France Day 6

Tuesday, October 4 th
Tuesday the goal was to actually get up earlier. Didn't happen. Still 10 or so. But we did get moving a bit more quickly. Our first stop was the abbey just on the other side of Selestat. We hadn't been this direction before and there were a lot more farm lands than grape lands. Still beautiful. We, okay I, saw a few different crucifixes along the side of the road. I ended up seeing them all day. Maybe it was the influence of the abbey.

The outside of the building was pretty nondescript. And old building with large wood doors, two towers reaching up, not a lot else. But man, when you walked into the building, oh my. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Supposedly this is the the only baroque church in the area. It was definitely ornate. Huge vaulted ceilings with paintings in each of the sections, beautiful chandeliers, gorgeous woodwork, embellishments everywhere. The alters were spectacular. Such amazing craftsmanship. Especially when you realize when it was built - I think the early 1600’s. Okay, rebuilt. It had been destroyed once or twice in it's history. So beautiful. And we were the only ones there so that added ton the peace and majesty of it for me. We just sat in a pew for a few minutes. I think Mom was praying. I guess I was of a sort, marveling at the beauty of it. I think that may have been one of the highlights for me. Very 'trip to europe'.

Okay, castle, check. Church, check. Next, monkeys! Yep, monkeys.

There is a sort of preserve, at least that is what I think it said. And they have been raising groups of Barbary Macaques since 1969. I think they may reintroduce them to the wild but those details weren’t clear to me. My french isn’t that good. When you come to this resereve you can walk through paths in their habitat. They give everyone a handful of popcorn when you go in and tell you how to approach and how to feed them. You don’t really have to approach any of them, or call them over. They know the drill. Manyof them sit right on the walkway railing waiting for the humans to come by and feed them. They were exceedingly gentle. Not necessarily goodlooking, but so interesting. There were many babies and they had a few areas set up where a worker would come and throw out a lot of food so they would all gather around and you could watch them interact. There was a very extensive presentation on monkey culture, who is who and the roles they play. Unfortunately they only did French and German versions. One of the elements I did pick up was that the males take a large role in the raising of the babies. The guide was going over that one again and again so I was able to get that, in both French and German. The area was a beautiful forest so very pleasant to walk through and just sit and observe different groups. I think they liked doing the same thing.

After monkeys, eagles. This was our wildlife day. And they were very smart to be right next to each other. The eagle show was a short, beautiful, walk through the forest. And then you came to another castle ruin, this one much smaller. They had a circular clearing with rows of benches all around. We got there a bit early (can you believe it?) and mom sat down while I looked around. There were dozens of birds of prey all around the castle grounds; eagles, falcons, vultures, owls, you name it and they had it. I have very mixed feelings about that set up. Most of the big birds had basically anklets on both legs with about a 5-8 foot tether. They had perches, water and overhangs. Their wings were not clipped. The signage explained that they would spend hours at a time in the wild just perched on one tree, etc. So this wasn't that different, but I still don't know. Hmmm, conflicted, that's new. Not.

Anyway, the show was pretty cool. There was an emcee and three additional handlers. They would bring out a few different birds that would circle around and then land either on a perch, on one of their arms or even the ground. The birds were spectacular. The handlers moved aournd the audience so some times a bird would literally fly right at you, graze your head and land just behind you. Quite thrilling. They brought out a group of falcons ( again, I think due to their size, this one was also all in French so I didn't learn very much) and then gave different members of the audience a chance to have the bird land on them. Guess who stood up and put out her arm for the glove? My mother! I couldn't believe it. I dont think she could either. But it was very cool. The entire show was exciting to watch. Even the birds eating dead things was okay to watch.

After that we headed toward home with the goal of a pharmacy, which we found, for cough drops, which they didn’t have ( tablets instead) and the supermarket for a cooler. We head to Provence tomorrow and have things from the fridge to bring with us. We did find the supermarket, and it was open, but no luck on the cooler. Oh well, now to pack because we really do have to wake up early on Wednesday to start our drive.

France Day 5

Monday, October 3, 2011


So the day started as the others, rolling out of bed around 10:30 or so. Man we are getting a lot of sleep. I have been starting a book around dinner and then staying up to finish it, but that has only been 11 pm or so. Earplugs have been key for sleeping.

Our grand plan for the day was to see monkeys, eagles and a castle. With our late start we went for the castle first. And last. Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg.

