Tag: france

My 52 To Do Week 6

by kerrie52todoLeave a Comment on My 52 To Do Week 6

Sunday April 27-Thursday May 1

France

One of the great parts about our trip is when family and friends come over from the U.S. to visit us.  No offense to other visitors, but our daughter, Bailey, the most important visitor of all, (I’m pretty certain that includes me) arrived on April 27th.  I knew I missed her, but didn’t realize how much until I started crying when I saw her at the airport.

When traveling across time zones, we find it best to fight through the time difference on day one.  While Bailey had already been awake and travelling for two days, she was a trouper and stayed up until French bedtime.  Since she needed to keep moving, we decided to visit the Domaine Weinzaepfel winery on her first day.  The 70,000 bottles produced every year by Domaine Weinzaepfel are served in Michelin starred restaurants in France.  It is always a treat for us to get to enjoy a bottle (even more of a treat to go to the cellar, built in the early 1600s, and drink more than one bottle.) Our French cousins Mark, Kathy, Audrey and Loic Weinzaepfel gave us such a warm welcome.  Wine tastings here are fantastic as the wine is outstanding and Audrey provides so much helpful background information about the winery, the grapes, and the wine making process. 

Homepage
Mark Weinzaepfel, Paul, Me, Audrey Weinzaepfel and Kathy Weinzaepfel
Wine fermentation vessels

Beautiful wine barrel

All new visitors must visit Paul’s favorite village, Kaysersberg, so we headed there for a day.  We returned to my favorite hiking trails at Lac Vert. We also visited the town of Ungersheim, from where the Weinzapfel family emigrated to the US.  We wanted Bailey to be able to see this important part of our family history.  (I really think her willingness to visit Ungersheim was less about family history and more about the boulangerie she had heard great things about.)

An afternoon stop at a cafe is a must.
My favorite hiking trail.
A Weinzapfel head stone at the cemetery in Ungersheim

On Wednesday, we visited another ferme auberge, Glasborn Linge.  A ferme auberge, translated to English is “Farm Inn,” is a restaurant on a farm that serves farm to table meals.  ( My favorite type of restaurant in France). We have dined at 3 in our travels, and the meals are always delicious and hearty. 

This location was particularly interesting as it is situated in a World War I battle area.  You can still see the impact of the war on the landscape with trenches and shell craters.  We visited the Linge 1915 Memorial Museum.  Over 6000 men died in the Battle of Linge.  We hiked through the WW1 trenches.  This was my first time to actually be inside a trench.  The maze of trenches was very disorienting and made me a little claustrophobic.  Imaging that men lived in these trenches during the war, with the constant threat of bullets, shells, and grenades, in the heat, cold and the rain…the misery is unfathomable to me.  Every time I visit a sight like this, my heart hurts.  When you visit a small town and read the names on a memorial to those lost in a war, you realize how many families lost multiple members, sons or cousins.  Imagine a small town losing basically an entire generation of young men.  Heartbreaking.

https://www.ferme-auberge-glasborn.fr/

https://linge1915.eu/en/histoire-bataille-linge-alsace-vosges

Thursday was on to happier thoughts as we visited a new town for me.  Ribeauvillé Is a gorgeous village filled with flowering wisteria, a flowing stream, shops and cafes.  All three of us did our best to help out the local economy by shopping. 

I will let you decide who had the beer, who had the wine and who had the coffee

I am going to leave the rest of this week for next week’s blog, as those days are the start of our time in Germany.

New To Do’s this week:

  • Battle of Linge sites including the Linge 1915 Memorial Museum
  • Beautiful town of Ribeauvillé

Follow along on My52ToDo.com – What can I do in 52 weeks.

By 52 To Do Week 5

by kerrie52todoLeave a Comment on By 52 To Do Week 5

Sunday April 20-Saturday April 26

France and Lichtenstein

Week 5 of our trip includes a special guest appearance by Paul’s cousin and my friend Jeanna.  The three of us stayed in the charming town of Eguisheim, France this week.  In the post about week 4, I mentioned that fans of musical theatre would be interested in this week’s post.  Eguisheim is the inspiration for the town in the Disney Classic Beauty and the Beast.

