Wir haben uns Ende Februar drei Tage allein gegoennt; Joshua blieb bei Oma & Opa im Nordschwarzwald. Das fanden alle toll: Andy und Emily hatten Zeit fuer sich, Oma & Opa Exklusiv-Zeit mit dem Enkel und Joshua ein Drei-Tage-Sonderprogramm.
We took 5 days (Wed-Su) at the end of February to visit Andy's parents and have a getaway of our own. Thanks to "Oma and Opa", Andy and Emily spent the three days in the middle in Alsace, while Joshua enjoyed special treatment from his grandparents.
Zuerst ging es nach Colmar, wo wir etwas in der Altstadt spazieren waren...
On Thursday morning we drove over to France, and spent a few hours walking around Colmar . . .
und dann in einem suessen kleinen Cafe Pause gemacht haben.
and finished off the afternoon with a stop in a very cute cafe. We shared a piece of rhubard-meringue pie and savored the roasted taste of French coffee. An elderly French woman next to us, wanting to practice her German, pointed out that our piece of pie was German-sized ("eine Deutsche Portion"), indicative of her opinion of German culture. To the French, everything in Germany is bigger, louder, etc. Well, we were glad we shared the pie to avoid further scrutiny!
Dann ging es weiter nach Rouffach an der suedlichen Weinstrasse zu unserem Hotel, das Chateau Isenbourg, eingebettet in Weinberge und ein herrlicher Blick auf das Staedtchen Rouffach auf der einen Seite und die Vogesen auf der anderen Seite.
Next we headed 15 minutes south of Colmar to the town of Rouffach. Our hotel was in the Chateau d'Isenbourg, which overlooks the town and is surrounded by vineyards. Must be idyllic in summer, but we still thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.
Das Wetter am Freitag ersparen wir Euch: Wind und Regen der von der Seite kam... Also genossen wir den Nachmittag in Pool und Sauna.
We'll spare you pictures of Friday's weather -- wind and rain blowing sideways, so that umbrellas were useless. We still got out and drove to another village and even walked to a castle ruin, but then were happy to enjoy the pool and sauna in the afternoon.
Hier der Blick vom Fruehstuecksraum aus ueber die Terasse auf die Rheinebene, ganz im Hintergrund kann man den Schwarzwald erahnen.
This is the view from the breakfast room (croissants and fromage blanc, je reve!), from which we could see the Rhine valley.
Wir haben uns einen Abend ein herrliches 5-Gaenge-Menue gegoennt, es war fantastisch!
Friday evening we experienced an amazing gourmet dinner in the chateau's restaurant, enjoying 2.5 hours of "joie de vivre". Imagine the best foie gras ever on delicate taost, paired with fig chutney and a glass of Gewuerztraminer (and that was just the appetizer!) . . .
Unser Hotelzimmer-Our hotel room
und der Blick aus dem Zimmer in den Schlosshof.
The view from our window out onto the courtyard
Rouffach bietet alten Flair mit franzoesischem Ambiente, und natuerlich eine Marienkirche aus unterschiedlichsten Epochen.
Above the church in Rouffach, below the Kornhaus (old granary)
Ein kleiner Ausflug in Richtung Grand Ballon in den Vogesen bescherte uns herrliche Schneelandschaft und ein toller Blick bis zu den Schweizer Alpen. Fast unglaublich war die Fahrt dann auch wieder runter vom halben Meter Schnee ins fruehlinghafte Rheintal, wo schon die Schneegloeckchen bluehen.
Saturday we drove up into the Vosges mountains, and witnessed an astonishingly quick change in climate. Down in the valley there had been no snow, but within 45 minutes (not including the detour our Navi took us on!), we were at a ski resort with 2-3 ft of snow on the ground! While most people did downhill or cross-country skiing, we walked up along the crest of a hill (where the snow wasn't so deep -- where are our gamaches when we need them?) with a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps.
Auf der Rueckfahrt durch den Koenigstuhl machten wir noch einen kurzen Halt bei Freunden von uns, Sarah und Samuel Lay. Wir haben den Nachmittag sehr genossen, schoen dass es geklappt hat Euch kurz zu treffen!