Wow, that was a lot of walking, and a lot of up hill and a lot of stairs. All which tuckers my mom out. She has to stop often to catch her breath. So it maybe took a little longer than expected. But that was fine. We plan on seeing monkeys and eagles tomorrow. The castle was very impressive. They are renovating it now but it isn't intrusive into the main areas that we saw. The views were exceptional. Especially when you get to the very top. Surpisingly coming down was all done basically at once, whereas the upward trek was spread out through many rooms of the castle. It was layed out quite well that way.

With our timing thrown off a bit we decided to go to Kayserberg, or what we have been calling it, water town. Our info said there was water running through the main part of the village. And there was. Again, gorgeous old homes, beautiful colors, vibrant flowers everywhere, small cobblestone streets.

We got there in the evening and wandered around a bit, completely forgetting that everything around here closes at like 5 or 6. Amazing. We saw a small outdoor cafe that promised crepes and by 7:15 or so even they were shooing us out. But they did deliver on the crepes. Jambon et fromage crepe for dinner and a crepe sucre for dessert. Yummy! (ham and cheese; sugar) As we were driving back to our apartment I kept asking what do these people do at night? There is no where to go. I kept expecting to see a place like a local British or Irish pub, you know, the local village hang out where you go to catch up with your neighbors. But we never saw anything like that either. Seriously, what do these people do at night?


Before hitting the water town we stopped at the truck stop. So that I could use their wi-fi. Seriously, that is the only place aroud here that has wi-fi. I'm not joking. You get 20 minutes free in their little cyber cafe inside. Pretty cool. I called my office to get the cell service on my iPad working, and used their wi-fi to check email, etc. Mom slept in the car. She can sleep anywhere. Quite a talent if you ask me.

France Day 4

Sunday, October 2, 2011

We woke this Sunday morning to the sounds of bells and bleating. All the churches in the area, and there are a lot of them, were ringing their bells. And it was a beautiful sound. But it must annoy the sheep a little bit, or they were trying to sing hymns, as they were quite vocal as well. Although I am not complaining, really. It was a nice sound. And it was basically 10:30 so no room to complain on this end. We haven't gotten anywhere before noon. And the nice thing is, that is okay by both of us. We are still seeing the things we want to, and enjoying just being in the french countryside.

We had a poulet rescue today! Monsieur, le chien est mange la poulet! (Sir, the dog is eating the chicken.) Or at least trying to. (And I am sure my French is far from accurate.) Although at first it looked like they were 'playing' at least from the dog's perspective. I don't think the chicken liked any of it. And then the chicken started getting really distressed. And bless my mother, she held the dog while I tried to rescue the chicken. My mother does not like dogs, or really any animals actually. So the fact that she aided my activities was a big step. Yay mom. And the poule is now down the hill with the sheep, recooping. Ha ha ha.

(Editorial aside: My mom talks to herself. A lot. :-) )

Our first stop today was Les Jardins des Papillons, otherwise known as the butterfly garden. Wow. Can I just say breathtaking. It was quite warm for the comfort of the butterflies and everyone moved pretty slowly. Which added to the ambiance. The foliage and flowers were abundant and there were butterflies EVERYWHERE! (Quite a few landed on my mom.)

Gorgeous butterflies. Of every color and size. Just beautiful. We stayed about 2 1/2 hours. I took over 100 photos, some of them actually pretty good. I do have to admit that I had a little camera envy. There were some impressive set ups there. One French couple each had some honking digital SLRs. Did I say each? Yep. We ended up near each other and when one of us would find a hidden one, or a particularly beautiful one, we would pantomime to the other to make sure they got the shot as well. It was really very nice.

There was a quite elusive blue variety. (Yes, I got the shot.) They flew close to the ground and often landed on the ground. But once they landed they would fold up their wings. The underside was still beautiful, shades of brown with quite a few rounds present. But you could only see a slip of the almost metallic blue wing fronts. As we finally started to leave, in the gift shop actually, the genetleman came up to me with a big smile and showed me that he had gotten a great shot of the blue wings. I smiled back and showed him a shot I had from my perspective, looking down the right side of my body with one of the blue bodies attached to my shirt. Yep, one landed on me. So cool.

Right next door to the butterfly garden is the stork park. Yep, the stork park. I guess this park was started to help presereve the stork population. They keep the babies in the infirmary or nursery for three years and they loose their migratory instinct. So they hang out around here. Not only in the stork park, but on buildings all over town.

