A European Adventure: 19th - 24th April.

Thursday 20 April

Ten minutes in Luxembourg...

The Airbnb we were staying in had three bedrooms and we gave Keith the one on the ground floor as he likes to be near the loo! Unfortunately, both of us find it difficult to sleep together in a normal double as we're so used to the space in our super-king, and we had to find Airbnbs with three bedrooms! Sophie and I took the upstairs rooms, obviously belonging to Renaud's children, as their possessions were dotted about. There was a steep, wooden flight of stairs up to the two bedrooms and I didn't want Keith trying to go down them in the middle of the night! 

At 4am, all three of us were awake and queuing for the loo, but apart from that, we had a restful night's sleep! I was awake at 7am and making a coffee from my Tassimo machine that I'd taken with me! It was definitely worth it!

The other thing we weren't keen on with the house was the shuttered windows, so it was dark this morning, and until we opened the front door we had no idea what the weather was like outside! We discovered it was grey and cloudy! After a quick breakfast of pastries and more coffee, we were all showered and dressed by 9am and itching to get on the road.

Sophie wanted to add Luxembourg to the list of countries she'd visited so we drove to the town of Rumelange, just inside the border. You honestly wouldn't know you'd crossed into another country as, apart from the blue EU sign, there was no hint of being in Luxembourg at all.

This was still a mining area and mining equipment was on display in the villages we passed. There were wooded hills surrounding the villages and the buildings were shuttered and quite dour in appearance, not as I had imagined the country to be like, seeing as it's supposed to be wealthy!

Back in France

Once we arrived in Rumelange we stopped and programmed our next destination of Colmar into Trish. She directed us back into France and on country roads until we reached the motorway. We headed towards the industrial towns of Metz and Nancy and passed through heavily-built up areas where there was a lot of traffic again.

After about an hour we stopped for petrol, coffee and a breather and then carried on towards the Vosges mountains in the distance, and the Alsace region. We were delighted to see birds of prey sitting on the fences again, and the traffic lessened.

Mid-morning, we turned off the motorway and onto a single-carriageway road. This road formed part of the Alsace Wine route and we passed through some gorgeous villages, including Marmoutier, a place Keith and I had visited years ago before we had the children. The sun was out, the traffic was light and this part of the journey was wonderful. It was great to pass through the beautiful villages and admire the gorgeous Alsace countryside.

We came off the single-carriageway road and drove back onto the motorway, with the range of Vosges mountains to our right. We saw storks, and Keith and I told Sophie that they fly here from Africa to have their young, and nest on the roofs of houses.

We messaged Christiane to say that we would be arriving in Colmar at 1pm. She and her husband met us and directed us to a car parking space in the basement of the apartment block, which was on a quiet residential street. They were delightful and very friendly and hospitable, explaining how things worked in the flat, and they gave us recommendations for local restaurants. The apartment was immaculately clean, had three large bedrooms, a huge bathroom, a kitchen/dining/sitting room and a balcony.

We unpacked for the three nights and then ventured into Colmar to find something to eat. It was only a short walk to the old town and we had been told that Café Jupiler was a good place for food. The restaurant was right next to the Cathedral, but this whole area was being turned into a pedestrian zone, so there was a lot of upheaval and earthworks taking place.

Lunch and Leffé

The weather had clouded over slightly, so we took a table inside the busy, warm and cosy restaurant and had a look at the menu. Although technically we're in France, it felt far more Germanic and this area, in the past, belonged to Germany. A lot of the villages and towns have German names and for us, it's the best of both worlds!

Both Sophie and I chose the potato rosti with sausage, and a salad to go with the dish. Keith chose the chicken escalope and we sipped glasses of Leffé, while Keith had a Jupiler again. 

Happiness is... a Leffé and lunch!

Next to us was a table of Germans and one of the men got up to go to the loo, which meant Keith had to stand up to let him pass. When he came back he asked us where we were from, and he said they were all from the Saxony region of Germany. We told him we loved Germany (especially Berlin!). He was lovely and friendly and they all said goodbye to us when they left, which was sweet!

We had a delicious lunch of pure comfort food! Our rosti and salad were filling and perfect for what we craved!

Café Jupiler

Potato rosti, salad and bread... yum!

We lingered over lunch and the restaurant gradually emptied out. It was warm and friendly and perfect for our first meal in Colmar. When we were ready to leave, Keith said he was going back to the apartment, while Sophie and I decided to have a look in the shops.

Colmar celebrates Spring!

Colmar is famous for its Christmas market and there was a festival going on throughout the town with Easter and Spring markets taking place. We'd picked up a leaflet from the flat, and I loved the picture on the front of a bunny rowing one of the flat-bottomed boats with a cargo of Easter eggs!

Pretty much sums up Colmar - medieval town, river and a stork!

Keith went back and we wandered along the old streets, visiting several shops for goodies! One shop, Le Comptoir de Mathilde, sold some delicious foodstuffs and alcoholic drinks:

We bought chocolate to take home as gifts and had a lovely wander about looking at everything for sale. I also bought a pretty scarf in another shop, and we indulged in a couple of bottles of Alsace wine (a half bottle of Gewürztraminer and a Sylvaner), and a strong beer for Keith.

After visiting the shops, we had a look at the Spring market taking place and Sophie started looking for a ring. We saw hens pecking away at the grass and one huge cockerel! I'd never visited a Spring market before and thought it was a lovely idea!

The weather was starting to be a bit rainy and cold, so we headed back to the apartment and showed Keith our purchases. He was pleased with his beer as it was about 8% and Sophie and I popped the wine into the fridge to chill. Christiane had very kindly left us a bottle of Alsace wine, which I thought was a lovely touch.

As we needed some shopping, Sophie and I ventured out again and found a Mono Prix about ten minutes away. We bought milk, bread, pastries, cheese, ham, beer and water to see us through the next couple of days and headed back to the apartment.

The only tiny gripe we had with the apartment was the lack of television. There was a set and a satellite box but we couldn't, no matter how hard we tried, get it to work. Christiane had said there was a BBC news channel and it would have been great to catch up with what was happening in the world, but we could never get it to show anything, not even French programmes!

After doing our shopping, we all had a nap and then enjoyed a relaxing evening, drinking wine and playing Scrabble and cards. The lack of television encouraged us to have a good chat and it was a great evening!

Sophie and I tried the wine but she wasn't keen, and she hated the Gewürtztraminer with a passion! The grape varieties can produce medium or dry wines, but she said the wines were too sweet for her liking. I loved the Gewürztraminer but I don't think I'll be taking any home with us!

Beautiful, slim half bottle of Gewürztraminer