To conclude our getaway, we took a detour on our way back to Andy's parents by way of the southern Black Forest. Our friends Sarah and Samuel Lay live on the German side of the Rhine opposite Colmar, not far from Freiburg. It was great to catch up for a few hours!
We took 5 days (Wed-Su) at the end of February to visit Andy's parents and have a getaway of our own. Thanks to "Oma and Opa", Andy and Emily spent the three days in the middle in Alsace, while Joshua enjoyed special treatment from his grandparents.
Zuerst ging es nach Colmar, wo wir etwas in der Altstadt spazieren waren...
On Thursday morning we drove over to France, and spent a few hours walking around Colmar . . .
und dann in einem suessen kleinen Cafe Pause gemacht haben.and finished off the afternoon with a stop in a very cute cafe. We shared a piece of rhubard-meringue pie and savored the roasted taste of French coffee. An elderly French woman next to us, wanting to practice her German, pointed out that our piece of pie was German-sized ("eine Deutsche Portion"), indicative of her opinion of German culture. To the French, everything in Germany is bigger, louder, etc. Well, we were glad we shared the pie to avoid further scrutiny!
Dann ging es weiter nach Rouffach an der suedlichen Weinstrasse zu unserem Hotel, das Chateau Isenbourg, eingebettet in Weinberge und ein herrlicher Blick auf das Staedtchen Rouffach auf der einen Seite und die Vogesen auf der anderen Seite.Next we headed 15 minutes south of Colmar to the town of Rouffach. Our hotel was in the Chateau d'Isenbourg, which overlooks the town and is surrounded by vineyards. Must be idyllic in summer, but we still thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.
Das Wetter am Freitag ersparen wir Euch: Wind und Regen der von der Seite kam... Also genossen wir den Nachmittag in Pool und Sauna.
We'll spare you pictures of Friday's weather -- wind and rain blowing sideways, so that umbrellas were useless. We still got out and drove to another village and even walked to a castle ruin, but then were happy to enjoy the pool and sauna in the afternoon.
Hier der Blick vom Fruehstuecksraum aus ueber die Terasse auf die Rheinebene, ganz im Hintergrund kann man den Schwarzwald erahnen.This is the view from the breakfast room (croissants and fromage blanc, je reve!), from which we could see the Rhine valley.
Wir haben uns einen Abend ein herrliches 5-Gaenge-Menue gegoennt, es war fantastisch!Friday evening we experienced an amazing gourmet dinner in the chateau's restaurant, enjoying 2.5 hours of "joie de vivre". Imagine the best foie gras ever on delicate taost, paired with fig chutney and a glass of Gewuerztraminer (and that was just the appetizer!) . . .
Unser Hotelzimmer-Our hotel room
und der Blick aus dem Zimmer in den Schlosshof.The view from our window out onto the courtyard
Rouffach bietet alten Flair mit franzoesischem Ambiente, und natuerlich eine Marienkirche aus unterschiedlichsten Epochen.Above the church in Rouffach, below the Kornhaus (old granary)
Ein kleiner Ausflug in Richtung Grand Ballon in den Vogesen bescherte uns herrliche Schneelandschaft und ein toller Blick bis zu den Schweizer Alpen. Fast unglaublich war die Fahrt dann auch wieder runter vom halben Meter Schnee ins fruehlinghafte Rheintal, wo schon die Schneegloeckchen bluehen.Saturday we drove up into the Vosges mountains, and witnessed an astonishingly quick change in climate. Down in the valley there had been no snow, but within 45 minutes (not including the detour our Navi took us on!), we were at a ski resort with 2-3 ft of snow on the ground! While most people did downhill or cross-country skiing, we walked up along the crest of a hill (where the snow wasn't so deep -- where are our gamaches when we need them?) with a beautiful view of the Swiss Alps.
Auf der Rueckfahrt durch den Koenigstuhl machten wir noch einen kurzen Halt bei Freunden von uns, Sarah und Samuel Lay. Wir haben den Nachmittag sehr genossen, schoen dass es geklappt hat Euch kurz zu treffen!To conclude our getaway, we took a detour on our way back to Andy's parents by way of the southern Black Forest. Our friends Sarah and Samuel Lay live on the German side of the Rhine opposite Colmar, not far from Freiburg. It was great to catch up for a few hours!
