Novotel Colmar

I started the week in Geneva because of work. During my weekly Skype call with my parents, they mentioned my brother would be leaving for Paris the next morning. Nice of him to tell me! I called him but couldn't get a hold of him, so tried again in the morning. By the time I was awake on Monday, he was in bed for the night, but luckily he woke up and answered the phone. He told me he had a free day on Wednesday with no plans so this would be a good day for us to ...

... Strasbourg when he invented the printing press around 1440, and this invention led to the Gutenberg Bible, which is one of the first books ever printed.

The famous cathedral in Strasbourg is massive and impressive for its size alone. Add in the fact that it survived so many wars, and its pinkish façade seems even more impressive. We walked around inside and out and saw the enormous astronomical clock that was built in the 1500s while chomping ...

We caught the wrong train and wound up in Gengenbach. While we were waiting for a train back we met a lady who told us the town had a beautiful old-town section. So we went discovering again. After a good look around we stopped at a pub while we were waiting for the next train and got talking to the owner. Turns out he'd been to Australia on holiday, so we had a good time talking to him until it was time to go.

Day trip from Villingen. Wolfach has a factory cum tourist attraction where they blow the glass manually. It was good to watch them making vases etc. in the traditional way. The highlight for me was dobbing Roz in to get up on the stage and blow her own vase. She did a good job, and we bought the vase and brought it home. A very special souvenir.

... both sides during the World Wars refused to bomb it. It is too bad more towns didn't look like this. Being the heart of the Alsace wine region, there are plenty of caves and stands to sample along the way. We had to do our part for the experience and sample as many as we could of course. For some reason bedtime came early that night. The next day we headed out for a little rock climbing. Matt and Elizabeth are avid climbers and this region is home to quite a few climbing ...

Nick being incredibly late and us being deceived by countless cars claiming to be him
the inaugural McBrunch
emergence of Bosh's Canadian flag as a force to be reckoned with
longest drive ever to the worst city ever with Nick and Nick's brother
-all roads lead to Reims
-wedding ...

... s and Hasselnuss. I am sold. It is almost the consistency of gelato and is just lovely. After the ice cream, there is still a little time, so I have Andrew walk me down to where they found a tourist shop that gives 10% discounts to EF Tour groups. We don't go all the way, but I take note of where it is for tomorrow. Not that I have any money left. I spent all my cash on my watch. It's ok, though. I don't need to buy anything else.

... pieces of art I have seen. I say "I" because I think Alli was bored out of her mind in that museum. The weather broke, and we enjoyed the rest of our time in Colmar walking down its cobbled lanes and streets named after the type of work traditionally performed there. We went from the fishermen's road to the locksmith's road to the tanner's road to the little tanner's road and saw many of the former merchant homes, such as the House of Heads, which once filled the trade-happy city. We ...

... to sell to the factory, so back home we went. Upon picking up the chronometer and heading toward the highway, we promptly got stuck in traffic and 40 minutes later were not even to the airport (not very far). By now it was 7:00 p.m. so we just turned around, went home, got up the next morning and left then. So much for an early start! ON OUR WAY The route to Neuchatel follows the French/German border along the Rhine River. It is beautiful ...