Claude and I met in 1978 when he joined the staff at Lahr Intermediate School in what was then West Germany. Despite the fact that they had a son and we were without children, we formed a bond that has lasted over the years and we've travelled with them on several occasions. This year when we knew we were starting off our travels in the Alsace and Claude and Carole had not returned to Lahr since they left in 1980, a trip into Germany became imperative. So we left Andlau this morning at around 10:00 and arrived in Lahr around 10:40. Our first stop was a 9 Romerstrasse, the site of the highrise apartment we lived in from 1977 to 1979. It hadn't changed at all.
Next stop was downtown for a walk on the main walking street. Our memories of this street ended out being sketchy. It's been a while OK! The highlight on the street used to be the ruins of the final tower that made up the castle of Lahr from way back. This was called the Altes Rathaus - old city hall - and it was adorned with a stork's nest and a pretty fountain, not to mention a hangman's apparatus. It did look something like this.
Now it is under restoration and looks like this.
We're getting kind of used to scaffolding ruining the view in Europe. Anyway, the main street still has many pretty half-timbered buildings.
As far as the other constants of our lives in Lahr were concerned, the Canadian Caserne which housed three schools including mine, the shopping store, gym and arena, nothing remains. It's now a new housing development, which beats the boarded up, graffiti ridden buildings left after the base closed in 1993. Our other favourite haunt, The Officer's Mess also looks abandoned.
I'm including a couple of pics that my grand daughters might enjoy - a car advertising party planning and a store featuring Italian clothing.
On the way out of Lahr, we also stopped at Carole and Claude's apartment which looked a little worse for the wear.
The rain returned for a while as we crossed from Lahr's Schutter Valley to the Biberach Valley. It was lunch time so we decided to seek out another old haunt - a Gasthof in an obscure valley that used to serve fresh trout that you chose from a tank as you entered the restaurant. We found the Gasthof, but the tank of trout was gone, replaced by a beautifully restored interior. The good news was that not only was the Gasthof owned and operated by the same people as when we were in Lahr, but one of their highlight dishes continued to be trout. Claude and I started off with a snail soup - a Black Forest specialty - while the girls had a lovely gemischt salad - mixed salad. Everyone then enjoyed the trout with the exception of me, since there was sliced calves liver on the menu. We accompanied the meal with a delightful dry Durbach Riesling, still somewhat unique for good German wines that tend to be still too sweet for our palates. By the time we finished lunch the rain had departed.
We then headed up the next valley towards Triberg, cuckoo clock capital of the world. We stopped at a place that Carole and Claude had visited on a recent Rhine cruise.
Yup, the cruise ship was there again. Fortunately they were leaving and we got a nice pic with the largest cuckoo clock in the world.
They had lots of novel Black Forest merchandise including a few steins.
As the weather continued to clear, we were reminded how beautiful this part of the world is.
When we got to Triberg we were a little disappointed that the shop of our favourite German wood carver and merchant of artisinal works, Bruno Roth, was gone. Quel dommage!
We then drove up into the hills above Triberg and on toward Freiburg - a fabulous drive. We decided that since we were to take this return route that we would stop in Colmar France, a first for C&C. We had a delightful walk here and enjoyed the scenery.
We returned to Andlau shortly before 8:00 and quickly got into the Cremant. Today was a blast - from the past!
Next stop was downtown for a walk on the main walking street. Our memories of this street ended out being sketchy. It's been a while OK! The highlight on the street used to be the ruins of the final tower that made up the castle of Lahr from way back. This was called the Altes Rathaus - old city hall - and it was adorned with a stork's nest and a pretty fountain, not to mention a hangman's apparatus. It did look something like this.
Now it is under restoration and looks like this.
We're getting kind of used to scaffolding ruining the view in Europe. Anyway, the main street still has many pretty half-timbered buildings.
As far as the other constants of our lives in Lahr were concerned, the Canadian Caserne which housed three schools including mine, the shopping store, gym and arena, nothing remains. It's now a new housing development, which beats the boarded up, graffiti ridden buildings left after the base closed in 1993. Our other favourite haunt, The Officer's Mess also looks abandoned.
I'm including a couple of pics that my grand daughters might enjoy - a car advertising party planning and a store featuring Italian clothing.
On the way out of Lahr, we also stopped at Carole and Claude's apartment which looked a little worse for the wear.
The rain returned for a while as we crossed from Lahr's Schutter Valley to the Biberach Valley. It was lunch time so we decided to seek out another old haunt - a Gasthof in an obscure valley that used to serve fresh trout that you chose from a tank as you entered the restaurant. We found the Gasthof, but the tank of trout was gone, replaced by a beautifully restored interior. The good news was that not only was the Gasthof owned and operated by the same people as when we were in Lahr, but one of their highlight dishes continued to be trout. Claude and I started off with a snail soup - a Black Forest specialty - while the girls had a lovely gemischt salad - mixed salad. Everyone then enjoyed the trout with the exception of me, since there was sliced calves liver on the menu. We accompanied the meal with a delightful dry Durbach Riesling, still somewhat unique for good German wines that tend to be still too sweet for our palates. By the time we finished lunch the rain had departed.
We then headed up the next valley towards Triberg, cuckoo clock capital of the world. We stopped at a place that Carole and Claude had visited on a recent Rhine cruise.
Yup, the cruise ship was there again. Fortunately they were leaving and we got a nice pic with the largest cuckoo clock in the world.
They had lots of novel Black Forest merchandise including a few steins.
As the weather continued to clear, we were reminded how beautiful this part of the world is.
When we got to Triberg we were a little disappointed that the shop of our favourite German wood carver and merchant of artisinal works, Bruno Roth, was gone. Quel dommage!
We then drove up into the hills above Triberg and on toward Freiburg - a fabulous drive. We decided that since we were to take this return route that we would stop in Colmar France, a first for C&C. We had a delightful walk here and enjoyed the scenery.
We returned to Andlau shortly before 8:00 and quickly got into the Cremant. Today was a blast - from the past!
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