Blogs from Alsace, France, Europe - page 19

So my first weekend with the Fau family has been a busy one...I could very easily drop off to sleep as I write this...yesterday we visited a forest high up in the Alscacian mountains on the border between France and Germany where the two countries had fought between WW1 - the trenches are still there! It was amazing to walk through them and to be in the same place that so many men lost their lives...if I hadn't been helping to supervise the kids, making sure they didn't fall into any of the old hideouts I might have had more time to reflect on where I was, the history of the place. It is always a strange yet exciting experience to step foot on a place that one reads and learns so much about. But it ... read more

6/9/11 Arrived in Bale-Muhlouse airport yesterday afternoon at 15:10 (20 minutes later than expected). Cecile drove me to the airport – it was another rush to get there but we made it in plenty of time. I had a much smoother ride through security. Cedric and Laetitia were waiting with their two youngest, Raphael (4) and Gabriel (17 months) as I trundled through with my 20 kg bag. I’m glad I had seen the photos beforehand or I think I would have been in for a bit of a shock –like I said, Cedric especially wasn’t how I imagined him. Their English is OK – perhaps just as good as my French but that’s good because it means I won’t be able to rely on my English and will be forced to use my French. On ... read more

Bill and I have decided that Robbi is our good luck mascot -- it hasn't rained for two days and we haven't been lost since Linde gave him to us. Guess we had better keep him on the back of the bike for the next few days. It did indeed get cold last night; no clouds equals low temps. But we were packed and ready to go by 7:30 this morning. We had traveled this part of France in 2006 so decided to go a slightly different route this time, cycling through some small villages on our beloved back roads of France and along the canal via a bike path. Arrived in Strasbourg before 1:00, ate a good meal at a restaurant in front of the cathedral (with its beautiful stained glass windows dating back to ... read more

Hey, it's me again, Time is running out here in France. We have seen it all. Of course it is what we want to see. So now it will be good to move on. Belgium here we come. We are also very close to Holland so we will see some of that too. So here are some miscel photos that you may like. Tomorrow is a packing day so may not blog till Belgium this weekend. As always Lowell... read more

Geo: 48.5829, 7.74375This morning we left Friedrichshafen, headed for Strasbourg, the European Capital. Although the trip was scheduled to take just over three hours, it took somewhat longer than that due to the many photo stops. The route took us firstly along Bodensee, then up through the Black Forest, and then into Northern France. We were fortunate enough to see a Zeppelin Airship just after leaving Friedrichshafen. We then stopped off at the town of Haslach in the Black Forest. Haslach has an old city area, which is where we had a coffee and cake. After leaving Haslach we headed for Strasbourg. Strasbourg is just over the border in Northern France, and has an alternating history of French and German occupation over the centuries. Originally it was the site of the Roman city of Argentoratum in ... read more