Blogs from Alsace, France, Europe - page 45

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Europe » France » Alsace September 10th 2004

Jean guided us to Colmar and showed us what was his parent’s home. The place is now abandoned and in disrepair, the reason is a long story and best let slip into the shadows of my memory. It was built in the early 1800's in what was a prosperous farming area at the time. The district has now been swallowed up by the town of Colmar and borders on the "rough" end of town. It had recently been sold as a development site and would soon be torn down or remodeled as part of a trendy townhouse complex. Our little tour of the almost ruined house would be the last time Jean would visit there. The tears in his eyes told how he felt about its uncertain future and the memories which connected him to this ... read more
Logelbach
Colmar
Claudine's nursery

Europe » France » Alsace September 7th 2004

Washing day! It took us a while to figure out that a Laundromat is called a “Laverie” but we eventually made the connection. The Laverie would not be a bad idea for a second income if you live in the area. It was all coin operated, with a mobile phone number on the wall if anything went wrong. Yet another warm, sunny day in Alsace. According to our mate Paul, it was raining back home, which is wonderful for our garden. After our entertaining morning of clothes washing, we took a drive to the Ballon D’Alsace, which is the second highest peak in the Vosges mountain range. We went to the Ballon, via the town of Thann. Wonderful views from the top of the peak and a lovely statue of Joan of Arc looking toward Lorraine ... read more
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace

Europe » France » Alsace » Niedermorschwihr September 6th 2004

Today was a very special day! At 11am, precisely as arranged my distant cousin Jean arrived to collect us from our hotel. He was accompanied by his friends Danni, Christine and Jacque from Paris and Nice respectively. They took a quick tour around Bergheim and then met us at our car so we could follow them to Niedermorschwihr, not far from Colmar. There we met Jean’s wife Beatrice and her cousin Lilly (actually Nelly). I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about meeting them, or was it just anxiety and excitement? We joined them for a lovely lunch and Beatrice exclaimed happily to her friends that I had a striking resemblance to my Uncle Max who they had met a number of times over the last 20 years or so. I also liked ... read more

Europe » France » Alsace September 3rd 2004

Had breakfast at the hotel, breads, croissants, jam, coffee, orange juice. Then we drove to Colmar. The scenery was spectacular, vineyards as far as the eye can see, mountains and wonderful medieval villages. Colmar was interesting, a bustling town full of tourists. Like Amsterdam, it has no high rise buildings and lots of quaint streets. We parked in a parking station and had trouble finding our way to the street. A guy in his mid fifties, who we presumed was French, pointed us to the exit. We wandered about, and then grabbed a coffee near the cathedral. We spotted the guy from the car park with his wife and gave them a wave. I invited them to join us for coffee in my best French and then found out they are from Kent in England! We ... read more
Haut Konigsbeorg
Alsace beer is a good drop!
Mmm Rob looks a little serious

Europe » France » Alsace » Strasbourg September 2nd 2004

Slept ok but our room was close to a few nightclubs and a small casino so it was a bit noisy. Took a walk about and found myself in a hair salon with my fingers crossed as a young gay hairdresser commenced to cut and colour my hair. It was a funny experience, he with no English and me with my wonderful French I had learnt 28 years ago and never used until now! The result was interesting after about two hours I had almost bright red hair that looked something like I had stuck my fingers in a light socket. Obviously my attempts to say I would just like a trim please did not translate well! So, with my new look we headed from Strasbourg to find the village of Bergheim, about one hours drive ... read more
New look
Hillside above Bergheim
Hillside aove Bergheim




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