It was a busy day ahead with lots of driving. Distance to cover from city to city could be quite a lot to handle, especially with kids.
Woke up early, packed and checked out. Drove the church of Saint Jeanne, better known as Joan of Arc. Unfortunately the church was opened from 10am onwards and we couldn’t wait. Took some photos and left.
Church of Saint Jeanne.
Our next stop was Normandy Beach. This place was the pivoting point of the WWII with the Allies coming in from the north through operation Overlord and took over key positions from the Germans and eventually defeating them. There were plenty of museums scattered throughout the region but we chose to visit the Musee of debarquement. It was quite a small museum so we didn’t take too much time either. After the visit and buying of some books on D day from the internal shop, we went a little window shopping on the clothing there before heading to the next stop, Pointe du Hoc.
Musee du Débarquement.Stories of allies.Exhibit.Shopping street near the museum.
This was another interesting location on WWII. From here we could see the old German defense installations facing out towards the sea. These concrete structures were still left behind for people to visit. When we were there, we saw a lot of American visitors, but no surprises as this location was where the American troops launched their offensive and captured this impossible site, scaling the cliffs. It was quite a substantial area to explore but we didn’t walk too long. Furthermore, without a guide most of the stuff didn’t make much sense.
View of the beach at Pointe du Hoc. Challenging position for the allies.What’s left of the installations at Pointe du Hoc.Memorial for the brave rangers.One of the original observation bunkers.
From the huge carpark in Pointe Du Hoc, we drove towards Mont Saint Michel. The drive was similar to yesterday’s, a mixture of different roads. As we didn’t have lunch at the attractions, we stopped by at the service station for lunch. Even then, the cooked food wasn’t available anymore and we had to settle for pastries again.
Lunch at the service station.
It was a long drive (more than 1,5hrs) to Mont Saint Michel and baby was cranky as he wanted to sleep but was uncomfortable enough to do so. After a lot of crying, he finally slept.
By the time we arrived at MSM, it was almost 6. Le Relais Du Roy was the hotel for the night and it was within a village of other hotels. Control of traffic into this village was through a passcode activated barrier and so I had to call to the hotel to ask for one. As there was some construction going on on the road, the one way traffic then was managed by a portable traffic light. Hotel parking was also a makeshift one on the opposite side of the hotel.
Bedroom.BathroomLe Relais du Roy,
We were given a hotel on the first floor after check in and thankfully not many steps. The room has a balcony that had a view of MSM. Yet again, it was a simple hotel.
We left for MSM immediately after putting down the stuff, before baby got tired and slept. There was a free shuttle bus every 8mins and so we boarded the bus that was waiting at the bay. It wasn’t long before we were at the end of the bridge at the bottom of MSM. It was still low tide then.
Shuttle bus stop.Shuttle bus that ferried the visitors to and from the village.
Close up shot of MSM.
Took some photos and went explore the town that had houses built alongside a slope that spiraled upwards. Shops were starting to close but we managed some shopping before continuing to climb. Didn’t walk through everything, because it was all too tiring with the baby and the baby bags.
Within the castle walls.Streets within MSM.Cathedral at the top of the peak.Many stair ways like a maze.View of tide coming in.
Took the shuttle bus back but we missed a stop. In the end, we took to the end and boarded again to our hotel. By the time we arrived it was 8ish and we had to rush bathing and cleaning and putting the baby to sleep.
We thought there were takeaways and unfortunately, none of the restaurants I asked have. As a result we didn’t get to have any dinner as all the restaurants were closing. We settled for the biscuits that we bought during the day. Long daylight gave the impression that it was still early.
I wanted to capture the sunset and the MSM light up and only managed to do so at about 1030pm onwards because the day was still bright. I walked to as close as possible to MSM only to find that it was low tide. Too bad, settled for whatever shots I could take.
Everlasting sunlight till 9pm.
The day was really long and I fell asleep rather quickly, after all the photo taking and walking in the cold.
Lights up of MSM in the twilight close to midnight.
Woke up early as usual and got prepared quicker than the day before. It was a quick 5mins walk to the Notre Dame cathedral. I thought it was yet another cathedral but this had the same same but different effect. This one was not as awesome as the one in Strasbourg but still huge. The stained glasses were numerous and worth the quick look.
Notre Dame de Reims.Entrance of the Cathedral.High ceiling within the Cathedral.Beautiful stained glass within the cathedral.
