Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
Moderation just leads to long life, but I tried to take it easy today. The dreaded get back into the country Covid test is gone. But a long day of travel awaits on Wednesday. Tomorrow is just a train ride. The train goes right to the airport. My hotel is at the airport. So no worries. At least that’s the plan.
This was wonderful. All manner of stalls selling just about everything. It could have been 1522.
They are about ankle deep. Every street has one. Kids and dogs seem to love them. And lots of stores sell rubber ducks. Of course they are a hazard. But, life’s a hazard.
Freiburg is a university town. I was out on caffeine quest when I noticed an orderly queue of students at on ice cream shop. No tourists. Just kids.
ProTip. One small scoop chocolate, order double shot of espresso. Pour over ice cream. The college kids watched me do it. I wonder if they will try it. It’s very common in Italy. But apparently not so much in Germany.
I stopped in for either vespers or compline. The church and I both survived.
This is a totally delightful town. A good end to a fine trip.
I knew that the town would be shuttered today. So, my plan was to go on an urban hike and seek out a stork.
AND
They are much prettier than I expected them to be.
Had a salad from Mickey Ds. Thank goodness it was open. And the salad was remarkably tasty. Urban hike is 7.5 miles. But I snagged a nap. Heading to Freiburg tomorrow. To Frankfurt airport on Wednesday. To IAD on Thursday. We will see how this plays out.
Went for a little walkabout this morning before the hordes of tourists arrived.
Even found an interesting church. An empty interesting church. Église Saint-Pierre le Vieux (Old St. Peter’s Church) – the oldest church in Strasbourg, first documented in 1130; with several vestiges from an older church, dated circa the 4th-8th centuries. Well, that’s what the sign said.
But, you know me. I am far more interested in wall art.
And swans.
That was about five easy miles. Picked up a salad for lunch. Returned to my room for a nap. Then I went out again, once again in quest of caffeine.
I am expecting the town to be closed up tight tomorrow. So, there is a large park that I can get to. It’s supposed to have storks. And tomorrow. I need to make plans for Monday and Tuesday. Thinking Freiburg? It’s so great to be able to buy European train tickets using an App. Thank you SNCF.
And. Thinking of visiting Germany this summer? This is awesome.
9 euros. 30 days
As of Sunday, no more Covid testing required to fly back to the US. About time. That removes a couple of hours of stress.
Got to Strasbourg with no stress. Found the hotel fine. And the hotel is fine. First thing I did was laundry. The barge wasn’t conducive to laundry. I really needed a a clean shirt and some clean underwear.
This hotel isn’t air conditioned. Not a problem right now, but later in the season it might be a little toasty up here. There is a great little reading corner. The windows open, but no screens.
just took a small walk around town. I am still pretty tired. There’s nothing that I absolutely want to do here, so, I am going to chill. And enjoy my reading corner. A walk and one cultural thing tomorrow. Then a longer walk on Sunday, when absolutely everything will be closed. or maybe a train ride.
Found the sign along the canal. I know what all the words mean but haven’t a clue what the sign means. Is my phone going to melt tomorrow morning?
Speaking of tomorrow morning. Got a train ticket to Strasbourg at 10am. Gotta hotel too.
For now. I am tired. Too much food and booze. Lack of sleep too from coughing all night.
Tomorrow is a whole new eating and drinking regimen. Lunch today was most likely the last meal of my life that includes a cheese course.
Time to get ready for the last dinner. After dinner packing.
It rained on and off most of the day. But it surely rained when we were finishing up our 6+ mile barge escape.
The other ladies biked. I walked as did the couple from Paris. The walkers got the wettest.
Actually the walk looked a little bit like Kansas.
The professionals who operate the locks on this canal take a 2.5 hour lunch break. So from 12 until 1430, he has to secure the boat in the lock and run around and open and close the gates. In his copious spare time he was trying to learn how to splice a rope.
It was a long day with a lot of damp/wet stuff to try to dry on a damp boat.
Lots going on tomorrow. Still no plans for what to do after getting kicked out of the barge at 9am on Friday,
After yesterday’s jail break, they kept us on board until the barge parked for the night.
The bargers were as relaxed as the Charolais cows.
At about 3pm we docked until 8:30 tomorrow morning. Time a lap around town,
The light was wonderful after dinner.
Seven of us 70 something’s headed off this morning. The barge didn’t know who they were dealing with. The had no idea that we would walk 5.5miles. That made us late for lunch. We all apologized to the chef. He was not happy. But he fed us.
we do better in the afternoon.
We made it back to the barge in time for dinner. We sat around staring at our phones comparing number of steps and kilometers. 18,237 and 7.7 miles here. Not too shabby for a bunch of older folks.
But now I am tired. Very tired. And a little sun burned.
We don’t get a choice about what to eat. He is kinda like Mom. We eat what he puts on the table. And so far, everything has been outstanding. No kale. No quinoa. This evening, I got a coughing fit and had to leave the table for 10 minutes or so. That really bothered me. Because we all eat at one table. Fortunately, I didn’t miss any food. But I was careful about pepper and lemon.
The snails were fallen on by the guests like so many crazed gardeners. Even a woman who can only be described as a fussy eater scarfed them down.
This morning we ventured out to the tasting rooms of Family Picard,
It was dark. But squeaky clean.
It was rather antiseptic. Which is good I guess. The wine people sighed appreciatively.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring?
The trip took 90 minutes, typically efficient European train service. Now the Europeans can not run airlines any better than we can. But they can sure run trains.
At this instant, I am in love with Dijon. It is so much more old lady friendly than Paris. Old people actually walk around with canes. There are free electric buses to get you around the old car free part of town. And, when I was sitting on a bench struggling to open a bottle of lemonade, a workmantype guy comes along, takes the bottle out of my hand, gives it a twist and with that all important French word Voilà, my lemonade is opened and he is on his way. And, you know maybe his hands were dirty but I don’t give a damn. I am already sick. And, I was thirsty.
My hotel has a elevator and my room doesn’t have an old lady eating bathtub.
Note to Asylum. Omelets are not supposed to be brown unless the are ordered well done.
I successfully did less today. This morning I decided to check out tomorrow’s Metro trip to the station without my backpack. Got to the station and could see where I needed to go and decided to just ride to the end of the line. And what did I find but an enormous fortified house. Château de Vincennes. It has an interesting history back to the mid-1300s. It is wonderful and except for a couple of school groups no one was there. I had the entire place to myself.
Of course I went up all of them and came down every so carefully. Handrails were not a big thing in the 14th century. Some of the steps had been leveled up. But others were seriously worn down from centuries of feet.
I wasn’t 100% alone. Apparently, later in June the European part of the world archery championship will take place here and these folks were practicing.
Returned home to have a leisurely afternoon and enjoy my cold which is worse but still not Covid positive. I went out for a little late afternoon stroll.
Now most of you know that I HATE waiting on line. So, no new tiara for me this summer.
I adore Paris. I don’t know why I have been away so long. And I think I may be too old to make it back again. But, you never know.
Leaving about noon tomorrow for Dijon.