On the road again

Sunday 7 June

The clouds have rolled away and the sun is busy ripening the grapes on the eastern slopes of the Vosges Mountains.  With only a three hour drive to Frankfurt Airport this afternoon we took the opportunity to get amongst the vines this morning, visiting a couple of the charming villages on the Alsace Wine Route.  Hotel breakfast this morning and very nice too.  Jess cleverly manoeuvered our car out of the miniscule parking space in the hotel garage and we were off on the final day of our dash through France.

First stop, Kayserberg

Within 15 minutes of Colmar is the first in a series of delightful villages which nestle into the lower slopes of the mountains (big hills really) surrounded by endless fields of vines.  Kayserberg is very typical - lots of lovely half-timbered buildings, a crystal clear little river rushing through the town, lovely shady trees and pretty cobblestone streets reserved for pedestriansl

Kayserberg

 As we strolled along the main street it became apparent that this is a favourite place for Sunday morning breakfast.  We browsed in some quaint little shops - lots of souvenirs featuring owls, storks, teddy bears and the local red and yellow pottery (watch out for Chinese imports!).

Cutsie souvenirs and sleepy cat

 The bakeries were full of various renditions of the local cake, kugelhopf - pretty to look at but rather dry and tasteless to my mind.

Little kugelhopfs

As in much of Europe the shop signs are are delight - so decorative and charming  - Kayserberg certainly has some very attractive ones!

Whoops - getting a bit obsessive about these - add them to my fascination with European doorways and window architecture.

It is asparagus season right now - yummy!

  Anyway, Kayserberg is a cool place to amble through on a glorious sunny morning - flowers, rainbow coloured houses, little stone bridges, birdsong, enticing smells from restaurants, well behaved dogs out and about - wish we could have stayed longer.

Little river in Kayserberg

How is this for a rose bush!

Mindful of the time (Jess had a plane to catch) we drove a short way through the fields of vines, up and over the hills to our second stop off village, Riquewhir.

Approaching Riquewhir

It was a bit of a mission to find a car park - the Sunday lunch crowds were turning up in droves.  This is a popular place with German people (they did have ownership of Alsace at one time) as it is only 20 km from the Rhine River border crossing.   I do think we parked illegally but we only stayed a short time and there were no irate locals shaking fists when we returned to the car.

Riquewhir is very pretty - lots of little streets to explore but today we stuck to the main one.  Spent a little time and money at the Kathe Wolfahrt Christmas shop and then bought baguettes to munch on our journey to Frankfurt.  Shame we didn't have time to sit at one of the many restaurants and watch the world and his dog go by. 

Main street, Riquewhir

Not much more to say about Riquewhir - mindful of the dreaded "stau" around Frankfurt and didn't want to miss Jessica's flight - well that is another story!. A few photos to whet the appetite for more Riquewhir some other time:

So, a slightly over the top shop front and it is goodbye to Riquewhir.

We continued our drive north through more vineyards and past more pretty villages until we reached the Strasbourg by-pass.  No peage today - yay!

Between France and Germany on this route there is a 20 km section of  two lane road - obviously the two countries could not reach any agreement about highway responsibility here.  Fortunately the traffic was light and we were soon hurtling along the autobahn - bit of a shock to move from 130 km ph in France to open slather in Germany.  Even the tiniest, oldest cars think they are Audis and travel at break-neck speed.

Not knowing that it was the end of a long weekend was a bit sad..  About 100 km out of Frankfurt we encountered the first stau (traffic jam)  and after that it was stop/start most of the way to the airport.  Somehow we arrived on time, checked Jess in for her flight to London and then had a tasty meal in a nice (for an airport) restaurant - just pizza and salad but delicious - we had abandoned our baguettes along the way - they were disgusting.

Jess left me to check through immigration and I set off for Bad Salzhausen, just 75 km north east of Frankfurt.  The traffic was flowing well out of the city - different story on the other side - more stau for the poor people returning from their long weekend break.  Why would you bother - a nightmare!

Bad Salzhausen looks much the same and I received a warm welcome at Pension Weisenau - my home for the next week and a bit.  The couintryside is lush and green but there is still a chill in the air this far north.

Having had no option but to drive all the way from Marseille (my car had left the factory and was en route there when I changed my itinerary) I must say that it was a delightful trip and Jessica's company was a real bonus.  Look forward to seeing her again soon.  Jess enjoyed her weekend away from London (she has a love/hate relationship with that city - understandable!).  The last bit was not so much fun - flight from Frankfurt to London cancelled (engineers on strike) and a bit of a battle to get on an alternative.  Happy ending though - Jess was out of Frankfurt by 9.30 pm and although she had to fly into Heathrow instead of London City, she made it home at a reasonable hour (work for her the next day).

Not sure what this week will bring - just looking forward to having it over and done with,  and getting to the next part of my Europoean adventure.