I had placed Tau palace as part of the itinerary but it was closed on Mondays, and frankly, we didn’t have enough time. Walked towards Eglise Saint Jacques but it was closed as well. Went to the pastry shop La Mie Caline and had breakfast. It wasn’t as fantastic as the one in Strasbourg again, but it did fill the stomach.
Tau Palace.Eglise Saint Jacques.La Mie Caline bakery.Pastry.Fountain at Reims.Reims street.
Went back to the hotel and by 11am we were all checked out, having paid 65 euros more, 12.50 for the carpark and the rest dinner.
Due to the irreparable damage to my shoes, we were inclined to visit one of the outlets outside France, in Usines Center Paris Nord 2. About 1.5hrs of driving, we arrived and parked at the free parking. As we walked about, we were actually quite disappointed with the variety the shops had to offer. Big brands couldn’t be seen but rather various shops selling mixture of brands, kinda reminded me of Queensway shopping center, only difference was this was not only selling sports apparel. There was a huge Petit Bateau shop which was good as we bought quite a bit for Baby K and the Orchestra brand was quite affordable. Didn’t really see nice track shoes and in the end, purchased Geox shoes which was about 85 euros, not that cheap. There wasn’t tourist Vat refund either nor many variety of food, which really summed up the disappointing trip.
Usines Center Paris Nord 2Huge Petit Bateau outlet.My old shoes replaced by new.
We decided to have lunch elsewhere and therefore drove towards Rouen. Before leaving, carried out baby care works as previous days and replacement of my shoes to the new ones. Then it was a 2hrs drive towards Rouen with a stop by at a service station. There we bought sandwiches for lunch before continuing the journey.
Panini.Chicken burger.One of such service station.
Baby K got extremely cranky, wonder if the tiredness of the travel had gotten to him. It didn’t really help with a frustrated wife who was also tired. The journey to Rouen was least enjoyable.
Arriving at the Interhotel Rouen Cathedral, it was confirmed that there weren’t any hotel carparks and that I had to park in public. Luckily there was one space available and close to the hotel. Paid for 30mins of parking since it was going to be free at 7pm onwards till 9am in the morning.
The other bad thing the hotel was that there weren’t any lifts. This meant I need to carry 2 heavy luggage up the steps to the 3rd floor. The only good that came out of this stay was the close proximity and the view from the balcony. The room was simple, even less furnished than the previous one and didn’t even come with an airconditioner. Luckily it was only for a night’s stay.
Bedroom.Bathroom
Baby K was extremely cranky, most likely he hadn’t gotten over the jet lag and was living on Singapore’s time and it was his bedtime. Another difficult hour before we wrapped him up and he went to sleep. Yet again, we will be taking away food and have them in the room.
9 plus and I went out in search of food leaving sleeping baby and wife in the room. Took some photos of the cathedral as it was just sunset. Turned around and noticed the Gros Horloge just nearby. Took some photos with it and from there I could see the sunset in the distance. Couldn’t stay longer to enjoy the scenery as it was getting late and we haven’t had dinner. Went back to one of the restaurants near the Rouen Cathedrale that was still open and had an English menu, Al’1. Ordered a bread toasted bread with ham and beacon with fries and another 2 Strasbourg sausages with fries and a mineral water. Preparations was quick but there were limited options on takeaways and obviously limited English.
Rouen street.Rouen CathedralSunset over the cathedral.Gros Horloge.Al 1 restaurant.Inside of Al 1 restaurant.Chicken and sausage dinner.
Back at the room, it was more preparations and cleaning while both wife and baby dozed. There was a light show supposedly at 11pm but I couldn’t make it. Had dinner somewhere in between and went to bed just before midnight. Long journey the next day and might want to visit the church for Joan of Arc, in Rouen, but we will see.
Woke up early with the jet lag effect still strong. Packed most of the stuff before heading out to walk the street. Our first stop was to look for one of the recommended restaurant called Doo but unfortunately, like most other shop, it was still not opened.
Made our way to La Petite France. The buildings and the river made a picturesque scenery. Taking some photos, we left and walked in the direction of the Unesco listed Strasbourg cathedral. En route there was a bread shop that was opened and we popped in to get some pastries. It was a pleasant surprise as the shop Woerle Boulangerie was in fact quite popular and it served some delicious pastries. We ate within the shop itself.
Strasbourg old town.La Petit France.Inside Woerle bakery.Pastry.Chocolate pasty.Sugar coated pastry.Woerle Bakery.
Walked another 5 mins and we arrived at the gigantic Strasbourg cathedral covered with incredible gothic sculptures. I was in awe at the size of the building and the details of it all. I was sure this was the best of the Notre Dame, and if you only got one to see, see this one.
We walked around the cathedral, once in a while snapping different perspective of it. It was a good choice to go really early before the tour groups poured in from all over.
Towering above the buildings was the huge cathedral.Amazing door arch.Intricate gothic architecture.Strasbourg Cathedral.Palais Rohan entrance. One of the other places of interest that we didn’t visit.
Walked back to the hotel and checked out a while later. Our first long drive started and already I was having trouble getting onto the highway. Finally did so after driving around in circles.
It was a 2 hrs drive to Nancy, smooth sailing most of time, punctuated with tolls and the occasional crying complaints from baby K who either was hungry or sleepy.
We arrived in Nancy and still I struggled with getting to one of the carparks that I had input into the GPS. Eventually we decided to park at the parking lot some 500 meters away and walked to Place Stanislas. It was almost a 15 mins walk, straightforward but a little tiring as it was hot.
The Unesco listed Place Stanislas square was, which some said to be one of the most beautiful square in France. It was nice, with the golden gates and exquisite lampposts and hanging lamps. The sculptures at diagonals and of course the grandeur of the hotel summed up the beauty of it all. Didn’t had much time to sit around but we did have lunch at Jean Lamour, a pastries/desert shop selling really pretty pastries. Our quiche, cheesecake, tart and eclair washed down with a latte did the trick for the lunch.
Gates of Place Stanislas.Golden lighting.Nice golden gate.Place Stanislas square.Place Stanislas square.One of the gates to the square.Lunch of Quiche, tart and cheesecake.Eclair.Parking coupon.
Walked back to the carpark and again had to spend some time with baby care, changing nappies and washing and sterilising before hitting the road again. From where we parked, we can see a huge cathedral but we didn’t have time for that. My shoes also decided to give up the bottom soles and I am left when a thin cloth base to cover my feet.
Another cathedral towering in the distance. No time for that.
Another 2hrs journey to Reims and baby got cranky due to tiredness. It was quite challenging as there wasn’t much we could do and he didn’t like the car seat too much. Wife was on the pumps and we could only let him drink from the bottle till he dozed off. There were more variations of speed limits because of road works, roads becoming single lanes and due to going through towns but it was still easy driving. Did a service stop 30mins from Reims to pump petrol and continued forth to our hotel at the Mercure Reims Cathedrale.
There was basement parking with ample spaces and it was great to have direct access of the lift to and from the rooms since I had to make a few trips to carry the heavy luggage and the miscellaneous stuff. The room was smaller the the Novotel and not as furnished with the washing accessories but I guess what you pay was what you get.
Again the same routine of cleaning up and again baby was cranky for sleep and did fell asleep after a while. We were then forced to order room service for dinner. The food was very nicely decorated and reasonably tasty.
Bedroom.Bathroom.In room dinner of cod and crab meat salad.…and omelette.
Outside the sun set at around 10pm but we spent the remaining night to get ready for tomorrow.
Woke before 5 am local time together with the baby. Had to entertain him while my wife continued to sleep.
Jetlag was hitting me hard as i stayed awake through 6am local time. We got out of the room by 7am to a nearby brekkie place just 5 mins walk away from our hotel. Ordered pancake and rosti and sat on the inside, shielded from the morning chill at Babu’s coffeehouse. The food tastes pretty good but it was a tad expensive, everything costing almost 50CHF.
Babu’s bakery and coffeehouse.Warm and cosy on the inside.Pancakes.Rosti.Cappuccino and hot choco.
Went back to the hotel and the packing began. It was not until 930 did I started my 2.5km walk to Sixt, from Google maps did not look too far but it was. The bad luck had started when I found that I have forgotten to bring along my license, my credit card and my passport and had to take the train back. From here I learnt to buy tickets from the auto machine (short distance stops tickets) and which train to take, reading from the broadcasting screen which was the earliest to leave and the train number with its corresponding track number. 4mins later, I was back at Zurich HBF and I walked quickly to the room and explained the situation to my wife before leaving with all that was required. Took another train to the Hardbrucke station and walked back to the Sixt office.
I was given a free upgrade to the BMW X1 and after struggling to start the car (not knowing that I need to insert the remote into the slot for the push start to work). When I have parked the car at the ground floor for the staff to help me change the in car GPS language to English, I was informed that there wasn’t this option. So I asked the staff and she gave me another choice, the Peugeot 508. Also I had to remind them that I need a baby seat. So went up to the 8th floor again, got into the car and this time, had an issue with finding the hand/foot brakes which wasn’t physically available. It was only a while later did I noticed the “P” at the left hand side below the aircon vent.