The village fountain in Beauty and the Beast is modeled after this fountain in Eguisheim.

This was Jeanna’s first trip to France, so we revisited some of our favorite spots such as Schoenberg, Colmar, and Kayserbserg. We got 23,000+ steps the day we visited Schoenberg, a new record for the trip.   We also had some new experiences.  Hohlandsbourg Castle was a new stop for us.  From the Castle, you have a fantastic view of the Vosges mountains and all the villages in the surrounding area.  The museum is very informative.  We visit castles often, but I learn something new with each new castle.  (Since I am no longer allowed to pick up sticks to use as swords, I have taken to using the parapets of these castles to make proclamations. These proclamations are generally ignored by Kerrie.)

The view from Hohlandsbourg

https://www.chateau-hohlandsbourg.com/accueilEN.html

One of our typical picnic lunches while hiking, Please note the improvised wine glass,

Claude arranged a very special treat for us.  Thursday began with a visit to a textile museum in Husseren-Wesserling.  Claude, who knows everyone, arranged to have our tour guided by the museum curator before the museum opened for the day. I was so enthralled by the vibrant fabrics and the design process that I forgot to take photos. We then had lunch at Ferme Auberge du TREH.  A meal in the French countryside, high in the Vosges mountains, never disappoints. 

Alessandro was excited about our adventures this day.
This was just the first course!

Another French Weinzapfel cousin, Jean-Luc, is the president of a hiking club in France.  Claude knows how much we enjoy the outdoors and hiking, so he arranged for us to meet Jean-Luc to visit the camping chalet managed by his hiking club.  The chalet includes rustic sleeping quarters, a full kitchen and showers for hikers to use as the traverse the gorgeous hiking trails in the area. (There are miles of trails through the mountains. They take you from village to village while passing WW1 trenches, dark forests and beautiful mountain views of the valleys below.) For any fellow backpackers out there, you know how precious a shower is after days on the trail   We got to ride to the chalet in Jean Luc’s vintage Land Rover Defender 110.

Funny story…There was another man from the camping club there passing out egg cartons filled with eggs.  The week before, his wife sent him to the store to get eggs. She said we need 24 packages.  So, as any good husband would do, he brought back 24 dozen eggs.  She meant 24 chocolate eggs for Easter for the kids and grandkids.  Too funny!!

I got a wild hair and decided the three of us needed to head to the country of Liechtenstein. ( It’s fun to say if you use the same accent Sgt. Schultz used in “Hogan’s Heros”! Jeanna and Kerrie may disagree.) Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland to the south and the west and Austria on the north and the east. It is only about 62 square miles and is the 6th smallest country in the world. We visited the capital, Vaduz and Vaduz Castle.  

Vaduz Castle

Startseite

 And that ends another fantastic week. Thanks to Jeanna for joining us. It was absolutely wonderful to share this time and place with someone we love and to get a hug from someone from home.

New To Do’s

  • Hohlandsbourg Castle
  • Liechtenstein, another new country for me

My 52 To Do Special Edition

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Monday May 26, Memorial Day

For the most part, I am posting the blogs in date order.  But today, I am going to go out of order with a special edition of My 52 To Do.  Monday May 26th was Memorial Day in the United States.  It is the holiday when we honor and mourn the U.S. military veterans who died while serving in the US Armed Forces.

In advance of our trip, Paul researched my Grandfather and his service in World War II.  We have been deliberate on this trip to visit some of the places my grandfather was stationed during the war.  We visited the city of Metz, France a town my grandfather’s unit helped liberate.  Metz has been strategically important for centuries.  Before World War II, the town of Metz had never fallen to invaders.  German soldiers occupied Metz as part of the German occupation of France. The battle of Metz began In the fall of 1944, and for the first time in history, Metz fell.  The men of the 95th Infantry Division were given the name “The Iron Men of Metz” in recognition of their courage and resolve during this ferocious battle.  The American victory at Metz gave the Allies a path to the German western wall and ultimately, a route into Germany.

We also visited the beaches of Normandy.  My Grandfather’s Division arrived in Omaha Beach shortly after the D Day invasion.  Seeing the defenses the American, British and Canadian armies faced on D Day is awe inspiring. 

