The females in the car have been having some conflict. Emily has been making suggestions that Dawn is convinced are wrong. But other than making choices that we know will piss off Emily, she has not gotten us lost yet. We have, however, discovered that the GPS satellite reception in this part of France has dropped our signal on numerous occasions, but we have recovered it before we got into any trouble. P.S. We have NO hard copy maps - yet.
Our route to Triberg took us through Strasbourg and it was hard not to stop but we carried on and arrived 3 hours later. Our primary reason for returning here was to visit wood carver, Bruno Roth, if he was still in business. We discovered his shop open and both he and his wife holding the fort. His inventory is now quite limited, but there were still lots of goodies to have mailed. It was delightful to visit with them - truly the nicest Germans we have ever met. He turns 80 this year and as per last visit he is uncertain how much longer he will prevail. They told us about their 5 great grandchildren, but when he mentioned their one great great grandchild, we told him that he must be REALLY old.
For lunch, we had dessert, at the Adler Conditerei - Dawn a red currant & meringue whipped cream cake & I a black forest cake - in the Black Forest!
Driving through the Black Forest was a blast from the past and we noted that our Lahr apartment on Romerstrasse was still looking very nice. More good news for us was that the former Canadian Caserne that was home to 3 of our 5 Lahr schools, the headquarters, gym and more, that had been in rack and ruin for many years since the Canadians left, is now being turned into a housing development.
Emily tried to take us to Obernai back through Strasbourg, but we knew better - once again pissing her off - actually she got really quiet for a long time, sulking I guess. Our old route was still the best and by 4:30 we were at the Hotel de la Cloche. Trying to get anywhere on the weekend - or just about any day - in Obernai is a challenge. Talk about a tourist magnet! But then, we're tourists, so I guess we can't complain. Parking is always an issue, but as usual we parked in our semi-illegal spot 20 metres from the hotel door. Hopefully the car will be there in the morning.
If you want a town to check the pulse of the Alsace, this is it! Fabulous, half timbered houses galore! It's not difficult coming back here. We cruised the environs of the hotel for an hour and then sampled some local cremant while I began the blog. We're in the same room as last time and we opened the windows to enjoy the roar of diesel vehicles zooming over the cobble stone streets.
For dinner this evening, we opted for a known commodity - La Dime - a very short walk from the hotel. You don't get into this place without a reservation, so thank goodness we had the desk do that for us. Dawn had to come back here to have the Choucroute Royale, which we had for two. Before that Dawn enjoyed a salad & I a duck foie gras. Quel Domage! The fabulous Choucroute had pork hock, an Alsace bacon, liver meatballs, wurst and a bologna sausage with the most amazing sauerkraut you will ever experience. Dessert - anybody counting for Dawn - was a gewurtz eau-de-vie kugelhopf ice cream and a poire belle helene, which we shared.
Back at the hotel, it wasn't long before blog was posted and lights were out.
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