2026-06-19 Guebwiller & Route du Vin

 Friday, June 19, 2026

Today, the temperature will hit 100. Not a good day to be out and about. Dave suggests we visit Guebwiller in the morning while it's cool. (Very funny) and then finish the afternoon with a drive through a part of the Route du Vin we haven't yet seen. Lunches packed and we're off (like a herd of turtles, Dave's Dad would say. 

We parked in the shade of the church in the middle of town. It's hard to miss this church - it's huge. David went off in search of the Office de Tourisme before it closes at noon for the 2 hour lunch period. Back with a map, the town looks bigger than we expected so we'll do the central parts and leave the vineyards and distant sites unvisited. In fact, Wikipedia says the population is over 11,000. Grape growers and winemakers are certainly here, but are not as dominant an occupation as some towns we've visited. There seem to be several small factories. 

Vineyards outside of  Guebwiller

Notre-Dame's imposing neo-classical facade is missing one of its towers. As is the case in other towns, the second tower was part of the architectural plan, but funds were lacking. While the town was first mentioned in 774, it was the monastic location for monks from Murbach and so, until the Revolution in 1789, was quite active. The present church was built in the mid-1700s. 

It's also rather grandiose on the interior

Walking through the main street of town was disappointing in terms of historical features, but it was fun to check out the windows of the shops that line this street. There are a couple of Renaissance buildings from the late 16th century, and Le Burgstall the ruins (as in only a few stones left) of a 12th century chateau of the prince-abbot of Murdach. 

Where did they get a Wisconsin cow?

A Renaissance building

Fete de la Musique is Sunday. Workers were setting up stages for music venues.

All that's left of Le Burgstall

Along this street is an earlier church built by the abbot of Murbach in the 12th and 13th centuries. This church, Saint Léger is late Romanesque although the choir is Gothic from the 14th century.  The windows along the nave are modern but lively. And it was cool inside. A welcome respite from the punishing heat. It was hot even in the shade.

St Léger

St Léger

On our way out of town, heading in the direction of Soultz, the Green Guide recommends a stop. The Basilica of Notre Dame de Thierenbach sits outside of town on the road to Soultz and has been a pilgrimage site since the 8th century for Notre Dame de l'Esperance. A mass was in progress, so Dave quietly took a couple of photos from the back and quietly left. 

Basilica of Notre Dame de Thierenbach

We went home by following the Route du Vin back north as far as Pfaffenheim. That accomplished following the Route du Vin from Obernai to Soultz. We feel accomplished even  though we can't say we traveled the entire Route du Vin. We are missing small parts north of Obernai and south of Soultz, but we drove about 120 km of the route out of 180. 

2026-06-21 Rhine River & Fete de Musique

 Sunday, June 21, 2026

Another 100 degree day. Luckily, we have one more driving tour we can do on this last day as tourists. Tomorrow we need to pack up and pick up the house to be ready for an early start Tuesday morning. I can hardly believe we're finishing our 9 weeks in France. 

Today is also Fete de la Musique. Every year all of France celebrates French musicians of all kinds on this day. It was started in 1982 by the French Ministry of Culture to encourage everyone in France who plays an  instrument to take to the streets on June 21. We've been here for several June 21s and have joined the party-goers in the streets of several towns. It's always lots of fun. Hoping the weather cools down before the 6 pm start of festivities, we are planning to see what's happening in Colmar tonight - and get a last tarte flambée for dinner.

But first, the Rhine. What can I tell you. Not much. On the French side there is a road that goes along the Rhine Canal but there is also a berm the whole way and continuing a theme, there are rarely places to pull off. Much of the road is lined with trees on the canal side. So, we didn't see much of the Rhine. But we saw lots of factories and hydroelectric plants. I guess that should be no surprise. 

