June 7-9 —Raone-sur-Plaine

June 7-9 Raone-sur-Plaine

Sonia, Fabi’s sister, spends summers in the mountains of the Vosges. She stays with her partner, Jean, who has a house there. They invited me to spend the weekend with them at a village called Raone-sur-Plaine.

On Friday, I took the bus to Schiltigheim, where Sonia lives in the winter. Then we drove to Raone-sur-Plaine. It was about an hour or so to get there. This is a little village without even a store or business since they have all closed. there are a lot of BnBs, gîtes, and hotels though, so you’d think there would be something else. It’s a very quiet place right in the mountains. It’s the place where I spent News Years 2022 going into 2023, in a gîte with friends of Sonia’s. This time, I stayed in a little tiny house which I think at one time must have been an RV of some sort. There were great views of the area from this place on the way up a mountain.

Soon after arriving, Jean presented me with some flowers and we settled down for a picon before dinner. I was so surprised about the flowers. He said that he is a “romantic” and Sonia is a “pragmatist” so they get along well.

Dinner included a kind of pork croute with salad and an eclair for dessert. Or was that lunch!??

It was so nice to sit on the patio and enjoy the beautiful, calm country view of the mountains.

Later on in the evening, we went to a very large lake, Pierre Percée, with a dam that was developed to support the nuclear plants in that part of France. 

The next day, Saturday, was nice. We took a long drive through the mountains and valleys where I got a look at the pastures and the lakes and the trees. Really! I’ve missed seeing real nature so it was a pleasant drive. We ended up at another lake in a place called Gérardmer. This one is a natural lake.

We also went to visit a store that was part of the Baccarat Crystal Factory. This unicorn horse can be yours for €33,000 (+8 to 10% for the exchange rate). 

Or perhaps you’d like this chandelier for €130,000,000 (+8 to 10%). Yes, count the zeros on that one. It is truly gorgeous.

The highlight of the day was when we went up up up over a pass and ended up at an auberge for dinner. This is an old dairy farm with cows and pigs and what-have-you. To keep afloat, they’ve opened up their home to people for dinner. There were probably about 50-60 people there when we arrived. The rooms were set up with long tables and diners all sat together and were brought their meal family-style. Everyone ate the same thing. We sat with another group of 3 who were quite talkative so that was interesting and I again realized how much French I can understand —if people speak slow enough.

Here’s a photo of one of the rooms after almost everyone had left.

The meal was 4 courses—- soup, meat pie and salad, smoked pork and mashed potatoes, and dessert. It was all very good but the dessert was dynamite. It was called Siesskas and was a kind of fromage blanc with kirsch sauce. It was incredible.

The only downer was that the almost-daily storm moved in about the time we started up the mountain so by the time we got settled inside the farmhouse, it was pouring rain. We couldn’t see the beautiful views from the top of the mountain where we sat. It was sort of clearing up as we left. The entire area reminded me of the Swiss mountains in the story Heidi by Johanna Spyri, one of my favorite childhood books.

On Sunday, I took a long walk around the village and around the next village too. Here are some pics of that.

This is the gîte where I stayed to celebrate the New Year, 2022 into 2023.

These are stairs that go down to the creek. I wonder…..??

In the afternoon, we went to a neighbor’s house for a BBQ. It was pretty interesting. The man who lives there, David, has two young kids. He also has an online language school business. This is a good thing since he lives so far away from civilization. Several languages are taught online, one-to-one, not classes. You can take a look here at the English site….

https://englishclassviaskype.com/

His father-in-law was also there, along with his mother-in-law. He is a lawyer in Colmar who defends criminals. He’s lived and taught in the US and other places and is really interesting. Here’s a photo of the BBQ. I forgot to take others….

Before long, it was time to return to Strasbourg so I grabbed my little bag and my flowers and returned with Sonia. It was such a nice little adventure  to end my 3-month sojourn in France.

My next entry to this blog will probably be in Spokane. I return on Thursday.

 

June 4-6: Colmar

June 4-6: Colmar

Colmar is a very touristy town south of Strasbourg. It’s on the Route des Vins which hosts a lot of little picturesque villages and a lot of vineyards and wineries. Colmar is the largest of these villages and is probably the most touristic.

On Tuesday, I took a train that was to leave at 9:21 am but it was late…then it was cancelled. Fortunately for me, I had started a conversation with a woman sitting on a bench so when it was cancelled, she could tell me what was going on. Yes, this was all in French, but I couldn’t understand the loudspeaker at all. The woman, and a man who was also sitting there, spoke slowly enough for me to understand.

I couldn’t check in to my BnB until noon, so I sauntered over to the tourist office and checked out all the cool literature there.