Touring places my grandfather walked was a really moving experience for me.  While I always knew he fought in the war, I never really thought about the many countries in which he was stationed, the cities he lived in, the battles in which he fought, the things he saw. 

My grandfather survived the war.  During our travels, we have visited several American cemeteries in Europe.  We spent time at the cemetery where soldiers from the Battle of Metz are buried.  The American Battle Monuments Commission does a beautiful job of maintaining the burial grounds.  At all three cemeteries, we happened to be there late in the day when taps was played.  If you can stand in a war cemetery, seeing the thousands of graves, while listening to taps and not cry, you are a tougher person than I am.

We visited the American battle sites in Normandy with a guide and six other travelers.  Two of those travelers had come from the States to visit the grave of their great uncle, who died during the D Day invasion.  I believe it was the first time any of the family had been able to come to France to visit the grave.  While I know I will never see this family again, the look on their faces as they prepared to visit the grave is forever seared in my brain.

So this Memorial Day feels different to me.  Paul and I have both had and have family members and friends who served/serve in the military.  I like to think I am always mindful of their service, but I am not sure I have ever really told them thank you.  To all who have served or who are serving, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I don’t have the words to thank you for your courage and sacrifice.  To those who paid the ultimate price, in the words of  General George Patton “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived” ( Not much to say here …..and so much to say here. After researching Kerrie’s grandfather I had a better understanding of where her toughness and resolve comes from. He was forced to be a hard man because of hard times. God bless him)

My 52 To Do Week 4A

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Saturday April 12

Rouffach, France

IT’S BIRTHDAY TIME

I love birthday parties.  It doesn’t even have to be my birthday. (It especially doesn’t have to be your birthday since you haven’t had a birthday, according to you, in almost 20 years.)  I love the anticipation in advance of the party.  I love hosting parties and all the preparation.  I enjoy seeing the delight on the birthday person’s face as they are surrounded by people they love.  Today is a VERY special birthday. Cecile Weinzapflen turns 105.  You read that correctly, one hundred and five! (The story of her life is amazing. Living through one of the worst times in history in a place that saw more than its share of death and   destruction, you could expect her to be a very bitter lady. But not Cecile, she is the epitome of love and kindness. Just being around her makes one a better person).

The celebration began with lunch and continued with cake and crémant (Alsacienne champagne).( Is anyone else catching this theme of Kerrie and wine?)   A representative from the Mayor’s office stopped by to wish Cecile a happy birthday (She has been after the Mayor to replace the cobblestone street between her home and her favorite restaurant. Apparently the ride in her wheelchair is a bit bumpy.)  She was surrounded by her daughter, granddaughter, great grandsons, other family members and friends. 

Her smile was contagious as she enjoyed the delicious cake and the visits from so many who love her.  It was a very special day, and Paul and I feel very honored to be included in the celebration.

At 105, Cecile spends every day with a smile on her face, especially when eating chocolate.  We have been able to spend time talking about her trip to visit the United States and our previous visits to her.  She is a delight!

New To Do this week:

  • Attend a 105th birthday party,

Paul, Kerrie, Cecile and Max

Cecile, Stephanie and Alessandro

Of course you have Domaine Weinzaepfel wine at a Weinzapflen birthday party

Week 2

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Saturday March 29-Friday April 4

France

Note to readers: by popular request, the editor/Paul is again providing commentary.  Notes from the editor are in italics.

We put on a lot of miles this week.  My favorite hike was the 3 Chateaus in Eguisheim France. The Three Castles of Eguisheim – Visit Alsace. 

The 3 towers date back to the 11th and 12th centuries and are now a ruin.  All 3 castles were destroyed in 1466. This area is part of a longer hike that includes two other castles.  We hope to do that hike a little later in our visit. (I’ve learned it irritates my wife when I run around with a stick for a sword and act like a knight. I think it was the second time I poked her and threatened her with cutting off her head that it began to wear on her.)

On Sunday, we attended the Gregorian mass at St. Anne of Thierenbach. The church is really beautiful, but my favorite part is the ringing bells to start mass.  Paul and I know very little French ( I am learning) so we can’t understand the sermon, but we can sing along with the Gregorian chants.  My hope is that I can understand a sermon by the end of our trip.

