Winding Down

Since Sunday, I have been staying with my good friends, Sue and Keith, in Rhinau, France.  Rhinau is a fairly small village (less than 5000 people) on the banks of the Rhine which here marks the border with Germany.  It is a good place to wind down from my wonderful holiday before I fly home Friday.  I am still not ready to go home and am feeling a bit sad about the prospect leaving Europe.  The weather seems to be reflecting my mood as the sun has been in hiding since Sunday (perhaps in sympathy with me).  The morning fog so typical at this time of the year here hasn't managed to burn off at all during the day so it feels like we are living under some sort of dull grey woolly blanket.  And, Sue has me on a "re-entry" program.  This has included:  grocery shopping, doing laundry, prepping vegetables, making mini-crab cakes, cooking steak and returning their garbage bin from the curb.  She says this is good for me because I am about to go back to "real life".  Now, I have a slightly different opinion.  I think that traveling truly is (or should be) my life and that it simply gets interrupted when I don't have travel plans. 

A grey Tuesday in Ettenheim (not far from the Black Forest in Germany

 

Another view of Ettenheim

A grey day in Obernai (Alsace)

Regardless, the reality is that Thursday afternoon I will take a train to Frankfurt airport (about 2 hours north of here) where I will spend the night at a nearby hotel.  Friday morning I will board a Lufthansa flight to Vancouver and by that afternoon I will be back in Victoria and this marvellous adventure for the last 2 and 1/2 months will be over.  Big sigh!  Of course, next I will focus on planning the next one. 
It has been quite a ride from the pubs and cathedrals in England to a wild boat ride off the Irish coast to the warmth of the sun and gentle breezes on the Cote d'Azur to returning to Alsace which I love so much.  I have seen many friends along the way, made some new ones, and experienced new things as well.  What were my favourite places?  Too many to list but the highlights included finding out my sister and I can travel pretty well together; discovering the amazing calanques near Cassis on the Cote d'Azur, realizing a dream by finally visiting one of the Aran islands, seeing Bletchley Park and reflecting how different today's world might be if those clever people hadn't broken the Enigma code and, of course, sharing much of this with people I care very much about. 

Dinner Wednesday evening at Aux Bords du Rhin in Rhinau
with the Lauers and the Wendorfs

So, on that note, a bientot.  I hope you have enjoyed this blog as much as I've enjoyed writing it.  Maybe you will want to read the next one - and, for sure there will be one as soon as I get more travel plans in place!  Ciao for now. 

Food Glorious Food!

One thing my sister and I noticed consistently when we were in the UK was that the food portions were ridiculously large and rivalled or surpassed the portions you often find in the US.  It is no wonder that apparently, 1/4 of the Brits are considered obese and we saw many young people who were seriously overweight (not that I can talk!).  So, let's talk a bit about food.

In England, whether it was the clubhouse sandwich on the south Thames (with Maria and Kerry) or the entire fish I was served in Looe, I was rarely been able to eat more 1/2 of what I was served.  That is not to say the food wasn't tasty - just way too much.  So, if you consider that often the meals cost nearly twice what we would pay for them in Victoria, I think they should serve half portions at half the price.  I did ask in one restaurant if there was a lot of food wastage and was told that no, people generally ate everything on their plate.  Guess it is me who has the problem!

So, here are some samples of some of our UK meals - not all of them excessive.



One serving of plaice in Looe - yes ONE! 

Kath's granola breakfast sundae at our B&B in Penzance 

Kath's seafood platter in Whitby including at least a dozen whitebait

My rotisserie chicken at Gusto's in Liverpool on Albert Dock

Then, it was on to Ireland where the food, for the most part was fabulous.  My best meal by far, at least to date, was at the Roadford Restaurant in Doolin.  It even beat out the meal at Callahan's, the previous night which was also very good.  However, if you measured it by sheer volume, Kath would probably say it was the over 4 dozen mussels she was served in a pub in Dublin's Temple Bar.