They also have a spectaculare, or show, that features an odd assortment of critters. There is a big round pool with glass side walls and everyone sits around that. From the little podium the announcer relates various facts about the featured critters. All in French of course. Luckily they had a written summary in English. They first brought out a cormorant and then threw fish in the pool and you get to see him catch and eat them. Then a few eels. Oh and a few fish right after the eel so the eel will jump out of his mouth and he gets to chase him again. Good fun. Then an otter as well as some thing that people always confuse as an otter. But otters are carnivores and this other thing is an herbivore. We then had four penguins come out to show how fast they were under water and how they catch and eat fish. And the grand finale was a sea lion. Yep, more fish caching and eating. Pretty entertaining all the way around. Although it does make me realize how lucky we are to be so close to the worlds best zoo and Sea World.

After that a few minutes exploring Hunniwhr, driving up and down tiny, tiny cobblestone lanes, with gorgeous houses right at the street line. Its one of those places where it technically is a two way street, but only one car can get through at a time. Everyone is very nice. And drives tiny cars!

France Day 3

Saturday, October 1, 2011
We are staying in a little town called Beblenheim. I think they said the population is 953. There is construction through the middle of town so we haven't been through there until today. Our lady (which is what we call the garmin) took us through town today on our way to the main highway. We headed out to a Harvest Festival in a town called Barr. We had no idea what it would be but I had hopes that it would be like one of our street fairs. It was a little. Kind of. We found the area we wanted, and found an amazing parking spot. Then made our way to a warren of beautiful old cobblestone streets lined with vendors. Kind of.

There were a few artisan sellers, we bought some wonderful handmade soaps, and some food booths. I am still craving the crepes we smelled.

But the majority of the tables were basically garage sales. Really interesting.

And the streets were gorgeous with more of the beautiful colored old houses, overflowing flower baskets from all the windows and balconies, lovely architecture. It was very cool. And we found our way back to where we started. That was an accomplishment. Viv had told a story about two of her tour ladies, sisters, who called her one evening in tears because they couldn't find their car. They had parked somewhere and wandered around the town, then had dinner. Then after dinner realized they had no idea where their car was. Viv arranged for the police to drive them around the town looking for their car, which they finally did. But that story stuck with me so I make sure we know the landmarks, and even take pictures, of where we parked to make sure we can return. I guess that was the point of her telling the story. Well it worked.

After Barr we headed up to Obernai. This was described as an old walled city with beautiful cobblestone streets. And the streets truly were beautiful. Again, winding little "roads" with spectacular buildings overflowing with color.

We drove around a bit at first, thinking the walled city would be up high. We found a war monument that offered a breathtaking view of the city and the area. It is so interesting to see how the building are arranged from a higher vantage point.

We wandered back down the hill and stopped to view the most spectacular cemetery. I know, unusual words to put together, but it was. It was amazingly large, and packed with what I assume are burial plots, or maybe tombs? Is that the right word? Remember the movie with Ashley Judd who was accused of murdering her husband, who she then finds in New Orleans? Well there is a scene in a New Orleans cemetery that looks very similar to this. There are multiple family members in the same plot. The crosses were so varied and beautiful. Some were overeflowing with gorgeous plantings, others sparse with only marble markers. Just breathtaking. I would have loved to go in to see some of the dates on the markers.

Instead we wandered the town a bit more, did a little shopping, and people watching. Mom found a bead store and it was fun to see her browse through there.

We had thought to go to Selestat to see the abbey there but it was later than we thought and moms stomach was acting up. We stopped for a demi baguette and had potato salad and sliced turkey for dinner. A very nice meal. I dove into some cheesy texas romance and stayed up until I finished it. Not too late. But still slept almost 12 hours again.

France Day 2

Friday, September 30, 2011

The day started out slow. I just could not wake up. But finally did to look out at the most gorgeous view. Breathtaking. Oh, and a chicken. And sheep. Yep, those are our neighbors. And the chicken is quite friendly. The sheep are a bit stand offish though.

