France: Visiting Anthony During His Exchange

When AP found out that he would be going to France for his rotary exchange, we were already here in England and looking forward visiting him at some point during his year abroad. So we took advantage of one of Aaron's 3-day weekends to go and see him. AP is currently in the Alsace region of France which for those that are locationally challenged such as me, see the below image sourced from good ol' Google. 

Friday, April 3rd

Our flight left from London Stansted at 7a, so we got up at 3a, left by 345a and were at the car park before 5a. It was drizzling and we had to wait for two busses to go by before getting on one. Everyone seems very accommodating to you and your baby until you're anywhere near an airport. It was our first time checking a car seat because we were renting a car once arriving to Switzerland. Things were really busy at Stansted, with it being Easter and a bank holiday for England. We waited quite a while to take off on the runway and Aaron and Norah both were asleep before we taxied. 
We landed in Basel, Switzerland around 945a. We had rented a car and were mixed up about which side to leave the airport (France or Switzerland). We thought France, but found out our car was rented in Switzerland. It wasn't difficult to go from one side to the other but how were we supposed to know? They upgraded our car because they didn't have any economy type cars left, so we had a Jeep Renegade. It felt quite American-like after being in the UK, nice and very spacious. Back to driving on the right side for Aaron. We arrived in Colmar and waited for AP at the train station. He arrived shortly and we headed towards downtown Colmar. 

The town is situated along the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the "capital of Alsatian wine" (capitale des vins d'Alsace). The city is a well preserved old town mostly spared from the revolution and numerous wars. We checked out the Easter markets that were going on and went to one of Colmar's cathedral's. 

We also saw "little Venice" - an area that is crossed by canals of the river Lauch (which formerly served as the butcher's, tanner's and fishmonger's quarter). We tried a sausage from one of the stands and some cheesy pasta. We also stopped in a cafe at one point and ate a pain au chocolat. From Colmar, we headed towards the picturesque villages in the surrounding Alsace area. Norah managed to fall asleep on the drive there so we continued on and decided to go to Monkey Mountain - La Montagne des Singes. This was probably the highlight of the trip for Aaron. You walk a loop and are given a handful of popcorn at the beginning and are able to feed the monkeys throughout. 

From there, we headed to Riquewihr.  We wandered the village, got a pretzel, tried some nougat. 

By that time the weather was getting to be a little damp and rainy - so we headed back towards Colmar to check in to our hotel for the weekend. We stayed at Campanile Colmar Aeroport, a deal we had found through hotwire. I was already unimpressed with the place before even getting there because I discovered that we could have gotten a cheaper rate booking through the actual hotel. Once checked in, we hung out for a little bit before heading to AP's host family's house for dinner. We were forewarned that dinner would be a long affair and Norah had quite the long day, so we got her ready for bed and once arriving to AP's house - we put her down for the night. His host mom was so kind to send AP and his host brother, Louie out on a neighborhood mission to retrieve a pack and play. They returned with one and set it up and Norah was down before too long. Dinner started with appetizers. First on the menu was foie gras, otherwise known as duck liver specially served to us because it is outlawed in the US. It was served with some sort of fig jam, toasted bread and salt to put on the foie gras. Also, for an appetizer we had tarte flambée which is a dish specific to Alsace. It was very thin, crispy baked bread in the shape of a circle covered with cheese (fromage blanc), thinly sliced onions and small strips of ham. They served both wine and champagne with the appetizers that was also specific to the Alsace area. For dinner we had pasta specific to the Alsace region called spaeztle , tomatoes and fondu vigneron which was veal that went into a fondue pot to cook. It was all very tasty. Then for the main course (in my eyes), dessert consisted of a chocolate cake from Gilg. AP had pointed the pâtissier out when we were in Colmar early in the day. His host mom brought the cake out in a box and opened the box to reveal a solid cube of chocolate. She lifted the cube up to reveal the cake underneath and passed the cube of shell-like chocolate around the table. The cake was delicious. My favorite part. Not too long after dessert, Norah woke up and we headed to our hotel for the night. Dinner started shortly before 7 and ended just after 1030. AP told us that he has attended dinner parties that lasted until 2a. We went to bed exhausted from being up since 3a but looking forward to the next day. 

Saturday, April 4th

We woke up to rain and saw that the forecast was rain for the whole day. We messaged AP and decided to head into Colmar to go to one of AP's favorite cafes for coffee and breakfast. AP got an expresso, Aaron and I got hot chocolate and shared the petit dejeuner - which consisted of a croissant, bread with jam, honey, cheese and nutella and juice. After breakfast, we went to Gilg to get some macaroons to save for later in the day. 

Then we drove to Strasbourg, the nearest city to Colmar. It wasn't down pouring, but it was wet enough to be miserable. 

We walked to the cathedral, ate lunch and went to take the boat cruise before finding out the waters were too high to cruise for the day. Our feet were wet and we were feeling done with the city. So we left Strasbourg and went to Eguisheim - which was voted one of France's most picturesque villages. It was true to its award! 

For dinner that night, we went to a Chinese buffet - Aaron's choice. Of all things to do in France, we went to a buffet. It was really good though. After a fiasco with paying (they apparently did not accept a credit card without a chip) we headed back to AP's house to Skype with family. 

We said goodbye to AP that evening and headed to the airport early Sunday morning for our flight home around 10a. Before going to the airport, we took a quick picture of the Statue of Liberty near our hotel. The French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was born in Colmar and the 12 m replica statue there was dedicated in 2004 commemorating the 100th anniversary of his death. 

We had such a great time exploring the Alsace region! It would be wonderful to go back to the region during the grape harvesting time and to follow the famous wine route. It was amazing to see all of the bare vineyards, I can't imagine what the region looks like when the grapes are in bloom. It was so great to see AP in his element and to hear him speaking French with such ease. I'm sure his exchange will always be one of the highlights of his life and we are so glad we got to experience part of it with him!