We are now settled into our final destination of our holiday, but first a slight backtrack from the time we departed Iceland. We had survived our 4am wake up call and caught our train back to Paris. We had a 3 hour wait at the airport before catching our train back to Perigueux for the night with our French family. We were sitting, having a bite to eat, and then……merde….shit…… we were “targeted” , and Greg’s beloved camera got stolen! After spending time with the police at the airport, and more time the following morning at the Perigueux police station, thankfully with Jean, we hopefully have enough documentation to enable us to claim something on travel insurance! However, never fear, Greg has bought another camera in Zurich, so all is good for more photos!

We spent a fantastic 3 nights in Zurich staying with Esther (Nadine’s mum) and Jean-Pierre. Their apartment sits above Lake Zurich with a magnificent view and the weather was lovely so hence a lot of time was spent sitting and hanging out with them!

It was great to catch up with Claudie ,our Swiss “son” and his girlfriend Vanessa. We had a lovely lunch on Lake Zurich and then caught a water taxi back to the city which was a lot of fun.

 

 

We also enjoyed a beautiful dinner ,veal in a mushroom cream sauce with rosti…..yum….at a lovely restaurant high above the lake with a magnificent view.

 

 

 

 

We sadly farewelled our Swiss family and made our way back into France to the village of Ammerschwihr, which is in the Alsace region of north-east France , close to the French/German/Swiss border. This is home for the final 5 weeks of our holiday.

Here is a little info about our village! It has been occupied since Roman times and became a fortified village in the 14th century. However the architectural history of the village was severely damaged by the bombing in WW11 and 85% of the village was destroyed.

The village has nearly 40 wineries and also a one Michelin star restaurant! Not sure if we will try that one!

 

 

As you walk around the village there are plaques erected on certain buildings with photos of the buildings before the bombings, and explanations in English which is also helpful.

 

 

There are also “visitors” who come from Africa to the village every summer , and they like “our garden”. The storks build their nests up high, on top of the old town gate!

 

 

 

Our “home” is a beautifully renovated 400 year old farmhouse , and we are extremely comfortable here. We have a lovely garden to relax in when the weather is hot, and the view from our kitchen window is vineyards as far as you can see!

 

 

 

 

Of course we already have been tasting the great Alsace Riesling and beer and the pretzels that one MUST eat with them are rather moorish as well.

 

We went into the “picture postcard” town of Colmar. It was very touristy but full of beautiful  chocolate box buildings !

 

It is full of half timbered houses adorned with window boxes , a photographers heaven! You can only imagine how many photos Greg took!

 

 

The House of Heads is obviously named because of it’s 110 faces and masks on the facade and it dates backs to 1609.

 

 

 

 

St Martins Church was built between 1235 and 1365 and during renovations in 1982 , the foundations were found of a church from the year 1000.

 

 

 

 

The Pfister House , with its wooden balcony and white tower, was built in 1537 and is a “symbol” of Old Colmar.

 

 

 

 

Every corner you walk around there is another beautiful building just waiting for a photo to be taken! There will be more to come as we only wandered around about half of the town , then it was too hot, about 33 degrees, sorry all you Melbournians!

 

There are many villages around the area and one we have visited so far is the medieval fortified village of Riquewihr. It is extremely pretty but VERY touristy!

 

The so called “skyscraper” house built in 1561 has 5 floors. At 25 metres high, it is one of the tallest timber houses in Alsace!

 

Riquewihr is nestled into the hills, and hence survived the bombings of WW11 , so it has retained its historic architecture!

 

We have ventured once into Germany to the town of Breisach which sits on the Rhine River. We wandered around , and being in Germany Greg was determined to have  curry wurst , frites and beer for lunch……which he did!

Just to prove that “sometimes ” we do eat healthy meals, this our salad that we made here in our home! It’s not all beer and pretzels!

Yes , ok , there is a bottle of wine, but a couple of glasses doesn’t hurt!

So it’s that time again! Beer, reisling, who knows!

Until the next blog

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda.