The Halftime Report

Nearly every town that we’ve been to in Germany in the last week has had a münster or very large church.  They are very old; some were started in the 1200s, and each one has it’s own set of interesting carvings, painting, and spires.  However, the champion of all of them is in Ulm.  This münster has the tallest church tower in the world and comes in at 161.5m.  There should be no doubt about what we did next… 768 steps to the top.  The view is fantastic and every other building in the area looks tiny compared to the scale of the tower.

Here’s the view from the bottom:

We’ve been in Germany for a few days now and I’ve learned something about myself. Over the years I have aspired to be a foodie and definitely enjoy fine dining and innovative chefs. It’s also no secret that I love wines that are way above my pay grade. It should come a no surprise that we spent a lot of our time in the culinary capitals of Italy and France partaking in some of the famous specialties. We had Bolognese sauce on our pasta in Bologna, the appropriate drinks in Bordeaux, Cognac, and Burgundy, and every cheese named after a locality in between.

With this in mind, I had a smug expectation that the cuisine in Germany would be a let-down. I totally underestimated the “comfort food” factor. I also forgot that it’s either in my DNA or maybe just my upbringing to be a carnivore. Our dinners have been wonderful – the perfect thing to finish off a long day of “wandern” (hiking) on the many trails here in the Black Forest. What’s not to like about grilled and roasted beef, pork, or chicken with all sorts of potatoes, noodles made from potatoes, or potato dumplings, all washed down with the excellent local beer. Sehr gut.

Here’s how we’ve been working up the appetite – so many trails, so little time!

We spent our last fews days in France in Beaune in the heart of Burgundy.  Since Le Tour riders had a rest day, we thought we’d fill in for them.  We rented bikes and headed for the wonderful veloroute (no cars!) that snakes its way through the vinyards and small towns of this region.  We checked on the progress of the grapes for the 2009 vintage as we rode by and they look good.  Of course, we also sampled the product of previous years, and those were even better. 

No explanation needed for this snap.  Next stop: Germany

We’ve been exploring the Loire Valley and have had a hard time deciding which of the many Chateaux to visit.  Our first stop was Usse (forgive my spelling – my keyboard doesn’t have the proper accents), which was the inspiration for the story of Sleeping Beauty.  It’s a lovely castle and on the way back we drove past two more, as well as huge fields of sunflowers that somehow always seem to make me smile.

The next day we headed to one of the most famous, Chateau de Chenonceaux.  It’s very unique because it’s built directly on the River Cher.  The history of the building and it’s occupants (a King and his mistress, who was evicted after his death and replaced by his wife) is as intriguing as the structure is beautiful. 

 Here’s the view from the gardens.  Just like nearly everything else we’ve seen lately there is scaffolding which can’t be helped. 

It didn’t take us long in France to realize that some of the words which look familiar  in English actually mean something else.  Take the “Hotel de Ville” that seems to be conveniently located right in the center of every town, for example.  It’s not a French version of the Motel 6 chain (that’s Ibis, by the way), but it’s the town hall. 

We’ve been learning a lot of other new terms as we make our way North.  Our first stop was St. Emilion in Bordeaux and the next, Cognac.  After a few long days of driving we arrived our home for the rest of the week, the Loire Valley.  Since the “Hotel” doesn’t actually have rooms for rent, we opted for a better French tradition, the gite.  Here’s our cottage in the countryside: