As a "just looking" tourist I will miss the general tidyness, beauty and functionality of the places we visited and experienced, particularly in Bavaria.
The level of English language understanding and help was a nice surprise.
The restaurant food and wine is very cheap at the low to middle price range, but after a while the lack of variety and finesse began to show.
I will miss the coffee with cake culture which is very strong in southern Germany at least.
(Mostly does not exist in nearby European countries - except Austria.) The Germans have embraced Italian coffee styles. Pity they don't take on French food styles.
The road system is fantastic with its high level of maintenance and unlimited speeds on the autobahns. (We cruised at a sedate 135Km/h, while most other cars passed us.)
Public toilets (council and restaurant provided) are first class in quality of plumbing and cleanliness. Definitely world's best practice! (No, I didn't take any photos.)
Back in France
Riquewihr
This is probably one of the prettiest villages in France. Others must also think so as the main car park outside the walls holds about 20 tourist buses. As I mentioned earlier, wine and gourmet food is in abundance. The expected craft and kitsch shops keep a low profile. To maintain the medieval atmosphere, cars, cables and TV aerials are mostly absent from the centre, although the tourist train winds its way through the streets every hour. Surrounding Riquewihr are large areas of vineyards.
Our rooms were OK, and no church bells, but the hotel was incredibly dark and gloomy inside. We could barely see to walk downstairs. (Well, it is 400 years old!)
Jan was exhausted on our arrival and was looking rather unwell. But she rested a bit and freshened up and was fine for dinner. We had so many restaurants to choose from but we settled on one with choices that appealed to us all. I selected a delicious onion tart followed by a potato dish with bacon, cream and cheese. Both were very rich and filling; John had a cheese and salad starter followed by a meat dish. Jan and Barry also had onion tart followed by trout. I helped John eat his dessert of lemon sorbet in schnapps.
Despite our big meal we were ready in the morning to face breakfast with huge bowls for our coffee or hot chocolate. Jan and Barry asked for tea and the boss indicated the bowls provided. Barry suggested that he needed goggles and flippers to negotiate them.
Colmar
After checking out of our little old 17C hotel we headed back into Colmar, the old centre of which is like a much bigger version of Riquewihr.
Colmar also has a modern economy, not just tourism, though that is important, judging by the number of tourists we saw in the streets and restaurants. We found a patisserie that also provided coffee and tea. This a rare combination in France. Usually pastries are sold to take away only.
We walked town and recognised some places we had visited many years ago, including Le Mareshal, a very expensive hotel overlooking an area called "Little Venice". In the canal we saw a huge water-rat like creature. Tried to photo it, but too fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment