The train ride from Munich to Vienna took 4 hours, and the scenery along the way was cinematic: lush green valleys, smoky mountains and red roof villages.

Even though the rain these past two days had somewhat dampened our visit, it forced us to have some rest and relaxation. We had about 3 hours of sunshine this morning fortunately, so we were able to capture a few images of Vienna. We attended a mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral on Sunday. It was easy to be absorbed in the atmosphere as we admired the incredibly ornate stone carvings and sculptures, the high stained glass windows and listened to one of the most amazing choirs and orchestra that we have ever heard.

We stopped by the Hofburg Palace and visited the Imperial Appartments and the Sissi Museum.
Looking at the collection of various objects that she once used, we could imagine her life as the Empress of Austria, a beautiful woman with a strong character whose fate gave ultimate favors but came to dislike her court formalities and obligations, and instead was constantly seeking thrill and adventure.

We absolutely adore Munich! We arrived to Munich with not much expectation, but the Biergartens and Wurst und Kraut won us over. We visited the Viektualienmarkt Beer Garden and Chinesischer Turm Beer Garden and really enjoyed the social atmosphere there. As we sat outdoor among 4000 beer drinkers and diners, sharing table, saying hello to strangers around, listening to the loud hum of converstations and laughters, we realized how desperately lacking America is for common social spaces.

Another highlight of Munich was the Deutsches Museum. We were especially fascinated with the marine navigation and aeronautics exhibits.

This impeccably preserved chateau is only about 15 minutes away from Chambord. We arrived at Cheverny at 5:00 PM, just in time for the feeding of the castle’s English and French mixed breed hunting dogs. Cheverny, one of the best known Loire chateaux, belongs to the descendants of the Hurault family since the 17th century. It was interesting to see the photos of this influential family, imagining their lives, and then look outside to find their little boy playing soccer against the castle wall.
Cheverny also hosts a Tintin exhibition since the front facade of the castle was the inspiration for the Chateau of Moulinsart in the Tintin stories.

This over one thousand year old monastery is steeped in history since its birth on the apex of a giant rock, the conquests of William the Conqueror, the Hundred Years War to the French Revolution. It is an engineering feat of its time, and the tides of the immense bay that cradles it have lured many in and kept countless away. We, unfortunately, visited Mont St. Michel on a day when there was no tide…it would have been something to see the tide moving in at 12 miles an hour, the speed of a galloping horse.

For the past six months, we’ve been holding our breath in the anticipation of our trip.
Three years of being away is simply too long, we’ve concluded. It is difficult to put into words the flooding emotions when we are finally here, surrounded by so much beauty. So, cheers to thirty days of no work, no blaring alarm at 5:30 a.m., just fun, just us, just France, Germany and Austria.

In this first post of our trip, we drove from Angers with our family to the chateau de Villandry, the last large chateau built in the Loire Valley during the Renaissance. The English-style gardens surrounding the chateau made us wish that our thumbs were greener.