After arriving at the ground floor, the baby seat was already out but it looked really old and quite uncomfortable. I was also informed to install it myself using the instructions at the side of the seat.
When I’m finally ready to go, I had problem finding the hotel on the navigation system. I only found one that sounded like the hotel and shown to be on the same location that I choose it. Moving out, even the first turn i had trouble because some of the roads that pedestrians walk were in fact roads that cars could travel.
Reaching Zurich city and driving around was a total nightmare. People and bicycles all around, road works with traffic controllers around, it was chaotic. As I managed to reach the hotel, I couldn’t find a lot and was afraid to park at the road side. As a result I went around again but it was not an easy one due to the chaos. When I finally arrived after going through many detours, I tried to drive towards the car park at the opposite side of the road but the barrier wouldn’t budge. So I reversed and simply parked near the entrance of the hotel, no longer giving much of a damn. Thereafter it was moving luggage and checking out, all taking effort and time.
Punched in the location onto my garmin, I tried to navigate to the next destination, Basel, only to find that because of the distance, a wrong turn would take much time to recalculate. What’s worse, I had accidentally set up the GPS to not take toll roads, essentially the highway. It was only that I forced myself onto the highway that I realized that.
From then it was easy drive till I arrived at Basel. We were supposed to go to Basle Munster cathedral. The GPS did that but it was another nightmare altogether. I entered a zone that was practically no cars around, only people and trams. I wasn’t sure if it was not allowed but I had no other choice since I already entered. Sometimes I even drove on the the tracks that the trams took. It was really stressful and embarrassing to do that. In the end, we changed the location to the zoo.
The carpark of the zoo was a very discrete turn in, crossing the tram’s track. I missed a turn and similarly had trouble detouring and going back to the same route, with all the trams and out of place roads. After turning in the small road to the carpark, I went around the one way street carpark and it was full. Went out and further down another one which was also full but there was a car that was about to move out, just that the owner was still loading the vehicle. There was car coming out behind and I was obstructing so I had to drive out of the carpark and back again. His spot was taken because another car also just came in. Talk about luck. Went back to wait on the same car which was just about finish, eventually I managed to park there.
The tickets cost 18CHF each and we had to use the single nursing bed to change baby K diaper. Thereafter we proceeded to the aquarium to its side. The Basel zoo to say the least was normal. There wasn’t much more unexpected to see compared to the other zoos that we had gone before. What striked me the most was to see wolf, snow leopard, lamas, bisons and silverback gorillas. Also there were volunteers walking the animals on the main walking street.
Basel Zoo.Zoo TicketsFishes in the mangroove.PenguinsBear.White horses.Sables.White wolf.Huge Bison.Lunch.Gorillas.Walking the animals.
We had lunch at the only restaurant available but the cooked food was sold out, as it was late afternoon. Bought a slice of pie and a slice of cheesecake and a 12ft bread, 2 drinks which all costed 22CHF but it was sure filling.
Left the restaurant filled and completed the rest of the exhibitions. As there was difficulty in finding parking in the city, we decided to leave the car at the car park (coupon hasn’t ended yet) and took the tram into the city. There were only 2 trams (number 10 and 17) both of which could reach the Theatre stop which one of the waiting passengers advised us to go to, so we bought the tickets and jumped on. After we reached and asked a passerby that we knew there was actually another stop that was closer but was still walkable anyways. We continued on foot which brought us to Marktplatz which had a beautiful red building. Upon entering we found that it was actually the Town Hall, not the attraction that we were looking for. This place had a square in front of it with tentages of stores and crowded with people. We continued on until we almost reached the bridge where we took a right turn into Rheinsprung. From this route up, the scenery of Basel town was slowly unveiling. 10mins climb which was pretty manageable even with a baby, who fell asleep sitting on his hip seat, we arrived at Basle Munster cathedral, red exterior massive cathedral similar to others that we had seen. Didn’t visit the interior as there was a service going on, we went to the back of the cathedral where there was a bird’s eye view of the Basel River and the bridges.
Walked back to Marktplatz where we waited for tram 17 that brought us 4 stops back to the zoo, cutting down on a lot of walking. Got back to the car and started a host of activities such as feeding the baby, changing the nappies, express milk, washing up accessories, cleaning up pumps and sterilising.
Trams to the old town.Inside tram.Basel City.Town hall.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABasle Minster.View from the top.
