Château Haut-Koenigsbourg

On Wednesday our last day here, we took a boat tour of the city. Afterward we went out to lunch and then we drove to château Haut-Koenigsbourg. My friend’s daughter, Who is on crutches, was complaining about coming. My friend was upset that her daughter was behaving so badly. In the end, we toured the castle by ourselves, my daughter and die. My daughter was really impressed by the castle. It was all we done at the beginning of the 1900s and is amazing. It really gives you a good idea of what a castle like that would have been like.

It was probably a good thing that my friend and her daughter didn’t end up coming, because the Château is one set of stairs after another. It would’ve taken her forever to do all those steps on crutches.

In the end, my friend apologize to her daughter for being inconsiderate. She just wanted to show us something unique to France that we couldn’t see in the United States, something different than just a city like we’ve seen already.

I think her daughter for gave her, because she was very pleasant at dinner and we agreed that we had enjoyed meeting each other before we left. She even left us a little present with a quick note saying how she enjoyed meeting us. Sometimes it’s difficult to be a teenager.

Strasburg Cathedral Memories

Although I lived in Strasburg for a year, seeing the cathedral was no less impressive for me this visit. Just walking in to the “Place de la Cathédrale” and glimpsing the monumental building took my breath away. I wasn’t expecting Elizabeth’s excitement at being able to go inside. She was appropriately reverent as we stepped into the 700yr. old sandstone behemoth.

The first thing we saw were the racks of candles. I explained how it worked, and gave her 1 Euro to drop in the box. As she lit the candle I said a prayer for all the people I love who have died. It felt like so many. I was reminded of the day I brought my parents to this same cathedral and watched as my father did the same thing, saying a prayer for his parents. Even though it makes me cry, I feel so lucky to have these memories.

After visiting the inside of the cathedral we walked around the outside & paid our 14 euros to climb the 422 steps to the top. The views were so worth it. It’s the tallest building for miles. While there, I spotted the Palais Universitaire where I took classes way back when.

Although Elizabeth was tired, she agreed to walk the 10 minutes further to go visit.

The minute I walked through the glass doors I was taken back to my student days. The memories brought tears to my eyes. It had been such an amazing experience, better than I could have anticipated. That said, I know time has a way of allowing us to forget the difficulties, and only remember the joys. (Thankfully so!)

We walked a couple blocks further, despite Lizzy’s hurting feet, to where I used to live. At the time I did not know how lucky I was. My large room was in a beautiful part of town with gorgeous views of the church and historic buildings. The window did not have a screen and I remember passing many moments leaning out, watching the world go by.

We were over a mile from where we were staying, so I suggested we take the bus and tram, another first for my daughter.

That night we cooked tacos for our host, her friend & her friend’s 12 yr old daughter, both of whom spoke very good English, which made life easier for both me (I didn’t have to translate) and my daughter (she didn’t have to sit & wonder what we were talking about). It was also fun to treat our host to one of our favorite meals (and one of hers!)

Next Post: Château Haut-Koenigsbourg

German street market fun

On the train to Offenburg we met a very nice German student (with green hair) who gave us directions to downtown. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the street market that day. Unlike farmers markets in the United States, this market sold a little bit of everything. One stall had hats that said NY, for New York, which we found really funny. Another stall sold teas, another one had fresh meat, another one fresh cheeses. Almost anything that you might want to buy, there was someone selling it at the market, even fresh flowers.

We were hungry, and looking for someplace to eat lunch, when Elizabeth said, “What is that delicious smell?” We looked around, it was a tea shop, which also sold a large assortment of candies and cakes.

“Can we stop here? Can we get something? It looks so good.”

At first I said no we need to get lunch first, then I thought about it. We are on vacation, she eats really well most of the time, dessert before lunch this one time wasn’t going to hurt. Plus, as a mom, it’s awesome to be able to say yes, and make your child’s day. The smile on her face was amazing. More delicious to me than any dessert.

After wondering what we thought were all of the main streets of that downtown, we saw a canopy through an alley.

“What’s over there?”