Kath's dinner of mussels in Temple Bar, Dublin



My chicken served over champ in Ballintoy, N. Ireland

Kath's mud pie at the Roadford House in Doolin

Next, it was France and need I say more?  On John and Pedro's first night in Villefranche sur Mer, we went to l'Oursin Bleu, a restaurant that I enjoy.  Pedro had an amazing scallops dish.  I "settled" for filet mignon.  Delicious!  There were many remarkable meals while I was in France but two of my favourites were at L'Audoise Restaurant in Bandol and at le Tire Bouchon in Nice. 

John's scallop dish in Villefranche

My filet at l'Oursin Bleu

The spinach mousse starter at l'Audoise in Bandon - so delicious!

The poached pear and pear sorbet with cherry coulis at l'Audoise

The most amazing cherry tomato tart ever at le Tire Bouchon in Nice

My limoncello crème brulee at le Tire Bouchon

Of course, between the fabulous meals were the regular fare of pizzas, omelettes, salads, sandwiches, etc.  In this blog, I have only included dishes that I thought were worth mentioning, for one reason or another.  I can only hope that all that walking I've done on this trip (250 miles over the 2 1/2 months according to my Fitbit) will mean that when I weigh myself after I get home that I will find out I haven't gained any (or at least much) weight!

The Colours of Alsace

As much as I love the azure blue of the Mediterranean Sea, the dusky green of olive trees, and the rich green of cypress trees, the one thing that was lacking it "le Sud", at least along the coast, was the feel of autumn.  Late September and October are my favourite times of the year so, as much as I was going to miss the sun and warmth of southern France, I knew I would also love seeing the fall colours.  I had seen a hint of them Wednesday when my plane landed in Zürich.  Saturday, I left Feldmeilen with Kathrin and Sascha (a friend of hers whom I also know) and drove Kathrin's car to Alsace for an overnight mini-break with "the girls".  Right from the minute we left Feldmeilen and drove over the hill toward the autobahn, the fall colours were spectacular and it didn't hurt that the sun was shining.  The golden yellow, bright red, and burnt orange colours of the trees were breathtaking.  Thinking back, I wish I had taken the time to stop and take some photos while we were still in CH.  The countryside there always looks amazing.

It took about 2 hours to reach the first of the Alsatian villages that we planned to visit Saturday and Sunday.  Eguisheim is so charming and quaint it simply does not look real - more like a movie set.  It is designated "un des plus beaux villages de France" and deserves that distinction!  We arrived during the fête du champignons - new for me as I usually visit these villages during their fêtes du vin.  So, seeing people participating in the tradition was interesting.  Another reason I like this village is that one of my favourite Alsatian winemakers, Freudenreicht, is located there.  It would be very unusual for me not to visit their tasting room and buy some wine when I am in Alsace.  After we'd had lunch, wandered around the village, and visited the market stalls, we went there and all of us tasted and bought wine.  It is more than a little bit annoying to taste and buy these wonderful wines here knowing that, even if we could get them at home, they would cost 4 to 5 times more!


One of the little ruelles in Equisheim

The mushroom stall at the "fête".

The Freudenreicht Winery - cute with fabulous Alsatian wines!

 From there we drove north along the Route du Vin (Eguisheim is one of the villages at the southern end of this approximately 180 km drive) to Kaysersburg, yet another lovely little medieval "eye candy" village.  As I mentioned, the sun was shining so the foothills of the Vosges mountains, along which this road runs, looked amazing even though some clouds had rolled in during the afternoon.  We kept stopping to take photo after photo.  Okay, not as many as of the calanques on the Cotes d'Azur but, after all, I have been here an embarrassingly large number of times before so isn't like I don't have a huge collection already at home.   