We hit the road after that, getting onto the highway and crossing the borders after going through a non functional border station, since Eurozone is borderless. Rest of the journey was smooth, with speeds varying from 110km-130km/hr. Took a restroom break at the service station enroute and before long, we arrived in Strasbourg.
Entering the city felt less complicated than Swiss ones and we made it to the Novotel basement parking with no drama. Checked in was easy and soon baby K was stretching himself on the doubles in the room. Bathed him and he fell asleep soon after, which changed our plans. Settled for McD as the easiest takeaways and that I was too lazy to search for anything else. The shopping mall beside was closed.
BathroomBedroomDinner.
The night was spent cleaning up even though sun set only occurred at after 9pm. It was a long day but the excitement of travel drove our tired bodies for more.
The plane landed earlier than planned. There was just so many items that we brought out during the flight that we had to wait till quite a few passengers to get off first before we brought down our own bags to pack.
It was quite a distance to the train that brought us to the immigrations and baggage claim area. The queue was quite short at immigrations and we got through it rather quickly. There was a forex counter at the baggage claim area and SGD was on the board but the rates were funny. Didn’t thought too much since we have exchanged it in Singapore.
The trains were at another building, tickets could be purchased over the counter or at the ticketing machine, which we did with the help one of the staff. He informed that all trains go to Zurich HBF (main train station) at lanes 3 & 4 and so we boarded the S2 train which came earlier but left later.
Manned ticketing counter.Train timings and destinations. Zurich HB was our destination.Train tickets.
10mins later, we arrived at the Zurich HBF, and thankfully with the free wifi by the Swiss trains, we navigated to our hotel, Zurich City Hotel. The room wasn’t ready as earlier advised and thus we went to the lounge on the second floor to rest. It wasn’t long before they provided a room with some expedition by the cleaning stuff – great service.
Zurich City HotelLounge that we had our rest while waiting for our room.
Squeezing into the tiny lift, we brought the 2 heavy luggage to the rooms, unpacked, did what we need to do before getting onto the streets. Blazing sun in the summer time turned up the temperature but baby K didn’t had a problem snoozing in the Ergobaby as we walked the old town of Zurich except that I had to constantly shield his eyes.
The old town was easy access from our hotel, just a couple of minutes walk to the shopping street of Bahnhofstrasse and a short climb up Lindenhof hill where we get to see the panaroma view of the town across the river. Thereafter going southwards to see the churches with the huge clock face on the clock towers of the church St. Peter and Fraumünster Church. The later had nice stained glass within the church but photography wasn’t permitted.
Zurich Old Town.Clock tower of St. PetersGrossmunster from across the bridge.Fraunmunster Cathedral.
Crossing the Münsterbrücke bridge, we find ourselves at the Grossmünster cathedral with the twin towers that could be seen towering above the buildings in the old town. Within were stained glasses too with the welcome coolness from the afternoon heat.
Walking towards the lake, we stopped by for lunch at one of the Lebanese cuisine at Le Cèdre Bellevue, thinking that it was more affordable. Had some chicken wings and Falafel, a beer and a strawberry juice and it ended up almost 50CHF.
The falafel was good though.
FarlefelChicken wings.
We walked towards the lake to have a closer view but wasn’t particularly nice then we head back to the hotel, about another 30minutes walk. It was a short but tiring walk around the city, made worse by the sweltering heat.
Zurich lake.Tram tracks dominating the roads of modern Zurich.
Back in the room, we were busy with the washing up of the bottles and the baby and when jet lag hit, we fell asleep till 10pm, when the sun just set not too long ago. I went to the nearby COOP to get some sandwich and cold pasta for dinner, walking through the brightly lighted streets in much cooler weather. There were a few pubs along the way and expensive and loud cars can be seen zooming past, so similar to our Singapore streets.
Baby K slept early too, probably having the same jetlag effect and I dozed off again after dinner.
Preparations for the trip on the weekend before the flight, something different if we were travelling by ourselves, which normally took just the time on the day itself. With baby K and his own 29″ luggage full of baby stuff, we had no other choice.
The main concern was with the 12hr non-stop flight to Zurich. That meant a few meals to be taken on the plane and we had to prepare not only for the quantity but also think about the pumping, the cleaning and the sterilising.
In order to have that all done, we purchased quite a bit of accessories meant for travelling. Things like sterilising bags with tablets from Innosense, quick clean wipes from Medela and Steribottle as the disposable milk bottles were purchased. Unfortunately baby K cannot adapt to the quick flow of the disposable bottles and we had to bring the usual ones.
