Paris to Alsace

 

To Alsace!

Except for some delays, our flights were uneventful. We had a long layover in Detroit, made bearable by meeting up with brother, Dale, and sister-in-law, Kim – our first Alsace guests. Air France departure was delayed by an hour, but once in the air things went smoothly. Of course, our seats were cramped making it hard to sleep, nevertheless we were tired enough to get a solid 4 hours sleep. Traveling with the mobility scooter is a bit complicated, but one perk was that a wheelchair met us planeside at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and we skipped all the lines for passport control and customs, going through a special handicapped passport window and walking right through customs. Our wheelchair assistant took us to pick up our luggage, after which we went to a special baggage area to claim the scooter. We didn’t have to search for any of these areas thanks to our basketball playing, Bucks enthusiast, follower of Giannis Antetokounmpo who knew where Milwaukee was.

Figure 1 Moving sidewalk at CDG airport

Charles de Gaulle airport has always been difficult to navigate and to complicate matters, it has been undergoing a major refurbishing since Covid with lots of elegant waiting areas, stainless steel and wooden slats decorating walls and ceilings. 

Figure 2 Renovated waiting area at CDG airport

Theoretically, the re-design also improved passenger flow, but we were overwhelmed by the size and complexity of the Arrivals terminal.

Once we picked up the scooter, our friendly handicapped assistant headed off. Left on our own, the next step was difficult. We had to find the free tram that circles the airport to take us to the Ibis hotel at the airport to pick up the car. Signage was non-existent for CDG-Val (Charles de Gaulle Valet tram). After wandering in the right general direction and following some incorrect signage, we finally ended up at the tram which provided a quick trip to the hotel.

 

  The tram arrives at one of the terminals.

Dave and Dale went to get the rental car, leaving Kim and I to wait in the hotel lounge with piles of luggage. The packed car was full to capacity with our luggage, the scooter, and 4 people. 

We headed East toward Alsace, driving through several small and charming looking towns before joining the A4 (France’s version of Interstate toll roads). The road passed by large fields alternating the brilliant yellow of Colza (used to make Canola oil) and some green grassy crops that we could not identify. We really should have taken a photo. These photos from others may help give a picture of the landscape.

[This photo is one of Pierre Guernier’s photos from his French Moments blog. (Well worth your time to check out his wonderful guides – with lots of photos – of France’s wonderful scenery, history, and food.)  https://frenchmoments.eu/photos-of-rural-france/  ]

Field of Colza

Villages became more and more Germanic looking – old timber framed houses with uneven stuccos but frequently painted in colors you would see in France – blues, violets, yellows, ochres, greens. Luckily the landscape was calming because inside the car was a bit uncomfortable – in part from wearing the same clothes and shoes for more than 24 hours straight. Oh, and not being very resilient travelers after 24 hours!

We were headed for 20 Rue d’Appenwihr in Logelheim, just south of Colmar.

Figure 3 Our driveway is at the end of town with countryside and mountain views out every window

Do you notice how towns and streets sound very German? This area was first settled by the Alamani, a Germanic people who weren’t afraid to take on the Roman Empire, eventually driving out the Romans from the area. Next came the Frankish king Clovis who defeated the Alamani. And ever since then, Alsace has been a football tossed between French then Germanic kingdoms multiple times for hundreds of years. Since the end of WWII, Alsace has been part of France. The local patois, Alsatian, is more related to Swiss German and Swabish German than to French.

We arrived, exhausted, at almost 8 PM. 

Our hosts, Dominique and her husband, René, were waiting for us, welcoming us enthusiastically. Buoyed by their enthusiasm and thoughtfulness, we got our second wind. Our house is amazing. We toured spacious rooms, beautifully decorated and quite fancy.  A very modern, fully equipped kitchen had all the appliances necessary (including two coffee machines). Two bathrooms, washer, dryer, really all the conveniences of home, including a garage should we want to use it. Not only was the house well-equipped, it was stocked with paper goods, fresh bread, and a refrigerator stocked with OJ, milk, butter, and, to our delight 2 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of beer. Dale took photos of the outside of our new digs.

Figure 4 Our chariot - brand new Peugeot 5008

Figure 5 Two tired but happy campers - Dale & Dave

Figure 6 Kitchen entrance, covered patio, and barbecue grill

Once on our own, we unpacked the car and then sat down to our dinner – take-out from an épicerie (a grocery store, or in this case a deli) we found at one of the aires (rest stop) along the highway. We finished dinner at 10:00 and dragged ourselves to bed, exhausted.

Tomorrow Colmar and groceries.