Monday was a really special day.  We visited with Cecile again and we had dinner with another cousin, Claude Weinzapflen.  Claude is the French cousin responsible  for our family reunions in France and the visits of our French family to the reunions in the states.  He spends countless hours ensuring the French and American sides of the Weinzapflen/Weinzapfel family stay in touch.  I hope he knows how much this is appreciated. 

As I mentioned in the post about our first week, week 2 involves train travel.  Our cousin Max lives in Lyon and is about to conclude his studies there.  We made a quick, two day trip to see his place before he finishes the semester and moves to Paris.  We made the trip by train which was absolutely wonderful.   I LOVE train travel.  It is economical and mostly stress free.  Paul and I had to relearn how to navigate the French train system, and we killed it!  (The “killed it” part kind of concerned me here. These are high speed trains travelling in excess of 300 kilometers per hour. All I could imagine is Elka the family milk cow standing on the track, and its curtains for the Kerrie and Paul show.)

Max and his college roommate Hugo  took us to a great Lyonaisse restaurant called Chez Paul.  The first course consists of 7 salads served family style.  The salads include:

  • mustard potato salad (my favorite),
  • black eyed peas
  • pickled herring
  • green lentils
  • beets
  • cooked ox muzzle ( Not really an ox muzzle, probably the face of Elka the milk cow after getting hit by a high speed train)
  • pickled calf’s  foot ( I tried but I couldn’t do it.  The texture just didn’t work for me.)

Each person selects their own main course.  There are three desserts, again served family style.  The meal was delicious but SO MUCH FOOD. 

Our second day in Lyon was spent touring the city, mostly in the old town area.  We had lunch overlooking the city, toured the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere and rode the steepest subway in Europe.

I know everyone returns from Europe with photos of beautiful churches, and I know that photos don’t really do them justice, but this is absolutely stunning.  It always mystifies me that buildings like this could be built without today’s technology and equipment.

We spent Thursday doing a hike around Rouffach.  We hiked through vineyards, visiting shrines and a little chapel along the way.  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed a picnic at the chapel.  The number of religious shrines along pathways in the rural countryside fascinates me.  I would love to know the history of each one.  Did the person have the shrine built in honor of an answered prayer or as a request for safe passage on a journey?

Shrine near Rouffach

Friday was spent touring the Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.  I am not going to bore you with a million photos of a castle, but…

The scope of buildings like this is just incredible. The castle was originally built in the 12th century and restored at the beginning of the 20th century by German Emperor Wilhelm II.  I love walking around buildings like this and imaging what life was like for the original inhabitants.  Was it miserably cold in the winter and hot in the summer?  How many servants did it take to keep the kitchen running and the residents fed?  How many attacks on the village were thwarted by the safety provided by this castle? (apparently the grounds keepers pick up all the sticks at this castle)

That wraps up week 2 of “My 52 To Do.”

New adventures this week

  • 3 Chateaus hike in Eguisheim
  • Visited Lyon
  • Tried new foods like pickled calf’s foot and oz muzzle

Paul and I found ourselves with a few unscheduled days so Week 3 includes visiting a new country.  I hope you enjoy following along.

Week One-Rouffach, France

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Saturday March 22 through Friday, March 28

We have arrived in France.  We were delayed about 7 hours as one of our original flights was cancelled due to the fire near Heathrow Airport.  One of the many great things about retirement is that we can be flexible with our schedule.  No sense in getting upset about cancelled flights…nothing we can do about it, and we have no schedule.

Our first flight left Evansville on Saturday at 10:45am.  We arrived in Basel Switzerland Sunday at 6:10pm.  We had two layovers, each about 8 hours long.  That makes for a long trip.  We picked up our car at the airport (absolutely no issues, thank you Europcar!) and began the 30-minute drive to our home base for the next 8 weeks, Rouffach, France.

A bit of background here.  In the late 1980’s, Paul’s parents, Wilfred and Betty, and his Uncle Harold and Aunt Roselle came to Europe to find the Weinzapfel family.  They had a rough idea of the area of Europe from which the Weinzapfel family emigrated to the United States, but no known family members.  Their search was successful, and the American Weinzapfel family and the French Weinzapflen family connected.  The family has, for the past 34 years, had reunions in both France and Indiana to strengthen the family connection.  We have been very fortunate to travel to the reunions in France several times and have made great friendships with our French cousins. 

