Leaving Neuffen (read Noi-fin) and friends behind us we drove toward the black Forest (Schwartzwald), at first it seemed like any other European Forest with its firs and beech. Its beech is very reminicent of our Notofagus or NZ Beech forests for those who are more botanically inclined. Only these seem to be deciduous and are currently tinged with patches of brilliant yellow; very eye catching. However the deeper we travelled into the forest and the higher we ascended the more we realised the extent of this beautiful place. And then at the summit we caught our breath as we surveyed distant tiers of forest clad mountains receding into purple mists; here indeed you feel that you are truly in the Black Forest. Now as we dropped down into the Rhine valley we began to catch glimpses of that great river shining in the late afternoon light between gaps in the trees.
Ben Vosseler's home is in an industrial area on the edge of town not far at all from fields of apples and grapes as we quickly discovered when he took us for a drive to see castle Schaunburg not far from his home. Ben's dad, Rafael, has been renovating a commercial building and has developed it for their home, he's done so much and they live on a grand scale now. Both his parents work as musicians and play something like a French horn only it's in its historic German form. His mum, Christiane also tutors this instrument. They took us for supper to a castle, yes another one, where the view was magnificent and we ate flammkuchen, which is a kind of pizza that I plan to make for you one day! It was served on individual boards, and we ate in the open air right by the battlements. Intriguingly they told us that this beautiful day was the last of the good weather and sure enough that evening down came the rain. They know their weather in a way that we do not. The pool where Ben works is literally over the fence and through a stand of tall trees from his home which is handy.
When you cross a boarder you never quite know what to expect and now we needed to cross the Rhine and thus to go to France. Well there was no boarder control but we certainly noticed the prices, much higher. That's why lots of the folks in Strasbourg do their grocery shopping in Germany.
Our French hosts turned out to be Romanian. I must admit I had wondered when I saw the name Dimitri. So this is how he became a naturalised Frenchman; he served in the French Foreign Legion for five years. And that qualifies you to become French. In Strasbourg we were in an appartment over the boulangerie in the city with a young family; some of their friends came over to meet us too. One lot are about to drive around the world in a campervan, including NZ! I went to the International church there and got to stay for lunch; great company and excellent food. Transport in the city is by extemely modern trams which bend in several places; the floor moves too, they are very comfortable and sleek. Nicoleta and Ana-Maria and I had a lovely day out looking around Strasbourg, travelling by tram and also visiting Petit France, a delightful old part of the city.
Then we were in Chanteheux just near Luneville where there is a palace just like Versailles built in the same grand style, 350 years ago or so. It is currently being restored after a fire in 2004. The whole town around it is about the same age, lots of 4-5 storey buildings all with wooden shutters and wrought iron grills to hold the flower boxes which are filled with an over abundance of mainly red geraniums. We had a trip to the nearby city of Nancy with its magnificent Stanislaus Square surrounded by huge guilded gates. Stanislaus had been a polish king who was aslo Duke of Lorraine. Another trip was to the town of Baccarat, our host, David Zimmermann's home town, where lots of top quality crystal is produced, so many shops with all sorts of crystal. One shop seemed to have an endless array of chandeliers. All the little villages are extremely picturesque so I took plenty of photos. I only wish my camera were better. The family here are planning to emigrate to New Zealand so we spent some time discussing home-schooling and even more time on what it's like living in New Zealand and how they could do it.
Then we were in Chanteheux just near Luneville where there is a palace just like Versailles built in the same grand style, 350 years ago or so. It is currently being restored after a fire in 2004. The whole town around it is about the same age, lots of 4-5 storey buildings all with wooden shutters and wrought iron grills to hold the flower boxes which are filled with an over abundance of mainly red geraniums. We had a trip to the nearby city of Nancy with its magnificent Stanislaus Square surrounded by huge guilded gates. Stanislaus had been a polish king who was aslo Duke of Lorraine. Another trip was to the town of Baccarat, our host, David Zimmermann's home town, where lots of top quality crystal is produced, so many shops with all sorts of crystal. One shop seemed to have an endless array of chandeliers. All the little villages are extremely picturesque so I took plenty of photos. I only wish my camera were better. The family here are planning to emigrate to New Zealand so we spent some time discussing home-schooling and even more time on what it's like living in New Zealand and how they could do it.
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