Fall colours of the vineyards along the Route du Vin d'Alsace

In Kaysersburg

For the first time, even though I have been regularly coming to Alsace since 1979, I was going to be staying in one of the villages along the Route du Vin.  I was really looking forward to seeing one late at night after most of the hoards of tourists had left.   We had picked Riquewihr because it is easily one of the prettiest of these very charming medieval villages and also because there is a very affordable hotel just outside its old walls.  So, we continued along the wine road arriving at Riquewihr about 6 p.m.  The shops were still open so we made good use of the last hour by visiting quite a few of them.  The good news was that, even though the next day was Sunday, the stores would be opening at 10.  Yeah!  We found several restaurants that looked good but we all had our hearts (or is that stomachs?) set on filet de boeuf so we looked for a restaurant with that on the menu.  Apparently, the price of that beef dish in CH would be well over $55 so no wonder that it was what Kathrin and Sascha wanted.  The next morning, after doing more shopping in Riquewihr, we meandered north along the wine road but, aside from pausing to take photos, we didn't actually stop until we reached Obernai.  There we had lunch and then headed east to the "bord du Rhin" to the village of Rhinau where Sue and Keith live.  I said good bye to Kathrin and Sascha, they headed back to CH, and I began my last week before I head home.  I know I am not yet ready for that!

An Alsatian specialty food store in Riquewihr

The main street in Riquewihr

Two of Riquewihr's more colourful buildings

The Hotel Schoenenbourg

Golden vineyards with the village of Zellenberg in the background

Sascha and Kathrin

Obernai

The three of us at Sue and Keith's

 

A Change in Temperature, Scenery, Culture, Language - Well, Everything Actually!

Wednesday, I left the sunny and warm Cote d'Azur and flew to Zürich to visit my friends, Roger and Kathrin, and their two children.  Good bye French and hello Swiss German - or, in my case, as much German as I can muster.  It was about 20' when I left Nice and it was about 12' in Zürich when I arrived.  That was a bit of a shock.  What was lovely, however, was seeing all the fall colours - there is certainly none of that when you are surrounded by palm and olive trees on the Cote d'Azur! 

One thing about CH is that everything is very efficient.  Even though I was flying in from France, there was no passport control.  My flight arrived at noon, my bag was already waiting for me when I found the luggage carousel, and by 12:32 (precisely) I was on a train to Herrliberg Feldmeilen where the Jekers live.  Too easy - and it helped that I could even buy my train ticket ahead of time with an app and get it on my phone.   Alina, their daughter greeted me at the train station with a lovely red maple leaf (or a leaf that sure looked like one). 

The Zurich train station's Angel

Back in high school, I was in some classes with a gal named Bev Brown.  She now lives in Bern and, through our 50th class reunion, we reconnected.  We had arranged to meet up while I was staying in Zürich.  So, Thursday we, along with a friend of hers who was visiting from Australia, met under the "Angel" at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof and spent the rest of the day together.  After having a coffee, we started walking around Zürich with Bev as our guide.  We went along the river and then through some of the streets of the Aldstadt.



Bev and I in Zürich on Thursday

Looking across Zürich

In part of the Aldstadt

From there, we went for lunch to a famous vegetarian restaurant called Hiltl, which was the world's first vegetarian restaurant founded in 1898 and which is now run by the fourth generation of the Hiltl family.  It is a buffet-style and the weight of your plate determines the price you pay.  Interesting concept!  After that, we took a tram to the Frauenkirch so Bev and Marilyn could see the stained-glass windows in the church that were done by Chagall.  I had seen them 12 years ago and was just as impressed the second time as when I first saw them. 

Lunch at Hiltl

Inside the restaurant

Next, we decided we would take the train to Luzern (Lucerne).  I was more than happy to do that as I love that town and had not been there for quite a few years.  The train trip was only about 45 minutes and the next thing we knew we were on the banks of the Reuss River looking at that iconic wooden bridge.  We spent some time looking around the Aldstadt (old town) and admiring the old painted buildings.  We walked part way across the bridge - it still has not been fully restored since the fire on it years ago and the famous Plague paintings have still not been put back up.  Then, we said our good byes after having spent a wonderful day together and I took the train back to Zürich and then Herrliberg-Feldmeilen while Bev and Marilyn headed back to Bern. 