One particular family with whom we have become close is the Weinzapflen/Dufosse/Pascal family.  Cecile Weinzapflen, age 104, is the matriarch of the family. Cecile lives in Rouffach, France.  Her daughter is Christianne Dufosse.  Christianne’s daughter, Stephanie, stayed with us when our children were infants, in 1995 and 1996.  Stephanie’s son, Maxime, came to stay with us during the summer of 2022 and again for Christmas 2023.  The family has offered to us, many times over the years, to come stay at their home in Rouffach.  We have accepted their generous offer and will be making Rouffach our home for the next 8 weeks.

When in arrived in Rouffach late Sunday evening, Christianne greeted us with a delicious dinner of baked chicken and salad.  It was exactly what we needed after two long days of travel and airport food.  I slept like a rock that night!

Our first full day in France was a great beginning to our trip.  Paul, Christianne and I drove to the nearby town of Pfaffenheim.  We visited the church here and walked through the cemetery.  It is always interesting to visit the cemeteries in the Alsace area of France because there are so many familiar names from southern Indiana.  With the church as our starting point, we did a lovely hike through the forest to Notre-Dame du Schauenberg (https://www.visit.alsace/253001436-Chapelle-Notre-Dame-du-Schauenberg/).  Notre-Dame du Schauenberg is a pilgrimage church near Pfaffenheim.  The chapel was founded in the 15th century.  The nuns run a small restaurant with delicious meals.  Our first course was the absolute best vegetable soup I have ever had in my life.  My mother and mother- in- law both make really great vegetable soup, so no offense intended, but those nuns can cook!

We also drove to and walked around nearby towns such as Soultzbach, which is Cecile’s hometown.  We saw the graves of Cecile Weinzapflen’s parents and sister, and we walked to the home where she was born.

Tuesday and Wednesday were down days as I was struggling to get over jet lag.  The highlight of these days was a visit with Cecile.  She is always happy and smiling.  We brought some DeBrand chocolates (made in Indiana) for her and it made my heart happy because she enjoyed them so much.

Thursday was another day of touring nearby points of interest.  We started the day with a delicious lunch of pork and sauerkraut at a wonderful restaurant in St. Hippolyte.  If you know me, you know I love sauerkraut, so this meal was a real treat.  After lunch, we went to La Volerie des Aigles, which translates to The Eagle Aviary (https://www.voleriedesaigles.com/fr).  The aviary is an old castle ruin that houses birds like falcons, eagles and owls.  They do a fantastic bird show. We took our children to this bird show when they were young.  I participated in the show and had a vulture on my lap and a falcon on my arm.  Pretty cool!

The weather on Friday was beautiful so we drove to La Lac Vert, the Green Lake.  The drive to the lake was a gorgeous drive through mountain switchbacks.  We hiked on the forest trail around the lake.  The trail is my favorite kind of trail, slight ups and downs, heavily wooded, moss-covered rocks, a waterfall and a small stream.  All the ingredients for the perfect trail. 

After our hike we had a picnic in the sun and enjoyed listening to the birds sing.  After soaking in the beautiful sun of springtime, we drove to Gerardmer.  This town is fascinating to me because Paul’s Great Uncle Clem was here during WW1.  Seeing the landscape that he saw over 100 years ago is so interesting to me.  It is also incredible to think that members of Paul’s family were within 50 miles of each other during the war.  Not to get political here, but it kind of highlights the craziness of war 

As I wrap up the summary of our first week, I have decided that I will count each week of this trip as one “To Do.” I will be doing so many new things while we are here and if I count each new activity, city, and restaurant, I might finish all 52 in a few months.  This week’s new activities include:

  • Holding a vulture and a falcon
  • Visiting many new towns in France such as Rouffach, Soultzbach, Soultzmatt, Pfaffenheim, St. Hippolyte, and Munster.  The highlight for me was visiting Gerardmer since it has a special family history.

Stay tuned for week 2 of our trip.  Week one included planes and automobiles.  We get to add trains in week 2.