European Vacation Part 2: Strasbourg to Austria and home again!

We left Paris in our rented Ford S-max and drove to to Strasbourg.  It is a lovely city and I would have liked to have spent more time there.   The children's main interest was to see our hotel room where they would have preferred we spent our evening.  Instead we went on a stroll through the city center.

This is our room at the Hotel Gutenberg.  It was a nice, reasonably priced hotel in the middle of town.

Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame

Unfortunately the photos don't do the cathedral justice.  It was breathtaking.   

Dinner, finally.

Of course there was a carousel.   Harry and Joseph sat this one out.

      

The River Rhine as we left Strasbourg and crossed into Germany.  Our route took us through the Black Forest and then into Austria from there.  

Into the mountain we go.

Waterfall in the Black Forest.

Harry hiding.

The route took us down by the Bodensee which is a lake on the Rhine at the northern  foot of the Alps.

Grape vines.

We made it to Austria.

We made it!  Here is our hotel located in Serfaus, Austria.  It is a kinderhotel where everything is included,  even 8 hours of babysitting per day!  The food was fabulous and the kids were well taken care of in the Kids Club.  Lift passes were included in the fee and there are tons of trails, playgrounds, rides and activities on the mountains.  We were in heaven.

Kate going to dinner.

View from our balcony.

Another view from our balcony.

...and another.

...and another.

Nice bathrobes.  When we arrived at the hotel we were each given a bathrobe which we were to wear to the pool and spa.

On this particular day we put the boys in the kids club and Christopher, Kate and I went to the carnival up on the mountain.

There were window boxes on almost every building and the flowers were meticulously maintained.

This is where Harry spent most of his time.  He preferred to spend all his time here and only wanted to leave if we were going to the pool.  He at most of his meals here with the exception of breakfast.

We talked Harry into coming the mountain with us one day.  We took 2 lifts to the top.  We were in the clouds.

The children would have preferred to stay at the playground all day.

Another failed family photo.

That's the lift we took to the top.

We went on the children's trail that takes you through a plane crash site.  Kate loved it but Harry mostly wept because we wouldn't carry him.

Walking back down the mountain.

more window boxes.

This is for Liz.  Dogs were allowed in the gondolas just not on the seats.

At this point we hit a snag.  I thought the food was wonderful.  Every night we had a four course dinner and it was great.  Wednesday night Christopher unfortunately made a poor choice in ordering.  He felt the effects of the snails for days afterward and was out of commission totally the last 2 days were in Serfaus.  I had been wanting to go on the "Family Trail" the whole week but the only person who would go was Joseph.  So, off we went.

We borrowed a stroller from the hotel that had a hand brake.

The picture is deceiving because it doesn't look that steep.  It was extremely steep.

I made sure I had the buggy strap around my wrist.

We made it.  

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That is the water slide at the hotel.  The children absolutely loved it.  There was both and indoor pool and a heated outdoor one.

Time to go home!

On the way back we drove through the Swiss Alps.  Poor Christopher was still suffering from his  snails as well as my screaming at him as we drove on the never ending switchbacks.  I am thankful my kids don't get carsick.  

Above the trees.

Pizza in the room in Dijon.  The kids were in heaven.

Our last stop was Reims.  The cathedral was magnificent.  It was built in the 13th century and is where the kings of France were once crowned.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch outdoors and then went back to the hotel for a rest.  We tried to go back out for dinner but after the carousel ride Harry would have no part of it and we missed our window with Joseph.  So we got Subway and had another picnic in our hotel room.  

We left Reims in early Monday morning and drove to Paris where we picked up our car.  We had an uneventful ride home through the Chunnel and after 2 weeks of traveling arrived back safe and sound in Crowthorne.  Despite the car issues and bad snails it was great. I can't say enough about the the kinderhotel in Serfaus:  It is the perfect vacation for families with small children.  It was an ambitious trip but we have some great memories and some beautiful photos to show Joseph so he can pretend that he remembers.