What was over there was an open air food market. Elizabeth had a salmon sandwich cooked on wood planks over an open fire. I had fried fish and potatoes cooked with bacon. It was all delicious! It was a sunny day and it was really pleasant to sit outside at the picnic tables. In addition to the restaurants, there were also several bars where you could buy drinks of your choosing.

Next Post: Strasbourg Cathedral Memories

Offenberg

This morning, we decided to go to Offenburg, Germany. My daughter liked the idea of adding Germany to her list of countries visited.

I really have not had any luck with the automatic ticket machines at the train stations, and this time was no different. I finally just took a picture of the error screen, so that if the train conductor came around, I had some kind of proof that I had at least tried to buy a ticket.

Then, we couldn’t find the train to take. We follow the signs, but it was definitely not the right train. I asked someone, and he told me to go downstairs. But that was wrong. I heard him whistling, and yelling, and he told us that the train was just further down on the same tracks. Then we heard an announcement, the train for Offenburg is leaving. We started running. We were so out of breath, but we made our train.

Next Post: German Street Market Fun

Arrived in Strasbourg

This morning I woke up at 6:30 so that I could say goodbye to my friends before they left for work and school. It was really hard to say goodbye. When I think about it now, it makes me want to cry. I don’t like the fact that I don’t know when I’m going to see my friends again.

I probably should’ve taken a shower before I left, but we got talking, the mother of the family and I, we’ve spent a lot of time together over the years. And before I knew it, it was time to go. I was a little worried at the train station, because we didn’t have a ticket, and there was a line for the checkout. I tried to use the automatic machine, but it wasn’t a touchscreen, and I kept messing it up. Finally my friend asked the guy next in line if I could go in front of him, so that I could buy my train ticket. He very kindly agreed, and we made it to the platform just in time.

At the moment I’m leaning out the window of my friends top floor apartment in Strasbourg, watching life go by on the street below. I realized, as I was sitting in her living room, that I at least wanted to remind myself of where I was. She’s at work, and we’re waiting for her daughter to come home from school. She’s late. I wonder if she’s as nervous about meeting me and my daughter, as we are about meeting her.

After my friend picked us up from the train station we went back to her apartment, and ate leek soup and salmon quiche. It was all delicious! Very rich.

My daughter wanted to buy some presents for her friends so we went in search of tourist shops, something I normally avoid. We ended up in “la petite France” The oldest and most touristy part of town. It’s also beautiful. There’s a canal that runs through, and lots of old buildings with wood supports. It’s unlike any other part of town.

My friend speaks English well, and we’ve been speaking English, but I noticed that I missed speaking French. I only get a chance to speak it when I come here. On the other hand, my daughter doesn’t understand when we speak French. Maybe one day. She says she wants to learn. She’s already learned a few words and a few sentences.

Next Post: Offenburg

Hike in the Vosges

We hiked the “chaumes”, the prairies on the top of the Vosges. We drove the road called “la routes des crêtes” along the peaks. The views were spectacular.

We had an amazing lunch on the top of a hillside overlooking the valley towards Colmar in Alsace. French bread with farm ham and cheese and butter. It sounds simple but when all the ingredients are fresh and homemade even something so simple can be absolutely delicious. I’m sure the scenery also had something to do with it.

After our walk we drove to a village called Gerardmer, which sits on the shores of a lake of the same name.  After a pleasant stroll around town and on the edge of the lake, we went for a drink at a local brew-pub.

One of the best parts of a trip like this for me is talking to my friends and learning about the location where we are and how things work here in France. They made us dinner of fish, green beans, rice and cream sauce with seafood. No French meal is complete without a selection of cheeses at the end and, of course, dessert. I love trying all the different cheeses, in fact I try and make an effort to eat a little bit of each one, even if I’m not hungry anymore.

We sat at the table and talked for at least an hour after the meal was over. Unfortunately, my visit here was too short. Just one day and one night to see friends I haven’t seen for five years.

