon from the Plague and two wars. It seems the feast is celebrated on the 8th of Dec and entire Lyon is lit up with tiny lights; a sight I am sure I would like to see once, in the future.
The next stop was the very purpose of our vacation; to visit the shrine at Lourdes. We reached Lourdes late evening at 10:30pm and hurried to the shrine as we were to leave the next day by the train at 11:15am for Paris. We were blessed to hear mass at the grotto of Mother Mary; the place where she appeared to Bernadette. It was serene and peaceful and I felt stress drain out from my body as I prayed in quite contemplation. The next day being Sunday was even better because we were able to attend mass said by an Irish priest, in English, at a chapel on the grounds of the shrine. Our visit was deemed absolutely successful, in that, we were able to collect souvenirs of our lady' medallions, rosaries and water from the "water-way", besides of course the good fortune of two masses.
The journey to Paris was most exhausting because we were hurtling along at 300 kms/hr for 6 hrs in the TGV. Paris was not new to us as the three of us had visited the city in 2003. We had the feeling of deja vu as we visited the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. The highlight was the Thai restaurant that we ate dinner at in the evenings, like starved souls:-) I had my last fill of German and french beers before we said "Au Revoir". A nice holiday in Germany and France. My plan is now to run a marathon in Edinburg, Scotland because I can see the course wind thru' streets where wayside bars are shown serving scotch. According to Bryan, I will abandon course to stop over for a "Single Malt". The young lad really knows his dad:-)
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