What filled the rest of the luggage was diapers, sterilising pills, wet tissues, his clothes including some cold wear, towels, inflatable tub with pump, hip seat, milk powder, toys. The checklist on the babycenter was actually pretty comprehensive.
Scheduling the feeding times and preparations for the quantities was equally important and missing a meal could be catastrophic, knowing how loud baby K could be when he is hungry. The contingency was of course milk powder, which had to be tested for acceptance at least once.
The flight was at 120am and that meant some travel had to overlap the usual sleeping hours for baby K. Just before leaving, he took a quick nap in the sarong.
Some crankiness kicked in when he awoke from the power nap but became better the longer he awoke. The trip to the airport was was smooth sailing lest a little surprisingly heavy traffic on the roads.
T3 was kinda quiet without too much of a crowd and baby K looked as hyped about the trip as his wanderlust parents. The check in was done as soon as we arrived and we cleaned up baby K a bit since he crapped quite a load. Had to have my parents bring back the stained socks and PJs and changed over a new set. Had some Toast box before parents took some photos with baby K (as they will miss him dearly for the 2 weeks away) before going through immigrations.
Wife went to the nursing room to pump while I brought baby K some milk and TV. He was particularly interested and amazingly he was still full of energy even though it was way past his bedtime.
As we walked to the gate, we realized that the waiting room was near empty and we were actually one of the last to board the plane. We hastened our steps to go through the quiet walkway to the plane and as we got to our seats, I had to put all the carry-ons in the overhead compartment. As it was quite a rush to get ready, there were many attempts to get stuff from the bags before settling down, such as getting the milk bottle, the swaddle, the neck pillows, switching off the electronic devices in the bags. My camera bag was placed underneath my leg together with our passports because there weren’t any seats in front of us to place that, since we were sitting at the bassinet mounting seats.
After the plane climbed to cruising altitude, the stewardess came to install the bassinet and we have baby K a bottle before putting him into the bassinet. He took the usual while to fall asleep, with a little carry time from mommy.
Bassinet wasn’t a great idea for journeys filled with turbulence because every time the seat belt sign was on, the baby have to be carried by mommy, which could wake babies.
We ate the supper while baby K snoozed and as the plane rode through the turbulence, baby K slept soundly in mommy’s arms, who has also fallen asleep.
4hrs into the flight, baby K awoke from hunger. Warmed up some milk with the help of the stewardess and baby K went back to sleep in the bassinet, satisfied. Wife had to express milk while I dozed off.
Off and on, babies start to cry for a bit but all in all, not much of an episode. Halfway mark, we brought some of the accessories to the toilet to clean up and sterilized. Steward recommended that I go to the gallery instead. He even offered to wash down the parts with hot water. Using the wipes and the sterilising bag, I went back to my seat where baby K was awakened, hungry again. Warmed up the same way and he dozed off.
As we headed past the 7th hour mark, where it was the usual time that baby K wakes up while in Singapore, it was then a little more unmanageable as he was cranky being sleepy, hungry and with a full diaper at the same time. It didn’t last too long though I had to shake him to sleep many times while standing up.
At times that I was free of baby K, I would be found at the gallery busy cleaning, steaming and sterilising the accessories, followed by drying and assembly back at my seat. Once I was caught by the manager for working on it by myself which he then proceeded to tell the staff to do it for me – that was awkward.
12hrs past much faster than expected, we were practically busy most of the time, a nice surprise for us. But it was also the great service and a mostly turbulence free flight that made the flight to Zurich better than expectations.
This escape plan hijacked the initial plans of progressively extending flight time for our baby. The SG50 promo that gave 50% discount on amount of Krisflyer miles redemption on selected destinations were just too good to be missed. What better time to travel to Europe with such low miles required? Zurich was one of the destination and we had to decide between Central Europe or France/Swiss. We chose the latter as it gave more assurance in terms of higher probabilities of modern facilities should we urgently require for our baby.
Budget nature: Euros were somewhat low but high Swiss Francs made the trip a little expensive.
Even without the tickets, the entire trip came up to be around SGD5k for the whole family. The travel in France was rather bearable with the weakened Euros but the Swiss standard of living was just too expensive, made worse with the decoupling of the Francs against the Euros.
Complexity: Getting around in a car was easy in France, but difficult in Swiss.
Driving in France was fairly easy, but long distances to cover. Reststops along the highways were good for rest and lunch. Driving in Swiss was extremely difficult in cities. Parking were hard to find and roads were crowded with other modes of transport. The long distance travel with crying baby in a uncomfortable car made the journey really unpleasant. Tolls along the French highway collect quite a sum of coins while vignette issue in Swiss was covered since we got the car from Zurich first.
