Into the Black Forest & Colmar, France.

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Geo: 48.0271, 7.58263

The 6:00am alarm comes very early and Mom's not happy. All night she complained of being hot. I don't think the room was but she opened the slider during the night to let the cold air in. Then she complained it was too noisy. When we went through the locks during the night, there was noise as the boat rubbed up against the stone walls and the water rushed in and out. I'm sure most people had their sliding doors closed all night.

We had a nice breakfast, buffet style. It's the usual selection we're accustomed to her in Europe with the addition of a custom cooking area where they will make eggs, omelettes, crepes and waffles to order. Since I'm used to only coffee and toast in the mornings before work, I don't need much for breakfast. Some cereal, fruit and coffee does it for me, Karen likes a little more variety. We're on the bus on our way to the Black Forest by 8:30. It's the usual, grey and overcast with the threat of rain. We head into the heart of the Black Forest to Triberg and then follow a scenic route to Hinterzarten. While our guide describes particular points of interest, Mom sleeps. The minute she hits a bus or boat, she goes to sleep. She manages to wake up now and then, especially when we arrive at the "demonstrations". We stop at a wide spot in the road to allow people off for 10 minutes to stretch and take pictures. I shoot, Mom sleeps. However, at our next stop with shops, she miraculously comes to life as she scurries into to the glass blowing shop. They have a nice demonstration going on which I record for posterity with my cameras. To my dismay, they also have a shop adjacent to the demo area where you may purchase things. What a surprise! Mom immediately finds a few things and the man is so nice to wrap them for her, as if he's done this before. Actually, they did have some cool stuff for decent prices.

Next came the cuckoo clock shop. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. They did have a large selection, prices a bit higher but not crazy. Just no craftsmen with the only thing being made was money. After a bathroom stop, it was time to go. We never saw the Black Forest Cake sampling as we were out of time. Our four buses left for the one hour return trip back to the boat and, of course, Karen caught a few winks on the way back.

At the ship, we went to our staterooms to put on lifejackets and prepare for the 12:30 mandatory drill. No excitement here. Next lunch and then off at 2:15pm for Colmar to see the city and Christmas Markets. This one cost €34 each. We wore headsets provided by the ship which we keep charged in our staterooms. It's just a half hour ride to Colmar with the guide yapping the entire way. He would point out stuff no one could see and when someone yelled, "I never saw the first castle, now I don't see the second!", he would reply, "And here's another castle over here". We never saw a single castle. We exited the bus and followed our guide with the "lollipop" sign for a while but when he got to the Christmas Markets and kept going, Mom said, "Let's dump him" and we did. She said she didn't know we were going to walk on cobblestone streets and her shoes weren't right for this.

We wandered throughout the markets, picking up a black hat that she had been looking for. Much better prices here than in Switzerland. Unfortunately, our time is limited and we would have liked to spent the day walking around Colmar but this was Viking tours, not Al's tours, so we cut it short to rendezvous with our party at 5pm for the return bus ride. This town was very busy. Medieval Colmar is situated along the Alsatian Wine Route. The half-timbered framed houses, the German influenced old quarter filled with streets of unexpected twists and turns, canals and the Launch River were very interesting to see.

Tonight the captain introduced himself and proposed a toast to all on board. Then the cruise director discussed tomorrow's schedule which Mom put the kibosh on. We have dinner with a doctor from Alamo and some guy from Kazakhstan who wouldn't stop talking. We excused ourselves, followed immediately by the doctor, and went upstairs to listen to the local singers and musicians performing famous French tunes, many of which we thought were American songs. We'll skip the morning walking tour of Strasbourg to sleep in and then take one of the free afternoon shuttles into town on our own to see the Christmas Market, supposedly the largest and most beautiful in France. I find Karen's not into the "walking tours" put on by others since they don't cater to her needs like the ones put on by Al's Tours.

A long day.

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Photos

Karen at the Cuckoo Clock Store.
We already bought one. I'm safe here.

Comments

[alanandmin]

That's like a Parisian version of big bob.

[Scarlett Thomas]

Red looks beautiful on you ! You look great mom... I noticed you guys might be s boat or something so maybe that's why no service .. I at least feel a little less concerned .. :-) Queenie