Heidelberg to Reims is about a 4 hour drive; so, we scouted some not-so-out-of-the-way options to break up the trip and settled on Trier, Germany en route. It’s the oldest city in Germany and boasts its best Roman ruins. Highlights of which include…

Its gigantic city gate (Porta Nigra):

A huge throne room/ basilica (now a Lutheran church):

Roman baths:

The town also a marvelous Cathedral (which dates back to the founding of St. Peter’s in Rome):

I was especially partial though to the smaller Church of Our Lady next door:

The town itself is also just very pleasant, despite (nor because of) its being the home of Karl Marx.

For lunch, we grabbed some frites and frikadellen (a sort of Germanic hamburger), which were much more akin to the family recipe unlike the version that I had last summer in Denmark.

After lunch, we had a pleasant 2.5 hour drive to Reims, France via Luxembourg and Belgium. Coming in from the north, Reims appeared to be surrounded by farm land, but we saw little to no grape vines (despite Reims being one of the two major Champagne towns — as it happens, the vineyards are largely south of the city). Initially, we were a bit underwhelmed by Reims — the city seemed looked deserted on a Sunday and the area around our hotel appeared clean and safe but rather unspectacular.

As it happens though, the center of town (literally just “on the other side of the tracks” from our hotel) was charming.

Since it was later in the day already, we focused on finding a location for food. After surveying our options (many restaurants were closed due to it being Sunday), we opted for crepes which were surprisingly good for a shop that was “super hero” themed.

We also picked up some local pastries:

NB: In Trier, we stumbled upon one of the single most impressive collections of cats I’d ever seen in one place — seemingly randomly in the bottom of a parking garage. It turned out there was an exotic car rental business in the building, but my word what a fleet of automobiles!

NB #2: Since little, Emerson has taken an interest in lighting candles in remembrance. On this trip, especially being in Lutheran churches, she choose to light candles in memory of Pop, which I found touching.

I do think cruising with small children is an easier form of travel. The logistics are just more straightforward: your accommodations and consistently toddler-friendly dining travel with you. On balance, this is both good and bad. On the one hand, it saves time and effort spent on ‘everyday life’ activities. On the other hand, caring for a toddler forces you to live more like the locals (in terms of engaging in kid-friendly activities and the chores of daily life). That said, I wouldn’t hesitate to drive again.

The trip had far more highlights than lowlights. Indeed, I think every place we went is now firmly affixed to the “return” list, especially Bavaria and Poland. And, while we were lukewarm on Berlin initially, it has a lot of cultural venues that are worth exploring. Thus, while it’s not the prettiest city, it’s certainly worthy of another in-depth visit. Realistically, it will likely take us another 3 years or so to finish the 157×50 (err 39? 40?) goal. So, if we’re not back in Central Europe before then, I suspect we will most assuredly return soon thereafter.

Finally, this trip reminded me just how much we like experiencing new places. I think that’s been one of the great advantages of the 157×50 project’s goals. By definition, you’re forced to expand your horizons and travel more widely. Fortunately (or unfortunately), once you’re on that path the thrill of exploring becomes addictive and you find yourself thinking: “why not drive from Budapest to Turkey?” or “maybe we should island hop through Indonesia?” Of course, we’re not hostel-dwelling, backpacking vagabonds. We’re far more (and unapologetically) bourgeois by this point in our lives both by choice (why inconvenience yourself when you needn’t have to?) and necessity (traveling with a toddler, while I’m sure it’s technically possible w/ backpacks and in hostels, I think you’d have to be stark raving mad to do it). But, I digress…

Final score: +6 countries and +1 state for us; +13 countries and +1 state for Emerson!

Up next: the Caribbean over Thanksgiving.

The car rental process at Hertz was also fairly painless… though we struggled a bit to find the #1 Club Gold garage and then also fumbled around trying to install Emerson’s car seat. The “good” news is that we ended up with a Chevy Captiva (a quasi-SUV/crossover), which has adequate storage space for us. The “bad” news is that it’s still a Chevy… in Germany… for an American who drives a Porsche at home. How’s that for life’s little ironies?

We departed Dusseldorf heading for the Netherlands. Reaching Holland, we drove down through Maastricht and on into Belgium. We stopped off in Malmedy to take a quick look at the resort town (charming) and picked up some frites (hey, it’s Belgium, right?). After this, we headed for Vianden in Luxembourg, which somehow brought us back into Germany and then onto a series of crazy, winding back roads through Germany and (somewhere along the way) into Luxembourg.

Amidst this bucolic splendor some trouble began. Emerson became increasingly cranky (unusual for her) and then suddenly vomited… uh oh. Fortunately, I found a place to turn off the road, and we managed to get her cleaned up. Based on her “rapid recovery” and lack of obvious other symptoms, we were forced to conclude she became motion sick (heretofore unheard of with her). And, based on the fact that she seemed to get unsettled again during the drive following our visit to Vianden, we’re at least a little concerned that this might be an ongoing issue this trip. So, I’m coming up with Plan B (taking trains) now in case Plan A (driving a car) doesn’t work out over the next day or two. In any case, there’s nothing to do about it now: we’ll just have to wait and see.

If vomit was the lowlight of the day, Vianden was the highlight. The town itself is nestled deep in folds of terrain that make up part of the Our River valley. Above the town looms the imposing structure of Chateau Vianden, which we toured this afternoon. Clearly, the ability to visit this sort of small village is the reason for traveling by car—it provides an efficient means for getting off of the “beaten path” to gems like Vianden.

Chateau de Vianden

We left Vianden and drove about 45 minutes to our hotel in Luxembourg City. However, by the time we parked, checked-in, got a bit settled, and grabbed a quick dinner – it was getting late, and we all were fairly tired. So, with that, I’ll close for the day and go to bed…

Today’s box score: +1 country for us (Luxembourg)… +4 countries for Emerson.