The last day of our free tour was a visit to the factory where the awesome Erdinger beer were bottled. The representative came in a car to pick us up from the hotel and it was a short drive to the factory. Joined a group of beer loving people which was led by a lady guide.
Dawn at Erding.
Pinkish skies before sunrise.
Erdinger shop.
Packaged gift sets of bottled beers.
Singapore represent!
Entrance to the tour.
Our factory tour guide.
The factory had a couple of levels and a few other sections for the different phases from brewing to storage and bottling and finally to the warehouse before these were sent everywhere in the world. The warehouse impressed me the most, with the automation.
Equipment.
Huge vessels lined up.
Bottling facility.
Lines of bottles moving.
To crating.
Warehousing.
A wide range of beers.
Then the grand finale of beer testing which I couldn’t fully utilized as there were too many to try and I couldn’t do it all! After the beers and a nice photo opportunity inside one of the chambers, it was the end and we were transferred back to the hotel.
Fresh from the tap.
Another beer in another glass, of a different name.
Beer tasting with sausages.
More equipment.
A photo souvenir with the equipment to bring home.
We had about half a day left, so we spent it exploring the town of Erding, walking into the Xmas markets and trying out the food on offer. It was a little snowy but a whole lotta of Xmas feels.
Heating for people to keep warm.
At the markets near the hotel.
Snowing heavily.
Rides available.
In one of the small mall.
Street in Erding.
One of the cathedral in Erding.
Lining up for some food.
Some sort of bun.
Warm wine.
All good things have to end, ours ended with a final ride to the Munich airport for our night flight home. The icy weather was a problem for the planes and some defrosting had to take place on the planes before the plane could take off.
Waiting for flight home.
Defrosting of the plane before flying.
Dinner.
Flying into day.
Breakfast
This trip was awesome because it was sponsored by Lufthansa and Erdinger for the flights and the accommodation. This was also the biggest prize I had won in my entire life!
This was also a first for me traveling with someone other than my partner, which was a different mode of travel, more spontaneity with the lack of plan, triggering our spirit of adventure.
Erdinger factory tour was an eye opener for me (more so as I had never through one myself), a lot of work had to be done to deliver that bottle of tasty Erdinger right to my mouth, and with guaranteed freshness. All this learning was complemented with the good company of Erdinger representatives, making the value of this prize so much higher than priced!
Woke up to a cold winter day and as we proceeded to have breakfast at the hotel, snow fell ever so slightly outside, powdering the pine trees and covered our car. Did some snow graffiti before using the wiper to clear the windscreen, something that we would never had experienced in summer all year long Singapore. Onwards to the town center of Munich, to return the car and for a walkabout.
Deco at the restaurant.
Snowing outside the window.
Erdinger hotel.
Town of Erding.
The whole town was ready for Xmas, everywhere we could see Xmas decorations and Xmas markets were were around, busy selling off the accessories and the crafts and Xmas foodstuff. There was a market selling real Xmas tree too.
Statue of Ludwig in Munich.
Early morning walk.
Real Xmas trees for sale.
There was Xmas markets set up at the popular Marienplatz where the musical Glockenspiel in the tower could be seen. Again I have seen it before and thus was just happy to introduce it to my first time visitor friend.
Marienplatz.
Rathaus-Glockenspiel
The markets had a tremendous variety of crafts on sale, to buy and place on your Xmas trees. Unlike mass produced accessories from China, these most likely were hand made and thus were slightly pricier than what could be bought in Singapore. Got myself a candle holder though.
Xmas Deco galore.
So many to pick from.
Crowded street walking the markets.
Hot choco in a refundable Santa boot.
Many Xmas markets.
Park on a winter’s day.
The whole day was basically spent hopping from Xmas markets to Xmas markets, since they were everywhere. Of course we did some window shopping as well in the hope to see if there were cheaper deals that we could score compared to back home.
Trying out some German food.
Not sure what this is anymore.
Crowded with shoppers.
Sweet choco stuff on a stick.
Hofbrauhaus in the day.
Just walking around.
Deco made it christmasy.
Even trams were decorated.
Day turned to night quickly during this winter period and the Xmas lighting illuminated the streets and the markets, bringing some warmth to the people.
Day got dark quickly, another Xmas village.
And places were lighted up.
