We were on a mission to get from Munich to Paris in the quickest way possible.  We left by 6:40 a.m. And the GPS said we had an 8 hour drive ahead of us.   We figured an extra 90 minutes into our drive time for lunch and necessary stops and we’d be to our next residence in Meulan, France by 4:30.

11:30- we are starting to get hungry…….or maybe bored, we often interchange the two.  We pull off at the next exit to find a grocery store.  As we are driving we are starting to feel the culture of France through the buildings and window ledges that pour over with delicate flowers.   As we move deeper into the town we can feel that we are somewhere special.  We decide to take the next parking place we can find.  We turn down a narrow side street and I jump out to guide Dennis through the very tight parking.   While I’m waving him in  I’m thinking how weird my new sandals feel.  Then I’m starting to feel a bit crabby about the awkwardness …….even though they felt great the previous days.  I look down and yep, there it is…….an issue my 4 year old doesn’t even struggle with anymore.

We hurry down the street via foot hoping to spot a bathroom but it’s just not that easy.  We spot a corner fruit and veggie market that appears to be attached to a small grocery store and we walk to the back corner.  If there’s a bathroom it’ll be in the back corner, correct?  No such luck. I see a man behind the meat counter and push Raleigh in front of me.  I ask, “toilette?” The man starts to shake his head no but then looks at Raleigh, looks around and motions for us to follow him.  JACKPOT! Around the counter, out a side door,  and up two flights of stairs to a little bathroom on the roof of the grocery.  Praise the Lord!

We gathered up our lunch fixings at the market and headed out to find a bench along the river.  As we walked past a long alley way I could see part of a church and what seemed to be misters coming out of the pavement.  We followed the walk way and found a huge open area where children were running and laughing through fountains and one of the most massive churches we’ve ever laid eyes on.  We kept asking ourselves, “where are we?”  It was Strasbourg, France, which lies right on the Rhine River!  It was a spectacular town.  We just plopped ourselves down and took it all in, even if only for an hour before we returned to the road, onward to Paris.

The detail of the church was astonishing.  It’s construction started in 1015 and was completed in 1439.  It is the 6th tallest church in the world and the highest still-standing structure built entirely in the middle ages! It is considered to be among the finest examples of late Gothic architecture.