"I don't know where I'ma gonna go when the volcano blows...."

Ever wondered about where Jimmy (Buffet, of course!) goes? The answer is, if the volcano is Eyjafjallajokull: nowhere! Unless you go by train, of course.


Thankfully, no Geipels were stranded mid-travels this past week. Gary had a business trip but it was to Berlin so the train was an alternative. And, the airspace in Germany opened up the day he was to come home so he was one of the earlier flights to land at Frankfurt airport after a five-day closure. Chaos!

If it weren’t for news reports, you would never know that we were under a treacherous volcanic ash cloud. This past week has brought some of the nicest weather we’ve had since September - a string of endless days of blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the high 60s. Beautiful.


Gary and Molly are scheduled to leave on Friday for a trip to Indy and it appears the volcano will cooperate. Molly will go to the senior Prom with her friends in Zionsville and return on Tuesday. Gary will spend a week, stopping also in Minneapolis and Washington DC before returning.


If either is stopped by Customs upon return, they will find suitcases stocked with chocolate chips, children’s chewy vitamins, Skippy peanut butter and a jumbo bottle of ibuprofen! Before you ask – yes, while the other items are not available in Germany, ibuprofen is. BUT, it costs a fortune – in time and money. With five people in the family, periodic headaches, sports injuries, etc. we were nearing the end of our supply. I went to the drug store here to buy more. Nope. Not available. One must go to the Apotheke – the store that sells prescription drugs and an odd assortment of other things (the uniqueness of why they are only sold there, I cannot explain). Guess what? Ibuprofen is sold in quantities of 10 pills or, the “jumbo” size of 20 pills. And, it costs 5 Euro (about $8) for 20 pills. Compare this to Target brand ibuprofen sold in a bottle of 750 pills for $9.99!


I won’t digress much further but, the German government is in midst of passing legislation that will force down even further the prices on new prescription drugs, still under patent, because “they cost only pennies to make.” Hmm… and ibuprofen, which has been generic for years if not decades, costs 50 cents per pill??


Enough politics – let’s talk Paris in the Springtime! Also, beautiful. We had the delight of a visit from Maureen, our travel companion from previous vacations. She and Molly spent a great spring break week together and Audrey and I joined in for a few days in Paris. What fun to travel together! We enjoyed croissants and pain au chocolate every morning at our quaint hotel, we took a cruise on the Seine, we admired the Eiffel Tower at night and the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, and the Louvre by day.


The Louvre was a particular highlight for me and Audrey. Eight years ago, Audrey was at the Louvre with our family. Gary and I figured that since all the kids were so young, we would do just a short, hour-long visit to give them a taste of the place. We headed for the Mona Lisa as one of the more well-known paintings there. There are two things the family remembers of that visit:


1. Audrey would NOT look at the painting, period. I was holding her and tried every maneuver to turn around and let her look over my shoulder, turn her around so she could look forward at the painting with me, etc. Nothing. She simply refused to look.

2. Ethan was the most fascinated by the long gallery leading up to the room with the Mona Lisa – a gallery nearly a city block long with religious paintings hanging the whole distance. At least a third of the paintings included John the Baptist’s head – either just severed or already on a platter. I enjoyed walking that gallery again, even though Ethan was only along in his 6-year old spirit!


So, on this visit, Audrey did see the Mona Lisa (along with about 100 other people at any given time)!

She and I also wandered into a wing I’d not known was there – Napoleon’s apartments. Audrey thoroughly enjoyed seeing these rooms with original furniture and décor. We got our little taste of Versailles.


Molly and Maureen took the train and explored the real Versailles on their own one day while Audrey and I went to a cooking class to learn to make two French desserts. We brought them back to the hotel that night for an impromptu picnic on the bed - Maureen and Molly appreciated our efforts!



The girls and I mastered the Metro and even gave instructions and advice to other tourists! So, we’re ready to be travel guide or chaperone to anyone else who would like to come visit…



And, in case you're wondering - yes, we still buy a tacky souvenir even if we've been there before! There's an endless supply, after all!