Mercure Niederbronn Niederbronn-Les-Bains

... and bought our train tickets home. Mine was round trip but I had to get a ticket for Lincoln. Without the fine attached, it was only 5 Euros. I really wish I had known ahead of time!<br><br>I had a really nice day visiting with my brother. I haven't seen him since I left Canada back in October, so it was almost a full year. Wow, time flies! He headed back to Paris and will continue on to Barcelona in a few days so I am a bit jealous - I absolutely love Barcelona!

Featured Excursion: Strasbourg canal cruise<br>Optional Tour: Haute Königsburg<br><br>"See Strasbourg the way it has been seen through the centuries&#8212;on a canal cruise. In addition to viewing the town's covered bridges, medieval watchtowers and modern building that houses the European Parliament, you will see "Petite France," a picturesque district that seems as if it has been lifted from the pages of a fairy tale"<br><br>(To be continued)<br>

... the ambience of the town is a site in itself. We walked from our hotel near the train station and crossed a bridge over a branch of L&#8217;Ill River, which surrounds the historical center of Strasbourg. We checked out some stained glass in St. Pierre&#8217;s, we went into a Virgin Records (an interesting experience in another country), we walked through Place Kleber, and we eventually found our way to Place Gutenberg. Gutenberg moved to and lived ...

Hablar de Estrasburgo es hablar de la Gran Isla en la que se asienta su centro histórico, abrazada por el rio Ill, afluente del Rhin. Es uno de los cascos medievales mejor conservados de Europa y su catedral es una de las mas altas del mundo. La recorrimos en barco por sus canales y paseamos por el barrio de la Petite France, el mas pinturesco de Estrasburgo y el que tiene mas canales.

This place was incredible! There was just too much that I loved to talk about, but one thing that was really cool was a hotel that they have called "The Little Prince"...after the book and movie The Little Prince. My parents and I LOVED this book when I was little and we used to read it and watch the movie quite a bit. It's a pretty strange story but really neat. One the side of ...

Last leg of the European jaunt and we've decided to try out the Black Forest...the bad weather was the final nail in the coffin and after 3 days of dripping foggy weather, we decided to jack in the caravan and head to Octoberfest, but more of that later.<br><br>So a quick trip to a 500 yr old stud farm started by King Wilhelm the 1st, where they breed beautiful Black Forest horses and Arabs then, Baden Baden to take in the sights of this thermal spa town and ...

... France and walked a winding path to the Cathedral. Unfortunately it was closed for some reason so we only got to admire the exterior. We stopped for lunch at a delicious Alsatian restaurant, Au Dauphin. Here we experience the delicious local specialty, tarte flambée. It is similar in appearance to a pizza. The crust is lighter and thinner, and there is no tomato sauce or cheese, but instead a delicious cream. For toppings, the ...

... of a very thin crust (purchased), a sauce of white cheese and cream, sliced onions, and tiny pieces of lardons (fatty pieces of bacon) and baked in a very hot wood oven. Sort of a mild pizza. Imagine...I came to France and ate spaghetti and meat sauce, pizza, and lasagna. The piece de resistance was Daniel's birthday cake-a black forest cake with chocolate sponge (a European cake much ...

... Land Gets Broken won a major prize in Canadian poetry. He autographed a copy for me. We finally took off for France about 11:00 a.m. We had a bit of trouble finding Lembach, Canton Wissembourg, where Judy's great-great-great-grandmother lived in about 1850 with her second husband. We stopped for lunch at La Couronne (Crown) à Wissembourg, a lovely Alsatian hotel/restaurant. Steve had pork medallions in a pepper-cream sauce with mashed potatoes ...

After Santiago (last letter, right?) I went to Carcassone, France. It's the biggest walled medieval city in Europe. <br><br>The hostel was great, actually in the old city, but it was swimming with French pre-teens on a school trip. I rented a bike and rode 30 km down the Canal du Midi which connect the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The, my butt was sore for days. <br><br>Next I went to Avignon, another walled city. I hung out with a friendly ...