Leaving France- November 1

This morning we got up, got packed up and checked out. We were going to look for a bakery to get breakfast on the way out of town. We weren't so lucky. We ended up finding an Aldi (a low end grocery store) and picked up some raisin rolls and Gouda cheese.  It was a very rainy day, a good at for having to drive, since a pretty day would be wasted. We also didn't realize it was a national holiday, All Saints Day. Practically every store, shop, and gas station were closed.   We made our way north for one more sight before leaving my favorite country.  

There was another castle that had been renovated, Pierrefonds.  This castle was originally built in the 1300s and was besieged in the 1600s. It lay in ruins until Napoleon acquired it. Then his nephew had it renovated in the mid 1800s. When we pulled up, we were amazed at how much it looked like the typical medieval castle you see in fairy tales.  We didn't get to see all of it because they are doing major repair work on it. But it was really cool nonetheless.  

       Now that's a castle!

   Cool, crazy statues.

      The great hall.

When we got out, it was raining again.  We stopped at a bakery to get sandwiches for lunch. Mine wasn't very good so I only ate half. 

We drove the rest of the afternoon to Calais.  We weren't too impressed with this city.  It was a bit run down. And we drove around for half an hour trying to find an open gas station or one that worked before dropping off the rental car at the ferry station. When we got there, because the car rental place was closed, we just left the keys and had to call a taxi to take us to the train station. That cost us about 40 euros and we didn't quite have enough so the taxi driver had to take us to the ATM.  So now we have about 40 Euros left that we can't spend. Then we got to the station 4 hours early. Normally this would be fine as there is food and shops. But of course the only food place was closed and it was a tiny station. Our train left at 9pm so we figured we'd get food on the train.  It was a long wait, but at least we had books to entertain us.

        The only sight in Calais, a lighthouse.

We had to go through customs and security, just like getting on a plane. A dog came and sniffed our luggage for security. Finally we got on the train!

The train ride through the Chunnel was pretty quick, about 20 min.  The rest of the ride through to London was uneventful.  There wasn't anything appetizing to eat so we waited.

When we arrived in London, we had to go through customs again. By this time it was about 10 pm and we hadn't eaten since noon, and I had hardly eaten then. I was tired and grouchy. We stopped by a Burger King which had a line 15 minutes long, got some food, and walked to our hotel. And of course our room was on the top floor with no elevator, lol!  Here we were trying to carry all of our bags, dinner, and drinks.  I was so glad to just be where we were supposed to a and rest for the night. It all starts again tomorrow!

Colmar to Reims, France-October 31

Today was another travel day.  We got up, got ready, and packed our things. We then had breakfast before heading off.  The breakfast buffets here included all kinds of breads, several cheeses and meats, cereals, yogurt, and even eggs.  But you have to boil your own eggs.  The egg boiler thingy wasn't hot enough and my egg didn't cook.  So disappointing. :(  But a cool experience none the less!

Anyway, we rode for 3 hours enjoying the countryside and mountainous region.  We did hit some heavy, heavy fog for at least 45 minutes of the drive.  Finally we reached Verdun.  We rode through windy windy roads to get there.  Verdun is a town next to a huge WWI battlefield.  Apparently there were several villages in the area that were decimated in the war and never recovered.  We saw several memorials and a trench that had collapsed and buried the French soldiers alive.  Apparently for several years after you could see the tops of their bayonnets still sticking out of the soil.

   A memorial to WWI soldiers.  It is supposed to look like a sword stuck in the soil up to its hilt.

      Thousands of graves of fallen soldiers.

When we were done, we hit the road again for the last hour to Reims.  We found our hotel right in the center of town.  We had to park in an underground garage 3 stories below the surface.  Our hotel is located on a very busy shopping/restaurant area.  I can still hear all of the noise and music outside of our window.  

After checking into our hotel, we walked to the Reims Cathedral.  It looks so much like the Notre Dame in Paris.  Apparently many French kings were crowned there.  There are also a couple of statues dedicated to Joan of Arc.  

After the cathedral, we walked to a champagne maker, but were too late for tours.  We came back to our hotel for a bit before going to get dinner.  On the way home, we saw an ancient Roman city gate, just hanging out at the edge of a park. Cool!  

For dinner, we had Italian!  Scott had pizza and I had pasta carbonarra.  

Tomorrow is another travel day, this time to Calais where we catch the chunnel train to London.  But not before I find some Kinder eggs to bring back home!

Route du vin, the Alsace Region of France-October 30

This morning we woke up from a good nights sleep, got ready, and had le petit  dejuner.  I had croissants, cheese, and hot chocolate.  Scott had fun tasting all of the different breads available.  We then headed out to the first little town on the route de vin on our agenda, Eguisheim.  I loved this little village.  We picked up a little guided and follwed a suggested path through the village streets.  The buildings were almost all wattle and daub and were painted pretty pastel colors with wood timbers.  Most of the buildings were dated from the early 1200s.  The city was built in a curcular pattern with the houses on the outside forming the outer walls and houses on the inside forming concentric rings.  Some of the houses had phrases painted above and below the windows that were prayers for God's protection, names and dates, and even one house telling nosey people to pass on!  This is the town where the Alsace region's only pope was born, so there is a chateau and chapel in his honor.  We noticed the chateau had a large nest of large long beaked birds on the top of the spires.  We learned later that they were storks, the bird of the region.

        The pigeon house...used as a chicken coop.

        Too much cuteness!

               A window with a message.

                   The message translated (the middle one).

The next town was Kayersberg.  This ancient town sits next to a hill with a castle ruin.  We walked around, got a couple of pretzels, and after unsuccessfully making it to the castle ruin, we left for the next town.  

Next was Riquewiher, a very popular tourist destination.  This town was also cute and full of waddle and daub houses.  We had lunch at a restaurant called La Grenouil (the frog) and ate outside.  Scott had chicken and spatzel (since we are so close to Germany, the territory has gone back and forth for centuries.  The food is heavily influenced by both cultures.)  I had spazel avec fromage et salade.  It was delicious!  

          More cuteness. 

             Yumminess!

After walking around and exploring some more, we left to go see Chateau Haut-Koenigsburg.  This castle had been around since at least 800 and was renovated several times.  By the early 1900s, it was a castle ruin.  But at the time, Germany owned this area, so the King Wilhiem commissioned an architect to rebuild the castle.  So they spent about 8 years researching and rebuilding it as authentically as possible.  It was really well done.  The castle sits on top of a mountain in the Black Forest overlooking the valley of the route de vin.  We really enjoyed exploring this castle.

            After walking up a very steep hill, this is the view of the castle. 

           An interior spiral staircase. 

         The view from inside the castle. Breathtaking!

By the way, the countryside here is a patchwork of beautiful yellows, golds, oranges, and greens.  There are vinyards on every square inch of open land.  The valley is so flat you can see for miles and it seems like there are tiny villages every couple of miles.  

        This picture can't capture the beauty of our surroundings, but I tried anyway!

After the castle, we drove to Strasbourg and saw the cathedral.  We were too late to climb up into the spire (I wasn't too sad about that) and also missed the last boat tour on the Ill river.  So we had dinner at an Alsacian restaurant.  Scott had escargot, sourkraut and sausages, and rhubarb tart for dessert.  I had a salad, onion tart, chicken leg and spatzel, and gingerbread flavored creme brulee.  I thought I was going to pop!  Apparently tarts and quiches are the thing to eat here!  

We drove back to Colmar, tired and full of great memories of the day.

         Strasbourg at night.

    The super cool and complicated astrological clock in the cathedral.