The Alps – Just The Way You Imagined Them

We started to get excited as the mountains rose before us as we drove south from Regensburg. The corn fields and hops gave way to hay fields and pasture. It only got better when we reached Oberstdorf, a town surrounded by mountains. Every where you look – more mountains. And flowers! On the houses, on […]

Regensburg

We enjoyed two days in Regensburg, an old city on the Danube. Perhaps the most famous sight in Regensburg is the 336-meter-long stone bridge, built in just 11 years (1135 to 1146). Considering that many cathedrals took centuries to build, that seems incredibly fast. Perhaps commerce was more urgent than housing the archbishop? Or perhaps […]

Munich

We spent a week in Munich, mostly visiting family. We did manage to see a few of the sights…and take a pile of pictures. We hope to come back and see more! Oktoberfest starts on September 16th. They’re busy building what looks like a whole small town in Theresienwiese: We were surprised to learn that […]

Strasbourg

Strasbourg’s city center, the Grand Île, is a great place to stroll. Two rivers converge in the city, forming the island and giving visitors beautiful views in all directions. La Petite France, which began as a quarantine area for French soldiers who had brought syphilis to the city, has morphed to the most picturesque (and […]

Le Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg

As we drove to Colmar on Sunday, we saw a castle on top of the pointiest hill around. On Monday, we visited it – the Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg. (Yet another fine mix of French and German names here in Alsace…) This castle has had a hard life. First mentioned in 1147, it was destroyed in […]

A Charming Town

On Sunday we visited Colmar in the Haut-Rhin (upper Rhine) region. It’s about an hour south of where we are staying in Gougenheim. I had read that it is one of the prettiest towns in France and it’s true. No matter where you look, there’s a half-timbered house in a pleasing color, a cobblestone street, […]

More Countries, More Cities, More Fun?

This year we’re returning to Europe, but not just France. We’re traveling in Germany and France, plus a couple of nights in Austria and Switzerland. This trip will be quite different than our 2019 and 2022 adventures. In 2019 we stayed two months in each rental. In 2022, around a month. In 2023 we’ll only […]

Market Day

Céret has the nicest weekly market we’ve seen in France. It’s a great mix of fruit and vegetable sellers, prepared foods, handmade items, and clothing (and a few sellers of junky plastic stuff – there’s no escaping it completely). It’s also very easy to get to – right outside our door! The first week we […]

The Hunt

While MM visited, we took a Sunday hike to St. Ferréol’s hermitage (l’ermitage de St. Ferréol). It started in Céret, at the point where three bridges cross the Tech river – one antique, one for cars, and one train bridge converted to a rail trail. The old bridge is called the devil’s bridge (le pont […]

Collioure

As we soon as we started walking around Collioure, M asked, “Why aren’t we staying here?” I couldn’t have agreed more. If I’d known how gorgeous it was, we would be. Ah, well, there’s always next time… We’ve visited twice, once on a blue-sky day and once, with our guest MM, with a few sprinkles […]