I would have come before, but I was afraid. The first person I knew in this family died five years ago, a few months after my last visit. I didn’t want to face the fact that she was dead. I visited her grave today. I cried. I think that’s normal. I’m very glad that I came. I really wanted to say goodbye. And it was really good to notice that I still have lots of friends here. My friends have children who are growing up who are also becoming my friends.

I’ve promised not to wait so long until my next visit. And of course I’ve told them that they are welcome to come and visit us anytime.

Next Post: Arrived in Strasbourg

Our visits

We arrived in Paris without problem and made it to the train station to go see our friends who live near Lac du Der, A large reservoir east of Paris. We picked up their daughter from school who finished at 3 o’clock and spent a nice afternoon in the sunshine in their backyard. The next day my friend and I went jogging on the dike around the lake over to the sailing school where her husband works. The lake is huge, but the level of the water is really low right now because they use the water to regulate the level of the water in the Seine. The size of the port where they keep the boats was very surprising to me. Large cabin cruising sailboats go on this lake.

For lunch they cooked pork and various sausages over a wood barbecue that they had built in their backyard. It was delicious! In the afternoon we went with them to watch their horseback riding lessons. Then we drove to another friends house.

Next post: Hike in the Vosges

Our First Big Trip – France

On the plane about to land in Paris.  The flight went well.  Lizzy had some problems sleeping, even though she took a Benadryl.  I took an Ambien and was out.

We left a little late, and had a fair amount of construction traffic.  We were still OK on time, because I left an hour contingency, so I felt pretty good.  We did a lap of the airport looking for economy parking.  I pulled into the lot and saw that in Chicago, “economy” meant $17/day and pulled back out, calling Jon to ask him to search for other options.  The address he sent me for the off-site lot was 15 minutes away through traffic.  I considered it.  It was $7 cheaper/day, which would make a big difference given we would be gone for 18 days, however, I also didn’t want to miss our flight.

We turned around and went back to economy.  Better safe than sorry. The shuttle took us to the airport, where we got an airport tram.

Elizabeth looked out the window, “This is so cool.”

“Why”

“I haven’t been on a train ever that I remember.”

I smiled.  Thankful.

We got off at the International Terminal, which we toured briefly before I checked a sign and realized our flight left from Terminal 3. Back to the Tram. I was really beating myself up now, first about the parking, and now this.  What else would go wrong?

At the check-in desk we went to the automated kiosk, scanned our passport and entered our destination. “Try again” the machine said. This time we entered our flight number and birthday. Nothing. I am panicking. I’d paid my money, but hadn’t confirmed online. maybe we had no ticket. The machine prints a slip and send us to an agent. I hand her our passports. “How many bags are you checking today”

“Two” I say, and breathe a sigh of relief.

Bags checked, we head for security, which moved amazingly quickly. Once through we go to get food.  Manchu Wok dinner in hand I say, “OK, let’s head for the gate.” It is 5:57. Boarding starts at 6. Elizabeth says “Can’t we sit and eat here.” I look at our food, and imagine trying to eat the chinese off of my lap at the likely crowded gate. “OK, we can sit here, but eat fast.” She finishes and I am almost done.  She asks for an ice cream. It’s 6:15. OK, but you will have to eat it at the gate. We walk to the gate.  There is no line.  The agent says, “Pairs?”

I reply “Yes.”

“Hurry up, she says “This is an international flight. We don’t mess around.  We were about to pull your bags.” I hear her on the phone, “The Mosses are here.”

Embarrassed, I make a comment about skipping the ice cream next time by way of excuse, and head to our seats.

Eight hours later, the plane lands.  Elizabeth gives me a high-five, “Mom, we’re in France.” The smile on her face is priceless.

Next post: Our Visita

Why Online School?

The idea was hatched at the kitchen table.

Jonathan is studying in New Zealand next year.

“I want to go to New Zealand.”

“Me too.”

“We could go to New Zealand if it wasn’t for the kids school.”

“We could go to New Zealand if it wasn’t for your work.”

“I can figure it out with my work schedule.”

“I can find another option for the kids school.”

“So we can go to New Zealand? Yeah!!!”