    
Later that evening, for something completely different, I helped the Jekers carve their Halloween pumpkin.  I have done this with them two or three times now and it has become somewhat of a tradition.  On tomorrow's agenda is crafting a witch's hat for Alina as that is what she wants to be on Halloween.  Thank heaven for YouTube!  We can find out how to make one.

 

 

The finished product lit up

Au Revoir, le Sud

Tuesday morning, I woke up to a lovely day in Nice.  I spent some time in the morning getting caught up on emails, my blog, my online flight check-in, and other "cyber"- chores.  While I was doing that, out the balcony window, I kept an eye all the activity below on the Promenade des Anglaises - cyclists, joggers, roller-bladers, sun bathers and people just strolling along enjoying the warm autumn day.  Finally, with everything done, I decided to join them.  So, I set off, wandered along the Promenade until I spotted a place that looked good as an early lunch spot (Café Baie des Angels) and found a table in the sunshine.  When I went to sit down, the waiter asked me "for how many?"  I said "malheureusement, je suis seul" (sadly, I am on my own).  He responded sympathically by saying "sometimes that is better".  So, I enjoyed my o.j., ham and cheese omelette and glass of rose while watching people going by.

One thing I had learned on the food walking tour of Nice last year with Sue and Keith is that this city until late in the 19th century was actually part of Italy (or one of its dukedoms).  It has its own dialect which is reflected on the streets signs and there is definitely an Italian influence in the architecture and food.  After lunch, I strolled around the Cours Saleya (Nice's famous market), wandered into Confiserie Auer (a famous pastry and candy store) and explored La Vieille Ville while doing some last minute shopping.  I also took photos of the buildings that seemed to look less French and more Italian.  During my wanderings, I also looked for a restaurant that might be a possibility for dinner on my last night here on the Cote d'Azur.  On a tiny little ruelle (alley) I found one that looked like it would fit the bill - and it was more than the name (le Tire Bouchon or "corkscrew") that attracted me!  The menu looked wonderful - with names of food l love:  d'agneau and crème brulee - so it looked like it would be a winner to me.  Decision made!


Confiserie Henri Auer - Queen Victoria used to shop here!

 

Its window display

One of Nice's rather Italian-looking squares

The Hotel Suisse - a perfect location!

After a few hours wandering around, I returned to my hotel.  I checked out le Tire Bouchon on Trip Advisor and the reviews were good.  Yippee!  Then, about 6 p.m., I headed down to the lobby bar for a glass of wine before making my way back to the old town.  The hotel is situated in a perfect location so it wasn't far to walk and I felt safe strolling there.  Then, when I got to the old town where all the narrow streets and even narrower alleyways all look the same, I got lost - even though I thought I had been careful to notice landmarks to find my way back to the restaurant.  I simply could not find it; however, I popped into a boucherie, butcher shop, asked the guy there (in French I may add) and he very helpfully give me directions (again in French).  Guess I am making progress.

 

The restaurant was pretty empty when I arrived and I had my choice of tables.  I picked an outside one close to the patio heater - a good choice as the evening air became cooler.  I started with a Kir Peche and then picked the Menu du Chef for 31 Euros - a three course dinner.  The first course was a tomato tart - easily the best I've ever tasted - infused with thyme.  It was followed by a lamb shank cooked perfectly and served over mashed potatoes and then a limoncello crème brulee to finish.  Of course, it was all accompanied by a half bottle of Provencal rose.  As I sat there, I pondered, as I sometimes do, why there is no  man in my life to share this with but then the waiter's words from the morning came back to me.  I may not have a man but I do have Nice and maybe that is just a whole lot easier!!!  There was a French couple sitting behind me with a 9 month old baby.  They initiated a conversation with me.  It turned out they were from Paris and really friendly so we chatted quite a bit before I left.  All in all, it was a perfect evening for this trip's last night in the south of France.

On my walk to dinner

 

Dinner at le Tire Bouchon

The fabulous cherry tomato tart to start

The Hotel Suisse in the evening