2026-06-07 Marché aux Puces Dessenheim

 Sunday, June 7, 2026

We've seen signs for a Flea Market (Marché aux Puces) in a town just 8 km from us. And Neuf-Brisac is having a craft fair. So that's our plan for the day. A slow morning and something different to do. 

As in the US, flea market vendors vary from local folks selling things they no longer need to people who make their living selling old and/or new stuff. 

It's easy to see where the flea market is by the cars lining the streets and filling the parking lots around the area on the edge of town. Vendors are arranged in 4 rows facing each other with an aisle down the middle for a total of 8 rows and a few others along the sides. There's also a tent with tables and benches for getting coffee or food. 

Dave found a couple of CDs he couldn't resist for 1 Euro each, while Pat did some shopping for grandchildren and friends. 

We came home for lunch after which Pat, Chuck, and Dave headed for Neuf-Brisac while I headed to our bedroom for a nap. The craft fair in Neuf-Brisac was, surprise, surprise, in the moat. Pat used my mobility cart and it worked great. Lots of artisans at the fair on a beautiful day. And Pat and Chuck got to see Vauban's fortifications.

Dave made pasta with red sauce for dinner which we ate on our patio. We played cards afterward enjoying the perfect weather until after sunset around 10:00. (Sunset is  quite late here in France due to the high latitude of Europe compared to us.)

2026-06-06 Éco-Musee d'Alsace

 Saturday, June 6, 2026

Éco-Musée d'Alsace

Today we're taking a trip back in time with a promise of old tractors for Chuck. We know the museum is open today because we checked the hours. It's only a short distance from Logelheim. And the day is sunny and mild. 

The Éco-Musée is too big to take in all it offers in one day so we're glad for the opportunity to visit again. We know just where to park that is the shortest walk to the entrance. Once there, we were able to borrow a wheel chair for Pat since the éco-musée covers 240 acres and showcases 80 houses, farms, and out buildings. The theme of this open air museum is rural Alsace in the the early 20th century. The museum has collected its buildings from various locations in Alsace, taking them down carefully and reconstructing them on site. The insides of these buildings are furnished as early 20th century houses, shops, and workshops. We have decided to follow the map backwards so that Dave and I are sure to see new things. 

As we left the visitor entry, lo and behold there was a tractor parked right in front of us. We started with number 60 on the map - the sawmill.

The sawmill

Not sure what all these wheels and belts do, but they were impressive

More sawmill equipment

The next stop was a house brought from Sundhofen, the town next to ours. You could see the way it was constructed as its timbers and mud & daub walls were exposed. 

Dave checking out the mud and daub walls

The Sundhofen house

Spaces between timbers were packed with circles of mud and daub speared on sticks then inset either horizontally of vertically into the space. This then was most often plastered over with a smooth layer on the inside and outside of the building.

In the farm below, the upper level is living space, the lower level on the right is for animals and the lower left side has a display of how saddles were made. We continued past differently constructed houses and barns each from a different town and most of different ages. The oldest house had a 14th century date. Of course, the inside was changed over the centuries of different families living in it. And its current interior reflected early 20th century life.

Pat and Chuck leaving the animal quarters and walking to the saddlery under the porch

Doesn't Chuck look like he belongs here?

Lynn, Pat, and Chuck in another farmyard.

The tower seems a bit incongruous to this rural landscape as it represents medieval city dwelling. It was acquired when Mulhouse was  doing extensive renovations and removing historic houses and ramparts during the 1980s. At first thought to be a defensive tower in the ramparts, it was discovered to be a home for a family of the minor nobility.  The formal gardens are reminders of the cloister gardens of abbeys where monks grew medicinal and other herbs as well as flowers.

 

The tower's first level had no access to the floors above it and was likely used for storage. The entrance to the tower living quarters was by means of the wooden bridge. 

We passed the communal laundry with its wooden washboards ready to be used. In fact, this was how laundry was done in rural areas until the 20th century.

It's not unusual to see various farm animals on the streets or in the barns of the museum. They teach us how these animals were used for working the farms. 

We've seen these black and white cows in the fields. They're black on the sides and white down the middle of their backs. We asked the woman who was leading this cow what they were. This breed is unique to Alsace and is called Vosgienne. They not only provide milk for Munster cheese, but they were used in farming for pulling plows. This particular bull was very docile and when I asked why, the woman handling the cow told us he no longer had testoserone. 

In this barn, this billy goat was kept separate from the lady goats and had his own pen.

Besides turkeys and geese, we saw a very sassy peacock in one of the farm yards. After strutting around for awhile, he gave us a show of his plummage. Well, maybe he was actually showing off for the other peacock who was answering his calls. 