The BnB I stayed in was really nice. It was a little apartment that was on the edge of the main tourist area…clean, quiet, and it had about everything I needed. The contact was very responsive and sent me lots of information about the area and what to do. I’d stay there again.

In the afternoon, I took a wine tour. The tour included a young couple from England and me. I asked them if they were on their honeymoon and they said “yes.” I noticed that their rings were very shiny so I just had to ask.

The first place we went to was Eguisheim. We took a little walk around the village before going to the winery….

Find the storks….

We stopped at our designated winery, Ginglinger, and tasted 5 different kinds of white wine. This is an organic winery and we learned how the wine-making-process worked. I discovered that in France, the independent wineries don’t make blends. They are usually owned by one family that has  been vintners for generations. They have their own estate, grow their own grapes and make their own wines. In this case, the Ginglinger family has been vintners in Eguisheim since 1610 and is in their 12th generation. WOW! I’ve tasted organic wine in the US, which was really bad. This was exceptionally good.

I know…you’re counting only 3 wines but we did have 5. The label of the wine on the left was designed by the 11 year old of the family.

The next village we went to was Turksheim. As we entered the village, I noticed a poster showing the Veilleur de Nuit which are 4 guys who take turns being night watchmen. Their rounds begin at 10:00 pm every night from May to November and they sing their way through the village, keeping watch like in the olden days.

We didn’t take a tour of this village, but I discovered that dragon wine is produced from a small area near the village where a dying dragon spilled its blood onto the earth where the vineyards are now. It’s pretty much the only red wine grown in Alsace which makes it special. 

The winegrowers are a family, Francis Baur, which has been making wine for 9 generations.

They are the only ones who make this red wine, a Pinot noir. They make only 1000 bottles a year and sell no more than 3 bottles to one person. It’s very popular and sells out quickly. ($$$$$).

We took a tour of the cave where the wine sits in barrels until ready to bottle. 

I discovered that some of the humongous wine barrels that still hold wine are older than the United States. Yowzer! (That’s the barrels that are old, not the wine.)

Back at the BnB, I enjoyed a relaxing and quiet evening.

On Wednesday, I went to the Tourist Office to pick up my swag bag/back pack of surprises.

This was a really cool and fun interactive self-guided tour.

( https://www.hoplaguide.com/)  

In the bag were little paper bags with colored stickers. I downloaded an app which showed me where to go. At each stop, I listened to a bit of info about the building or the square, or I listened to an interesting story. Sometimes there was a fun Q&A or a game of sorts. And, sometimes I was directed to open one of the bags. There was cool stuff inside.

I took the entire day to do this tour, although the info says it takes about 2½ hours. It took me all day because….

First, I stopped to eat at a very nice Alsatian restaurant where I ate pork cheeks and spaetzle with a glass of wine. Incredibly to-die-for-delicious!

Second, I kept getting lost. Yes, the app was excellent. There were detailed directions and detailed pictures of the buildings on the streets where I walked. But, alas!!!! I am completely direction challenged. I knew this when I started so I planned on taking all day. Here are some photos of what I saw….

The little red house is the smallest one in Colmar. A watchman stood at the balcony and made sure that all of the merchants paid their tax to enter. This, of course, was in the olden days….

Isn’t her adorable? He’s holding a kind of measuring stick for measuring sheets.

The guy in the middle is St Nicholas. The 3 women on the left were about to be sold into prostitution because their father didn’t have a dowry for them (notice the Dad). The 3 men on the right want to marry the 3 women but can’t without the dowry so St. Nich saved the day and paid the dowry.
What a guy!

Why bother with a glass when you can drink from the barrel?

On Thursday, I had to check out in the morning but my train didn’t leave until almost 5:00 pm so I had to carry all my stuff. Fortunately, I’d taken a little back pack so it wasn’t too bad but still…… Next time, I’ll check out using NannyBag, —a place to keep your bag for a day.

For breakfast, I went to a little restaurant at the covered market. I sat next to the river and really enjoyed a perfect morning with a perfect petite déjeuner. It was a set menu….

In the morning, I took the little white train around Colmar and listened to the tale of the area. I guess, I didn’t take any pictures. Oops.

In the afternoon, I visited a chocolate factory and learned all about the  who, what, when, where, and why of chocolate. There was an interesting little display of life-size costumes and the Statue of Liberty, all in chocolate. I also got a taste of chocolate but honestly, it wasn’t all that good.

For a late lunch, I had a Roesti of Knack. This was a pan of potatoes and cheese with my favorite kind of sausage, knack. So filling!!!

After eating, I just walked around and saw stuff…..

This wall and tower might have been from the original fortifications.

I found myself in the same park where I was on the first day in Colmar. It was very green and refreshing.

The return on the train took about 30 minutes on the fast train.  I love the trains in France.

And so it goes…. again.