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!
It was a little overcast and the views were a little limited, but this was Sunday and therefore our religious experience for the day. Apparently there were some movie stars here today.
Our route down from St. Odile took us into Obernai, so we took a little excursion up to the war memorial with its nice overview of Obernai.
From there we jumped on the A35 autoroute and went about 45 kilometres south to the Plus Beaux Village of Eguisheim. 
Since it was Sunday we expected these picturesque villages to be overrun with visitors and we were not disappointed. It was challenging to get pictures without hordes in the foreground. Having whined about that, I must say that a visit to Eguisheim, which is a little ways from other Alsace highlights, is always worth it.
The general consensus was that we should next visit the ultimate tourist trap of the walled mediaeval village of Riquewihr. Before that, we stopped at a roadside cafe on the Route du Vin for a tarte flambe and glass of wine.
Riquewihr does have some of the most spectacular half-timbered houses in the Alsace, overflowing with flowers. You might have noticed some flowers in my pictures. You need to visit this region at this time of the year to get the full impact of their horticultural prowess.
Today is the first day since we arived in France that it hasn't rained and that allowed us a nice stroll down the main street of Riquewihr. Our visit was accompanied by a small mass of humanity, some of whom were female and in really tight pants - according to Claude.
I should mention that among its picturesque attributes, Riquewihr is the centre of an exceptional wine region with many excellent vintners including Hugel and Dopff & Irion.
To get home, we meandered north along the Route du Vin back to Andlau. At Ribeauville, we caught the chateau in some exceptional light.
We also made a final stop at the Hotel Arnold in Itterswiller, forever photogenic.
Now we faced the task of packing and preparing to depart for our next destination, Annecy. We did this accompanied by some fine Louis Sipp wines, which made the job much easier.
We started lunch at 1:00 and walked away from the restaurant at 5:00 feeling that we may never eat again, not that the volume of food was overwhelming, but rather that the taste experience was one to be cherished and never forgotten.
