Days traveled: 39

Miles traveled: 8750 km (5437 miles)

Countries visited: 10 (Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Lichtenstein)

Cities visited: 35 (including small towns, villages)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites visited: counting, will sum up at the end of my weekly diaries posts

Money spent: $20,000

Our amazing Western Europe road trip has come to its end.  It was a grand adventure and the longest I’ve ever been on the road non-stop. We traveled fast, didn’t spend more than a few days at one location and constant change of scenery never let us off the bait. Since we were Europe “virgins”, well my boyfriend was a virgin and I sort of tried some things (Germany, France) but never went all the way J, we were smitten by the beauty, the history and the architecture.

I call our trip “Introduction to Europe 101”, as we didn’t explore places extensively, but rather tried to catch the crème de la crème of European wonders.  I got asked many times if such a long journey made me tired and bored and if things started looking dull by the end of the trip. The answer is no. The more I saw, the more I longed to see and explore. Traveling is like a drug. Once you are hooked, it’s hard to quit. By the time we had to go home, I was already dreaming of our next destinations.

As a Russian expat living in the States for over a decade, I should confess the concepts of cultural identity and patriotism have been haunting me for years. Who are we – expats leaving our roots behind and adapting to new ways, new traditions, new mentalities?  As I currently can’t control my frequent bouncing of English and Russian languages, I respectively couldn’t decide which country speaks to me more. And here comes travel – one thing that blurs the edges to further extremes. Did I love Europe? Absolutely! Could I live there? Without question. I guess the answer for me is simple. I value freedom and new experiences to such an extent that saying I dos to one country becomes merely impossible.  My birthplace will always be dear to my heart and I gravitate towards it or anything resemblant greatly. My current residence suits my needs, brings me comfort and in many ways correlates to my new shaped mentality. However, today I can say with certainty that I am no country patriot. I do not believe in any nation being superior to the other and any country being better than the other. Just as people – they are all different and unique, fascinating in some realms and unattractive in others. Balance is the key.

I am in the Day 5 of the Germany-France road trip and this post will be an attempt to lure you to fall in love with the undeniable charm of Strasbourg.

The city is well known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral, medieval timber-framed buildings and cobblestone roads. Located right at the border with Germany, it is immersed into the Franco-German culture which is echoed so well in the city’s architecture. As you walk through the city you will catch both French and German bits of conversations.

Wow, it’s been 5 months since my trip to Europe back in August of 2014! I spent 10 amazing days in Germany and France and published posts only about 3 of them and then…well, then happened life. Yes, life happened and carried me away into a swirl of events, not letting go from its tight grip. School, job, another job, a couple of vacations, my Mom’s visit (yay!), my boyfriend’s demands to stop spending all my time with the laptop and to actually pay attention to people around…and lots and lots of other things, good things mostly, which took all my time and energy and kept me away from writing.

In Paris every second building is a landmark and a tourist attraction. If you have only two days to explore the city, the choice of places to visit becomes a challenge. I've tried to do my best and to come up with the most time efficient route to cover as many points of interest as possible in one day. (Louvre, Eiffel Tower and Seine River Cruise were in the program of the first day)

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the busiest landmarks where lines are huge and can be compared only to the lines for a new iPhone. The best time to go is early in the morning. To tell the truth, even though it was early and raining, we still spent about an hour in lines. Well, in my humble opinion Notre Dame is totally worth the wait, especially the towers. I was impressed beyond any expectations! The views of the city are phenomenal; the proximity of dozens of mesmerizing gargoyles gives you goosebumps. The rain actually fits the atmosphere of Notre Dame perfectly!

The drive from Metz, Lorraine to Paris is about 4 hours. The beauty of landscapes totally makes up for this time though. Half an hour before the destination, my anticipation gets to its peak! I am just an ordinary person and Paris has always been on my list of dream places to visit.

As you get closer to the city, the views start changing rapidly from rural to industrial. In a blink of an eye empty roads get packed with traffic and radio tunes to a different station – romantic French folklore changes to dynamic beats of French hip-hop. Bienvenue à Paris!

I am extremely late with posts about my August Europe trip, but better late than never, isn't it? I assume you agreed *smile*.

While preparing for the trip and choosing hotels I accidentally found this website with bed and breakfast rentals in France. I was looking for something nice and cheap around Metz, France. Hotels within $80 range looked super boring and average, while my imagination drew pictures of beautiful village houses with gardens and flowers and romantic French atmosphere. En.europa-bed-breakfast.com became an absolute gem of my search!

It was early Sunday morning, when my sister and I packed our travel suitcases, arranged things in the car, tuned in to some local radio station, placed Snusmumrik conveniently in the window and began our five days road trip to France. It was rather chilly at 8 am and everything was covered in morning dew. Germersheim, the city where my sister lives and the starting point of the trip, was still silent, sleepy and foggy, but to me it looked mystical and enchanting, as if promising the great adventures ahead of us.