A hydroelectrict plant

the lock

the Rhine river

another view from the lock

locks along the Rhine

At one point, we were able to cross to the German side of the Rhine via a dam, allowing a view of the river. No passport control - it must be so little used and really, as we've seen, there is no passport checking even when there are agents at a crossing. We continued a short distance to see a castle ruin. Of course, the castle was a long climb up and it is 100 degrees. Dave passed on the climb and we headed back to the French side. 

the Rhine as we'd like to think about it

We were home by mid-afternoon and had some down time before leaving for the Fete de la Musique. There would be no point in getting there before any of the music started, but we also don't want to be so late that we can't find a parking space.

And, miracle of miracles, we had a brief late afternoon thunderstorm - enough to cool the temp and provide a bit of a breeze. We headed off, hopeful. And we were lucky. We found a primo parking spot in our usual lot and wandered into city center. 

Judy's favorite store - everything is rainbow colored, you just want all the things

Next to the church, we heard a group warming up and guessed they would start playing at 7:00 when the fete officially began. However, they must have been on New Orleans time because they finally started playing nearer to 8:00 than 7. We had found a brasserie and found a table with front row viewing, But this part of the brasserie only sold drinks, not food. So we had a glass of wine, listened to a few songs and then left in search of food. This group was singing praise songs, so we guessed that in spite of their rock band appearance, they were associated with one of the churches in town.

This Bulgarian toddler was fascinated by my scooter and he must have played on it for 15 minutes, driving, turning the wheel, he could hardly be carried away. His parents allowed us to take  his photo. 

We were just as lucky at the second brasserie with a table directly adjacent to the back of the group warming up. This group looked like high school kids and they each had instruments. We ordered our tarte flambée and drinks and enjoyed the dinner music. 

our view from the brasserie

tarte flambée and beer - made for each other

We left and wandered over towards Saint-Martin, passing several DJs blaring pop music, not to our liking. We stopped where a group of singers (no instruments) all dressed in white were ready to start. This group was led by a very charismatic man who sang in English. Again, the songs were praise music. Those watching seemed to know the songs, even though they were in English, although they were well-known gospel tunes. 

Did I mention it was busy and there were a lot of people

Again, we watched (and sang) for awhile and then left to wander back to the car. There was music everywhere, but it was almost 10:00. What a lovely way to end our time in France. Colmar is to be recommended. 

Even the parking lot was beautiful

2026-06-20 Germany Titisee & Schluctsee

 Saturday June 20, 2026

Another 100 degree day. We'ré hoping the Black Forest will provide some relief so we're heading east toward the beach resort of Titisee (see = sea - or in this case lake). We should spend most of the day in an air conditioned car while still seeing some beautiful landscapes. 

On the lower slopes of the Black Forest are farms and fields. Here farms aren't limited to town, but dot the landscape. I expect they were here long before there were such rules. 

Large barn-houses like the one on the right are so typical of the Black Forest. What's new are the black solar panels covering the left end of the roof.

so peaceful....

Titisee is a beach resort catering to tourists. There are boats and boat rides,  there's a beach, there are lots of tourist shops and restaurants. Oh, and bierstubes (bars). Every restaurant has maximal outdoor seating, many with a view of the lake. The town was crowded with visitors. 

Tourists need cuckoo clocks, right?

Unlike most tourists, we have packed a lunch and sought out a park bench in the shade with a view for eating it. However, our goal here was to eat Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte - Black Forest cherry cake - almost as famous as the cuckoo clock. We found what we were looking for at the Bergsee Restaurant. 

our lunch spot

the restaurant sign

view from the restaurant

Black Forest Cherry Cake

There is another lake near here - the Schluctsee - so our afternoon began there. Except we couldn't find a place to park anywhere near the lake. It was difficult to even see the lake through the trees and pull-off spots were rare. So our photos are less than stellar. After driving nearly every street in town, we gave up.

taken out of the car window as we were driving

We took the scenic way back to Logelheim, enjoying the hills and valleys of the quiet parts of the Black Forest. Despite the heat, (it was only mid-80s in the Black Forest) we had a very calm and pleasant day.