Of course there were storks. 

And of course, there was a tractor collection. Chuck seemed to know all the brands and either owns or used to own some of them. 

And so ended our trip back in time. We drove back home to a modern kitchen and a washer and dryer. 

2026-06-05 Vosges Mountains - Michelin Tour

 Friday June 5, 2026

It's supposed to be a beautiful day today so we're off on another Michelin Green Guide tour of the Vosges Mountains. Some things we've done before, but many roads and towns are new. We start in the direction of Trois Épis (Three Wheat Ears). I know. It's a funny name. It's genesis comes from a 1491 vision of Mary where she appeared with 3 wheat ears in one hand and a small ice cube in the other. She told the blacksmith who was praying at the site that the 3 wheat ears symbolized the abundant harvests of true believers. The ice cube symbolizes the hail, frost, flood, and famine that will visit the unbelievers. (more here)

This took way more time than 2 hours 20 minutes!

From Trois Épis, the road wound up the mountains to the Le Linge battlefield from WWI. We didn't have time to explore the battlefield last time we were here, so this time, Dave, Chuck, & Pat visited the museum and Chuck & Dave explored the battlefield. (More information about the horrific battle) 

the German cemetery

The last line of this informational chart reads: "The dead in this cemetery are an exhortation to peace"

I was glad to see  school groups at this memorial. The photos and information is graphic and hard to see, but important to see. Other than Pearl Harbor, we have no battle scars in our country since the Civil War. Grandparents who lived through WWII are gone and no one is left who can teach our young about the horrors of war. 

Pat looking at one of the trenches at Le Linge. A student group is exploring the battlefield.

Besides the cemetery of white crosses marking the graves of  the French soldiers, the museum provided scenes to help the viewer understand what living in the trenches was like.

The French cemetery. The inscription on the cross in the back says: "Pax" (Peace)

Inside the museum a model of a German trench.

A French cannon

French soldiers

German soldiers

After seeing the museum, Chuck & Dave explored the battlefield - mostly trenches and earthen works to try to protect the soldiers (both French & German) who were sometimes only 10 feet away from each other. 

Looking into the trenches

Chuck near one of the trenches

Dave exploring one of the trenches. Notice the small window behind his shoulder for shooting your gun.

The trench where Dave was standing.

We continued up the mountain road where the scenery was spectacular. But the road was narrow (as in no lines and no shoulders) with lots of hairpin turns, so there weren't too many pull-offs to safely take a photo. 

We drove as far as Le Lac Noir (the Black Lake) This small glacial lake formed in a cirque (a circular hollow carved by a glacier) and then on to Le Lac Blanc (the White Lake) whose glacial cirque is 3 times larger than the Black Lake. 

Le Lac Noir

Le Lac Blanc

We continued on to Hohneck via La Route des Crêtes (Road of the Peaks). As before, we drove to the auberge on top, parked in a handicapped spot, and explored the views. You'll notice it was windy (and chilly) with no place to escape the wind. There were an impressive number of hikers ascending from various trails. Even more impressive was that many looked as old as us. And they all had fashionable hiking gear. Oh, and we still can't see the Alps from here. 

The wind was strong and cold - Pat and Chuck

This photo  doesn't do justice to the hikers arriving from the valley. Multiple groups arrived in close succession, from varying hiking trails. 

It was lunch time, but the outdoor porch was not serving (we assume because of the cold and wind). So we ate inside the very busy brasserie (a pub that serves food). Warmed by quiche lorraine (Pat & I) and bacon omelet (Dave & Chuck), we got back in the car to continue by the Route des Cretes to Munster. 

We discovered cows pasturing in the high slopes. 

Down from Hohneck, we discovered an interesting use of a ski run to earn money in the summer. Called Tricky Track, it's a luge that rides on a rail on the ground. One person per car is somehow pulled up the hill to the top on a straight rail and then makes his/her way back down on a slalom course. Looks like fun - if only we weren't so decrepit and old. 

Imagine riding down the mountain in a small sled

A beautiful ride down the mountain dropped us in Munster, in the same city center parking lot. We visited the same places and the same storks. But this time Chuck bought Munster cheese from a fromagerie (cheese store) in Munster. 

The Pharmacy has painted characters on its walls

A token stork. This is only one of the photos I took today, even though I had photographed these same storks last week. Sigh. I just can't resist.

 

The  Catholic church

We traveled new roads back to Logelheim - the D417 and the D83. We ate our lunch sandwiches for dinner along with aperos. Then we all crashed and went to bed early. But we had a gorgeous day in the Vosges.