We were up at 9am for breakfast and Carina and her family who own Hotel Ambiente very kindly asked if there was anything they could do with respect to our little mishap the day before. Although a good night’s sleep help to put things in perspective, we decided to head back in the direction of London.
However, about 10 minutes down the road we stopped and discussed if we were making the right decision. We decided not to go further away from home but to head straight to Ammerschwihr which, in a roundabout way, was sort of in the direction of home.
Sadly this meant missing out visiting our friends in Austria who were were very much looking forward to seeing. I sent a few texts to confirm our new plans with everyone and set the GPS for Ammerschwihr.
We stayed entirely off the motorways during the day and were treated to some beautiful roads through the Bavarian forests as we headed the 390km west. Our bodies were feeling a bit stiff from the fall so the day proved quite tiring.
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| A quick stop to rest the aching muscles—everything nearly back to normal with Zev inspecting the local foliage. |
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| Apart from a drooping left handlebar and a few war wounds, it’s all smiles again! When life throws your lemons... and all that. |
We arrived in Ammerschwihr at 7pm and brought our bags up to the guest room at our friend Laure’s family winery. After an hour’s pottering Laure and her partner Manu took us to Riquewihr via the vineyard roads for traditional Alsatian food.
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| Sadly, no lens can quite capture the beauty of the hills of grapevines—at least not from road level. |
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| Snapping blind with the camera out the window of the car. |
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| Jesus suffering as he keeps watch over the vines. |
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| Endless beautiful views. |
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| Just a regular road in Riquewihr—everywhere you look is full of charm. |
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| Colourful buildings in traditional Alsatian style. |
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| The town watering hole. |
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| Zev inspects the cutting implements—I’m not sure if I should be concerned. |
We stuffed ourselves silly on tarte flambée, one of the most recognised specialties from the area, traditionally just cream, onions and lardons on a thin dough based and fired in an extremely hot wood-fueled oven. We also tried the less traditional varieties which included various cheeses including the ridiculously stinky (but ridiculously delicious) Munster. When tarte flambée arrives with Munster cheese, it really does pong like the worst stinky feet imaginable.
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| Sadly, like so many picturesque places, there is no shortage of tourist tat. |
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| After dinner the town took on a whole new feel in the dark. |
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| A shop decorated with red flowers. |
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| Zev, Laure and Manu inspect the goods. |
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| A view down the main road of Riquewihr... |
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| ...and looking up the same road. |
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| A road which looks like it should be in a child’s storybook. |
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| Everywhere was quiet by 11pm. |
I attempted to update this blog when we arrived back at the winery but was so exhausted I fell asleep with the laptop on top of me. There is no question that a couple days’ recuperation is needed. My muscles ache—I seem to have pulled one of my stomach muscles and the muscles around my hip are sore.
Europe 2014 quick links
