Driving update: I still haven’t managed to break my land-speed record (135mph). I made it up to 125mph in Germany, and I get the feeling the car might have a little more left in it if I could get enough clear runway. At that speed you eat up the roadway extremely quickly, and inevitably there is a curve or a car that requires you to let up a bit. France puts a cap at a stately 80mph, so no chances there. But I’ll have one final chance in Germany on Monday, and it’s the straight and wide A-5, so I’m still holding out hope.
We started the day with another wonderful breakfast, this time with the welcome addition of French croissants and baguette. Then we did a little more browsing through Riquewihr, and Nicole found a hand-made casserole dish that she was extremely excited about. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to get it back home yet, but it’s the kind of thing that could be an heirloom someday.
We reluctantly said goodbye to Riquewihr, but continued our journey through the countryside. The wine merchant we had seen told us that Riesling goes well with the local cheese, Munster, which comes from a town just 15 miles away. That coincidently is Dori’s favorite cheese, so we had to go see it for ourselves. Vineyards gave way to pastures, and soon the smells of cows and cheese were in the air. Munster is the largest town in a cluster of villages along the valley floor that is more suitable for cows than vines. The traditional Munster cheese is soft and pungent, somewhat similar to a firm and more odorous Brie. The town itself is a little more working-class than some of the fancier wine towns, but it is still picturesque. And since this is Saturday, there was a farmer’s market going on in the town square. We sampled cheeses and sausages and pastries, and bought pretty much everything we tried, since it was all amazing. The French know their food.
In previous stores in this area we kept seeing little trinkets and collectables with cranes on them. We figured it must be some sort of local symbol. In Munster we found out why. There were nests on all the rooftops, sometimes as many as 8 cranes on one building. We saw them swooping overhead, often settling right near the chimneys. I’m not sure if there’s a difference between cranes and storks (they look the same to me), but it was pretty easy to see how the stork/baby fairytale could have come to be.
Next it was on to Basel in Switzerland, a different country, but only an hour away. We had intended to make some stops along the way and not arrive to Bryan and Andrea’s until evening, but that stretch is actually kind of empty and we didn’t see anywhere to stop, so we found ourselves there in the early afternoon. We’ll be touring the area more tomorrow, but let me say this. The Swiss love their bicycles! We passed a large office building in downtown Basel that had at least 500 bikes in front of it. It was astounding, almost a little freakish. But Bryan and Andrea live in the outskirts in a town called Liestal. Their apartment is directly above a restaurant, and they live right next to the main walkplatz. It’s a really great spot.
We finished the day with an amazing rooftop meal provided by Andrea. It was a raclette party, which is sort of like fondue except you can also grill your ingredients before mixing them with the melted cheese. The sun was still warm, and we sat up there through dinner and dessert, telling stories and catching up.
I have been struggling with extremely slow upload speeds at the previous hotels we’ve been at, so I’ve been very limited in the number of pictures I could upload. Now that we’re at a real home, it’s much easier, so I’m throwing in an extra one from last night. Enjoy!
Driving update: I still haven’t managed to break my land-speed record (135mph). I made it up to 125mph in Germany, and I get the feeling the car might have a little more left in it if I could get enough clear runway. At that speed you eat up the roadway extremely quickly, and inevitably there is a curve or a car that requires you to let up a bit. France puts a cap at a stately 80mph, so no chances there. But I’ll have one final chance in Germany on Monday, and it’s the straight and wide A-5, so I’m still holding out hope.
We started the day with another wonderful breakfast, this time with the welcome addition of French croissants and baguette. Then we did a little more browsing through Riquewihr, and Nicole found a hand-made casserole dish that she was extremely excited about. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to get it back home yet, but it’s the kind of thing that could be an heirloom someday.
We reluctantly said goodbye to Riquewihr, but continued our journey through the countryside. The wine merchant we had seen told us that Riesling goes well with the local cheese, Munster, which comes from a town just 15 miles away. That coincidently is Dori’s favorite cheese, so we had to go see it for ourselves. Vineyards gave way to pastures, and soon the smells of cows and cheese were in the air. Munster is the largest town in a cluster of villages along the valley floor that is more suitable for cows than vines. The traditional Munster cheese is soft and pungent, somewhat similar to a firm and more odorous Brie. The town itself is a little more working-class than some of the fancier wine towns, but it is still picturesque. And since this is Saturday, there was a farmer’s market going on in the town square. We sampled cheeses and sausages and pastries, and bought pretty much everything we tried, since it was all amazing. The French know their food.
In previous stores in this area we kept seeing little trinkets and collectables with cranes on them. We figured it must be some sort of local symbol. In Munster we found out why. There were nests on all the rooftops, sometimes as many as 8 cranes on one building. We saw them swooping overhead, often settling right near the chimneys. I’m not sure if there’s a difference between cranes and storks (they look the same to me), but it was pretty easy to see how the stork/baby fairytale could have come to be.
Next it was on to Basel in Switzerland, a different country, but only an hour away. We had intended to make some stops along the way and not arrive to Bryan and Andrea’s until evening, but that stretch is actually kind of empty and we didn’t see anywhere to stop, so we found ourselves there in the early afternoon. We’ll be touring the area more tomorrow, but let me say this. The Swiss love their bicycles! We passed a large office building in downtown Basel that had at least 500 bikes in front of it. It was astounding, almost a little freakish. But Bryan and Andrea live in the outskirts in a town called Liestal. Their apartment is directly above a restaurant, and they live right next to the main walkplatz. It’s a really great spot.
We finished the day with an amazing rooftop meal provided by Andrea. It was a raclette party, which is sort of like fondue except you can also grill your ingredients before mixing them with the melted cheese. The sun was still warm, and we sat up there through dinner and dessert, telling stories and catching up.
I have been struggling with extremely slow upload speeds at the previous hotels we’ve been at, so I’ve been very limited in the number of pictures I could upload. Now that we’re at a real home, it’s much easier, so I’m throwing in an extra one from last night. Enjoy!
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