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| For those babies we even broke our fasting |
In March we decided very spontaneously to take some time off. As we were heading to Rhineland-Palatinate to join the famous wine-festival near my aunt’s place we thought of heading over to France, to continue the “wine-journey”, so to say. Stupidly enough the whole festival was during Lent, in which we didn’t want to consume any alcohol. But we figured, visiting this area and not drinking the wine, when our relatives had already paid for our ticket, which included a lot of wine samples, that would have been a waste. So we took a break from lent for our holiday.
The festival is pretty special, you hike
through the vineyards and every few hundred metres there is a booth by another
vintner, offering their wines for a tasting. While you are walking through the
hills, there is a giant lightshow going on, lighting the vine plants into all
kinds of colours. It was really beautiful. (And of course it got more and more
beautiful with the more wine we were drinking.)
The next morning we hadn’t decided yet
where to go next, but both of us had always heard of the beauty of Strasbourg.
It was a quick drive, so we thought why not starting our journey there and then
go as far into France as we could in those few days we had. As always when we
are travelling with our little Scottie bus, our motto was “No rush”.
Strasbourg
Strasbourg as our first stop was a great idea. The old town is beautiful and offers a lot of good food and wine, just as you would expect from France.
Strasbourg as our first stop was a great idea. The old town is beautiful and offers a lot of good food and wine, just as you would expect from France.
Strasbourg has a lot to offer, the European Parliament and
the Opera for example are truly magnificient buildings and the way modern
architecture, e.g. like shopping malls. Is arranged next to old buildings
reminded me a bit of the inner city of Düsseldorf.
Corravillers
From Strasbourg we just drove through
the beautiful countryside of the Elsaß, pretty hills, a lot of green scenery,
ending up in Corravillers, a very small town, almost like a ghost town, with a
lot of empty houses, including the old school building. The weather enforced
the eerie feeling we had, but also giving the town a taste of melancholy, with
the mist and the dripping rain. As it was getting late, we were having a walk
around the town, before getting ready for bed.
Vesoul
The next stop brought us to Vesoul, a
city which also hosts the Tour de France, but doesn’t have much to offer
otherwise, except maybe the city’s mountain, La Motte, with a Madonna on top.
The walk uphill was pretty steep and we were puffing pretty hard once we
arrived on top, while a runner overtook us on the way up and came all the way
down again, even before we had arrived on the top. Crazy!
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| The chef is in the kitchen... |
Dole
I think the town I loved most on our
trip was Dole, a very old small town with a big market place we could park the
bus, close to the city centre. At night (meaning ten pm) the inner city is
silent and empty, We thought we had landed in another ghost town, but the next
morning proved us wrong. We even went for breakfast, which I usually love to
do. But France is not popular for its breakfast and there is a reason for that.
We had to make an exception yet again, as there was only baguette, jam and pain
au chocolat. It was still a nice café, the L’apar’thé. We had a very nice walk
around the old town and found some long unused train tracks, giving us the
opportunity for pictures.
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| The ceiling of the café was a mirror |
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| Dole was one of my favourite stops of the holiday |
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| we found this beautiful old bridge in Dole |
In Vertrieu we just stopped for a lunch
break, enjoying the beautiful sun and the interesting landscape. The weather
got better and better during our trip, which was a delight. We went further south,
longing for some mountains.
Grenoble
Our next stop was Grenoble. I had
pictured it a pretty town set between two mountain ranges, imagined us watching
the sun set next to the snow covered Alps… Well the first two hours Grenoble
were horrible, as we had arrived in Rush Hour, which meant we got stuck in
traffic and then we couldn’t find a parking spot that seemed safe. So after a
while, already tired and frustrated, we decided to park near a lake in a suburb
and take the underground to the city. Best decision ever. There was no one else
parking there, which seemed suspicious at first, but hey, it was March, during
the week, late at night.. As much as I love the flexibility in travelling with
the bus, as stressful it can be to not know where to sleep next. When we are
tired and hungry, searching for the perfect spot can be quite exhausting. The
lake was beautiful though, surrounded by blossoming trees. I love the
mountains. Growing up in an area which is as flat as can be, the sight of the Alps
always incites a feeling of awe. When the sun came up the next morning, Mr.
Schön was still asleep, I grabbed the dog and went for a walk around the little
lake, watching the Alps glimming in the red light. It was marvelous! After a nice breakfast we went to the city of
Grenoble. Sadly, you cannot sit next to the river, or let’s say it would be
pretty dull, as it is bordered by a big road, full of traffic. Grenoble had a
weird vibe about it, although some of its parks are pretty beautiful. Up one of
the mountains there is a museum, showing the history of the Olympic Games in
Grenoble, offering a stunning view over the city. We took the cable car up the
hill, which was scary not only for me, but also for Lisek, as it was made of
glass all over, even the bottom was glass. Spooky. But once on top, you have a
stunning view over Grenoble, which is when I made peace with this city.
Aix-Les Bains
We decided to go back north again, as we
only had a few days left, so next stop was Aix-les-Bains, a beautiful little
place, with parking spaces right at the big lake, surrounded by mountains. It
is a bit touristy and therefore, prettier than Grenoble with less poverty and
rather posh houses and people. We had another cheese fondue and the weather was
fantastic, therefore we took a very long walk along the beautiful lake.
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| Breakfast |
Besancon
Near Dole there is another pretty city,
called Besancon. It includes an old castle, which you unfortunately have to pay
to see, but the way up still offers you a beautiful view over the city. The
parking spot for campers is situated right next to the river going through the
city and you are basically right in the middle of everything, which was
awesome. Finally, we bought some éclairs, they were fantastic (especially after
such a long time without sweets.) Google recommended the restaurant Le
Caquelon, especially popular with the students of Besancon. (A lot of them seem
to study music, as every other shop offered instruments. Pretty cool!) Le
Caquelon, of course, is famous for it’s fondue, as the Caquelon is the pot the
cheese is served in. The restaurant had especially pretty ones as you can see.
Mmh, it was delicious and cozy and the waitress was really nice. We had such a
great time!
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| Fromage...Mmmmhhh |
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| Besancon at dusk |
Pont-au-Mousson
Pont-au-Mousson was our last stop in
France and this town also had it’s special charme. We had such a great time in
France and writing this I am amazed how much we saw in such a short time.
Pretty amazing. Next time we might go to see Bretagne, Normandie or the area
around Bordeaux. So much to discover, so much food to try, so much wine to
drink. France was an amazing country to travel, everybody was really friendly,
trying hard to understand my bad French and helping us out.
À bientot!
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