Our first goal of the day is to go back to Colmar to put my name on the rental car agreement. Luckily mom brought her Garmin, although she was giving us fits this morning. The office was not quite in the center of town and man there was a lot of right turn, right turn, re-calculating....and wouldn't you know it. We got there at 1 pm. There is an interesting tradition, rule, habit, that most places are closed between 12 and 2 pm. Yep, that is the deal. Closed. So we did what they we doing, we went to have lunch. A litlle more right turn, right turn, re-calculating and we almost got to our destination. We wanted to go to an open air market next to the Dominican church. Well we kind of got lost one too many times and Garmin couldn't really keep up with us. I'm still saying we were having satellite problems. But I finally just said enough, let's park here. This looks nice.

We walked about two blocks down, saw a walk street to the left and lo and behold, a church. We assume it was the one we were looking for. It makes us feel better.

The courtyard area was great, with lots of shops and a few cafes.

We got a recommendation for a good seafood restaurant and they did not steer us wrong. We debated sitting out front to watch the people go by but opted for inside. Instead they lead us to the most beautiful back patio. Wonderful vine canopy that was red with fall color, beautiful planters surrounding us, quiet and quintessentially French.

Mom got the whole sole and they filleted it at the table. I got mussels and of course pommes frites. France has the best french fries. I think our waitress panicked a bit that we didn’t know much French, she passed us off to the owner. He didn’t know much English but we managed. It was delicious. Oh, and I asked for a salad and they brought out the same thing we had the night before, with the celery root, beets, carrots and turnip. Yum.

We strolled for a bit after lunch and I was a picture taking fiend. Beautiful fodder for it as well.

We then headed back toward 'home' and on to Beauville. A very high end linen store and factory. Mom got a few gifts but I resisted the temptation to buy just for the sake of buying. Yay me.

I pulled over on the way home to take pictures of this breathtaking home on the side of the mountain, with of course, grape vines surrounding it. It was quite imressive with overeflowing window boxes in the dozen or so windows. I think there was a castle up above it as well.

We stopped by the little market to get a quiche for dinner and pain au chocolat for breakfast. We planned out what we wanted to see for the next few days and what was near each other to take advantage of the area. We have monkeys on the list. And storks too!

Mom is now falling asleep on the not quite comfortable couch next to me. Time to rouse her and off to bed. Oh, she loved the boggle I have on the iPad and the fact that we could have dinner music too. Even though I am truly unplugged, with no connectivity, technology is still nice to have around. Especially since we both talked about journals but didn't find any today. Mine is here. Voila!

France Day 1

Thursday, September 29, 2011

My first meal in France was a simple sandwich and delicious. Hard crusty roll but soft inside. Jambon with chevre and vegetables. Marinated and delicious. Peppers, tomato, eggplant, who knows what else. Good stuff.

The diet coke is coke lite and pretty much everything is served warm. I forgot the word for cup or glass. I did actually come up with glace for ice but after the fact. Took a mini wash in the wc to handle my face, breath, put my hair up, put on new makeup, changed shoes and shirt. I feel much better now.

At the TGV station (Gare) waiting for my train. I flew into Paris into Charles De Gaulle airport and will take the train over to Alsace to meet up with my mom. She got there yesterday. The highspeed train will take me to Selestat and then I will just buy the ticket to Colmar either at that station or on the train. So far I am feeling pretty good about this. Trying to take a lot of pictures of various things that I notice. I’m liking this. Which is unusual for me. I usually just put my head in a book.

It's funny but I look around and try to figure out who is French and who is not. Actually I am looking for Americans I think. And I have been wrong a few times. Less of us here than I thought. Train Coming.

The train is amazing! So beautiful and comfortable there is only one other person in the car with me so it is very quiet. Black striped seats, red and black carpet, raised seats, many with tables. So comfortable. I am traveling through the French countryside. I can't believe this. We seem to be picking up speed now. I definitely want to do this again.

A train just went by the other way and scared the bejeezes out of me. So close and so fast. No time for a photo. There is an upstairs to this train and I am on the bottom. For some reason in feel like I am missing out. Wonder what is up there? Is it more of the same ticket level or a lesser ticket? Hmmm. At first I thought being alone in this car would be a good thing. Now I'm not so sure. Could get kind of boring and I am pretty tired already. So put in iTunes and will just enjoy and soak it in. I don't actually have to do anything else. I wonder if I could enjoy this the same way if I were with someone. I kind of don't think so. It would be a very different experience. Amos Lee is good France train music. (Except maybe not the song with Willie Nelson. I really don't like his voice, at all.)   EDIT: I got a first class ticket on the train and the upstairs was for the regular ticket. Someone later mentioned that first class was the way to go on the train.

