Munich

We started early with the 7:30 TGV from Paris Gare de l'Est to Stuttgart

These three guys were patrolling the station - no nonsense

We brought  baguette and chèvre for breakfast on the train

We changed to the ICE in Stuttgart. The Stuttgart station is being renovated, so we used temporary platforms about 1/4 mile up the track.

We rode 1st class (which is about $10 more than 2nd class), and this allowed us to have lunch in the dining car. Food is waaaay better than Amtrak, and not expensive

We passed thru Ulm; I love the spire on its cathedral

And arrived in Munich and picked up the car. Traffic in inner Munich is horrible! I missed a quick turn and it took us 20 minutes to backtrack and make the turn correctly. Could not have done it w/o Google maps giving turn by turn directions.

We checked into the hotel then set out to do laundry... just in time for a demonstration! Would have been a letdown without one. These folks were protesting slavery in Eritrea (really) and it was only about 200 yards long. Several hundred black Eritreans followed by two white Americans lugging dirty laundry.

With that excitement over, we turned the corner to a really great place near the hotel called Wash & Coffee. It was immaculate. The guy who runs it said it'd take about 45 mins and invited us to go explore while it ran, so we did.

We checked out the Viktualmarkt, which is a 700 year old farmers market with about 100 vendors, many of them permanent. Every sort of food imaginable, and many you couldn't imagine. We tried lots of samples!

Here's the olive and pickle stand, the smells make your mouth water

Bee got a fresh dill pickle for 40c. The juice squirted all over but missed her clothes. I helped her eat it; it was yummy 

The mushroom stand had a large assortment of fresh whole truffles

And several places had spargel (hey, dad!)

One cheese stand had a huge knife for cutting wheels (Emmenthaler on the right is about 10" thick)

There's also a Biergarten, which was packed on this warm Friday afternoon

We returned to the laundry, switched it to the dryer, and the guy said he'd pull it out when it's done, just come back before he closed at 9. So we headed to dinner thru Marienplatz, past the glockenspiel

Which had already spieled for the day, so we moved on.

And had beer and wurst at the Hofbräuhaus while listening to the band

Touristy, but still fun. Note the American kids next to Bee on their phones texting.

Then back to fold & collect laundry

And finally some gelato on Marienplatz to end the day

Tomorrow we drive the Alpenstrasse - a welcome break for our tired feet.