As we had a dinner date with the hosts from Erdinger, we had to get back by train to the hotel. At the hotel restaurant, we met up with the Erdinger representatives and sat down for a lovely dinner of Bavarian food completed with tasty Erdinger beer and complemented with interesting conversations. We ended the night with promised arrangements for the factory tour the next day and a last good night sleep at the hotel.
Memory refreshing in progress… article not complete! Only photos for now…
I had been joining travel related contests in a bid to win free escapes but hadn’t been successful. The big break came about in December 2011 when I received an email from a representative from Lufthansa for winning a trip through a joint contest for Lufthansa and Erdinger. It was a 3D2N trip to Munich which included the flights tickets and accommodation at Erdinger hotel, a dinner at Erdinger restaurant and a tour of the beer factory. It was a nice surprise but due to the short 3 days notice from the email to the date of flight, I managed to grab a friend (as my wife couldn’t make the trip) and we were off!
It was my first time on Lufthansa and it was a pretty comfortable midnight flight to Munich, with a nice big screen for watching movies and if not, asleep most of the way.
Aboard Lufthansa.
Widescreen tv.
Nicely packed accessories.
Arrival at Munich International airport.
Picking up the luggage.
After picking up our luggage, we met the Erdinger representative who drove us from the airport to the Erdinger hotel in the pretty little town of Erding. It was a nice cosy hotel within a historical building and we enjoyed the buffet breakfast spread after checking in.
Room.
Shower.
Erdinger stuff.
Room 114
Breakfast buffet.
What a spread.
Salads.
Warm setting.
Eat to our fill.
Town of Erding.
No time to waste, we took the decision to visit Neuschwanstein castle since it was just an hour and a half from Munich. Some 5 minutes walk and we found ourselves at Erding station, with the train taking us to the Munich main train station, a 40mins ride.
Erding station.
Trains to Munich.
Me in the almost empty train.
Munich main station.
To get to Neuschwanstein Castle, we rented ourselves a car, from Avis, amongst one of the many big car names in car rental. Soon we found ourselves cruising on the Autobahn, with some snow fall, a first experience for me. It wasn’t highway throughout as we broke off into one of the smaller roads (following the GPS) as we got closer to the castle. Views of small towns backed with snow capped mountains welcomed us. We had to stop to take in the view and exchange seats.
My first time on the Autobahn.
Snowing as we drove on the Autobahn.
Getting blurred by snow.
Scenery along the way.
Past through small towns.
With mountainous backdrop.
Soon we could see the signs for free car park where we left the car and proceeded to purchase tickets for the visit. There were quite a number of visitors though not insanely many, managed to get tickets on a certain scheduled tour, as there weren’t free and easy walk within the castle.
Parking at Neuschwanstein.
Map around the area.
Ticketing counter.
Horse carriage, for that fairytale castle visit.
There was some time to go so we took a slow walk through the path lined with snow towards the entrance. We got ourselves some icecream to eat along the way which ended as lunch as there weren’t anything else affordable to eat near the entrance.
Hohenschwangau Castle
Real Xmas trees.
Gotten have ice-cream in winter.
As groups of visitors started to stream in at their allotted time slot, we bore the cold ( my friend was actually shivering from the lack of cold wear) standing with a crowd on the outside, taking photos to pass time. Then with a English speaking guide, we entered the “Castle that inspired The Sleeping Beauty Castle”.
Neuschwanstein castle.
Front of the castle.
Within the castle compound.
Before entering castle.
The tour was pretty straightforward as we moved from place to place, rooms to rooms with the explanations coming from the guide, accompanying the visual of how Bavarian royalties lived. It’s a pity no photography was allowed.
Lonely Planet suggested a bridge to where we could get a nice view of the castle and so we walked there after the tour. The snow came down more furiously the more we walked and thus could only make do with the blurry photo.
View from the castle.
Neuschwanstein Castle from the bridge.
On the bridge we made acquaintance with a Chinese solo traveller offered her a ride back to Munich.
Since I had been in Munich previously in 2005, I recommended we visit one of the more popular beer houses, Hofbräuhaus to have dinner, drink some beer and be merry. Since the last visit as far as I could remember, the same old atmosphere was there, nice and warm with lots of singing and drinking. Had the pork knuckles and the giant size beer and was filling very full.
Pork knuckles and Sauerkraut.
Within Hofbräuhaus.
Left the Hofbräuhaus and drove back to Erding, tired but satisfied. Upon arrival, we were surprised by some Xmas gifts left on our beds, Erdinger windbreaker!
Didnt stay awake much longer as I knocked out soon after…