Leaves are just starting to yellow on the trees. Expanses of patchwork farm lands. Rolling hills with areas of trees. At least near the tracks.

We are about to stop at Champagne. Cool. It is a very modern, mostly outdoor station from what I can tell. But this is THE Champagne.

I seem to have a smile on my face all the time right now. I guess this is still pretty surreal to me. Wow. I am here. Go me,

So if I were to take inspiration for a quilt, right now it would be shades of bright green, large patches and strips. Maybe some brown but I would prefer just the green. Okay enough green pictures out the train window. Actually, I blew through the first set of batteries. Yikes. I guess trying to focus on fast moving objects for over two hours pretty much straight can put a strain on any energy source. Including mine. More yawns, more often. Wow I am tired. It is now 8:03am CA time while it is 3:03pm here. I know I slept a little so I was not actually awake for the last 24hours, but not by much.

Occasionally you can see a river that will meander in out next to the tracks. A few boats have been visible as well. I haven’t seen any locks but did see a tunnel with a light system and some boats off to the side waiting for the okay to enter.

We have slowed quite a bit, a train passed and I'm not sure if we are waiting for another. Hope we aren't late into the station as I need to get my ticket to Colmar and I don't really know where to go.
The houses here are so colorful. And not in the HOA friendly kind of way. This is most definitely in an organic, been here for a long time kind of way. Okay, except for the random very modern sleek structure thrown in every now and then. So funny. There are shades of yellow, orange, reds, even a great lavender or blue.  EDIT: many house pictures taken, some will appear in later posts.

Random thought: I practice in my head the right French words and then I freeze and out blurts the English. Hopefully I get over that this trip.

Buying the ticket in Strasbourg to get to Colmar was an experience. I found the information center kind of place and the woman only spoke une peu of English. She told me which train to take, but I promptly forgot the final destination. Then I had to ask where to get tickets and the line in there stressed me out. Especially since the train I thought I had to take was leaving in less than 10 minutes. Luckily I was wrong, got my ticket and headed to the platform. Then I panicked when the train came in. I got on and then got off again. (Which is not that easy with a 40 pound suitcase and oversized shlep bag.) I was close to one end and didn’t see any conductors around. I finally found one and he said that is was the right train, but my first class ticket was the very last car, waaaaay down there. Made it safe and sound. And again, in great comfort. That was the way to go.

One thing I missed a picture of and am disappointed is the community gardens. At least I think that is what they were. Small plots right next to each other with a few walkways. But everyone had their own style, and many had potting sheds or little storage buildings that were so eclectic and beautiful. Would have made a great photo.
Mom met me coming right out of the train station and the car was parked right there. Kind of entertaining watching Mom with the awkward stick. And then the gears, oh my. That tried my patience. C'est la vie!

This is the most beautiful area. We are literally in the middle of rolling hills of vineyards. Gorgeous. The colors are mostly yellow or very mellow green. Not quite full fall colors just yet. You can see glimpses in a few places, but the over all color is just a wonderful golden hue. Our apartment is up on a rise with a view across hundreds of acres of grape vines. There is a beautiful winery in the mid ground and a perfect French village in the distance. Each of these villages have at least one spire you see reaching up from the vines. Literally just picture perfect.
We met Viv who is the Untour contact, along with one other couple at Auberge du Chevalier Noir in Rebeauville. Wonderful food. Oh my. Great salad which was shredded carrot, turnip, beets and celery root. The celery root was delicious. Okay, everything was, so the celery root was extra delicious. They put out these four piles of shredded veggies with a light dressing over them, along with wedges of hard boiled egg and tomato. Wonderful. Then we had a delicious stuffed poule (chicken) and speitzle. We are in Alsace, right next to the German and Swiss borders, so many influences in this area. Dessert was a three layered merengue and sorbet decadence. Viv explained that France is all about the food and the food experience. The French honor food, and they honor people with food. You will never be rushed. You can sit for as long as you like. They will never bring the check unless you ask for it. Oh, and you can't take it home with you. No leftovers. It is such a shame. But that is one of those ugly American things. I hadn't realized.

 

We got back to our apartment, up quite the treacherous hill, and just dumped everything and went to sleep. I think I slept almost 12 hours straight. I needed that.