FRANCE OBSERVATIONS October 2016

And we're off! Flying high with just a few of our friends as the flight from Atlanta to Chicago and from Chicago to Frankfurt have plenty of open seats. This is the very best scenario for us, the bottom of the pecking order "standbys", so we are seeing French wines in our near future. "Heading to France but flying to Frankfurt?" you ask. Ultimate destination is a rental house near Baccarat France--almost due south of Frankfurt, in France but near the German border. We are tagging along with my brother, Bill, and his wife, Kari, as they enjoy a friend's summer home in Alsace-Lorraine to get a taste of French country life.

THE HOUSE and SURROUNDING AREA

• In Glonville--a sleepy little French hamlet--a step back in time--so small there is no commercial establishment in town--no bakery, no gas station, no bar, no restaurant-surrounded by pasture land, cows, sheep, and farm equipment--though Baccarat is only a few kilometers away, it feels like we are miles and miles from the nearest town--no street noises, only the wakeup call of the backyard rooster • The landscape here is very green with rolling hills--peaceful and pastoral--bits of forest here and there but mostly the rolling farmlands--stacks and stacks of firewood beside homes and bales of hay dotting empty fields speak to the upcoming winter

•An old home/workshop turned charming modern home--sits right on the street, a quiet street--2 story--4 bedrooms plus loft area sleeping--open floor plan downstairs--big modern kitchen--huge deck overlooking gardens, neat stacks of wood, and grassy backyards--both electric heat and a wood burning

stove--absolutely everything we could possibly need for comfortable living--bring in some French wine, French cheese, French bread, French croissants, and French chocolate and we are ready to take up residence! • The house is owned by friends of Bill & Kari's--they are French by birth, but now live in Wimberley, Texas--it's an old family home (or maybe just a workshop, I'm not entirely sure) that they've lovingly restored and modernized--we play locals for 4 days but Bill and Kari are here for 2 weeks

• Best part of Glonville is the couple who are caretakers of the home and also our hosts--Dom and Corrine--such a warm welcome--lovely sweet couple who live a street away--French speaking only but Kari communicates well with her rusty but accomplished French--the rest of us are dependent on sign language, nods, and smiles--we could get the communication job done (with the help of some translator apps) but Kari does it much more efficiently and with finesse

BACCARAT • Yep, we've all heard of it--famous for crystal but that's all we knew--not big, maybe the size of Loganville (sans the sprawl)--a one roundabout town--a real town--populated with working folks, not tourists--seemingly no other Americans around • Pretty in its old grayness--baskets teeming with blooms that are still holding on even though fall has arrived--a tree lined main street--a lazy river--a very green linear park running along its banks--flower boxes the size of go carts perch along the bridge railings--it's an in invitation to stay a while • We know there's a market here somewhere but it takes us 3 days to find it, tucked away as it is--another one suffices--seemingly every fourth store is a bakery--we use croissants as our means of comparison one to the other--restaurants are few • A few important buildings--an old stone church watches over the town from atop the remains of medieval walls--a beautiful modern stone and wood cathedral anchors the other end of Main Street and stretches along the river--just across the street on a riverside perch is a beautiful town hall--across the river and then across the road sits the enclave that is the Baccarat Crystal factory

• From the outside the Baccarat enclave seems unchanged since the 1700's--a campus of sorts--a large quadrangle with a park in the middle, the glass factory at one end, the chateau of the factory director at the other, and rows of townhouses for workers and workshops lining the long sides--a bell mounted atop the factory that was used to call the workers once the furnaces were up to temp--all buildings are still used for the same purposes today--all glass still blown and made by hand--oh my! the prices!--a simple museum with magnificent pieces of Baccarat Crystal--yeah, and we know what the company logo looks like now, so we'll be checking your crystal for authenticity!

THE WINE ROUTE • What's not to like--vineyards, storybook towns, castles, good food, wine, mountain scenery, a grape festival • Runs for some 70 kilometers through Alsace-Lorraine-north to south--partially through the Vosges Mountains-in France but near the German border--the northeastern corner of France • Small towns every few kilometers with vineyards in between each--mountains of both hard woods and fir trees--everything is still green--some early signs of fall but only at higher elevations • We visit Colmar (by far the largest and most spread out) and what a surprise to see a large replica of the Statue of Liberty prominently displayed (it's the hometown of the artist who sculpted the real thing). Riquewihr (the most touristy but oh so easy to love), Molsheim (beautiful but somewhat understated), and Obernai (storybook perfect yet real at the same time) • It's all about "drinking" in the sights--about meandering--about seeing what's around the next bend in the road--about the personality of each town--about getting lost--about a taste of this or a taste of that-about time flying by--about not covering as much territory as anticipated--about the "ah ha" moments (or in Mom's words, the "Honey, I wish you'd look!" moments) • While the towns have their own personalities, there are commonalities--they are small and quaint, historic and beautifully preserved, storybook perfect, authentic and inviting--narrow meandering cobblestone streets--towns of stone, timber, and stucco--flower bedecked--best of all, a jumble of sagging roofs and wonky leaning colorful half-timbered buildings--cobalt blues, autumn golds, forest greens, deepest salmons, and bright reds--the kind of places that need pictures to tell the tale but those pictures can never do these towns justice--I expect to see Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or perhaps Belle come around a corner--(I hate to say this) but they're almost too perfect not to be created by Disney • I get a feeling of lightheartedness here but with that German sensibility--definitely more German than French • A grape harvest festival in Molshime has us feeling like locals--from the decorated horse drawn carriages--to the king in his toga wrapped with grape vines and the queen in her red velvet cape--to the oompah bands--to the food vendors (Bill buys pretzels, I buy chocolate dipped confections)--to the flea market (ask Bill about his valise purchase)--to the wine tastings--to the traditional meat and vegetable casseroles (which we deem to be a fine takeout dinner for tonight) • The area is definitely not a secret--not horribly overrun with tourists in October, but there are enough of us--parking can be found with some patience--tourist shops abound, but in the nicest way--restaurants, patisseries, and wine shops aplenty • Christmas Markets here would be postcard perfect--can we go, huh, can we, can we?? •Slow down and smell the roses--or in this case, the bouquet of the wines

HOMEWARD BOUND • A fond "au revoir" to our temporary home--a lift from Bill and Kari to the city of Nancy--a hug and kiss in the air on each cheek (French style) for them--we're off by train for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris • Proud of ourselves for navigating the French train system with one change of trains--nary a wrong move--the Europeans do it right with train stations adjacent to or within airports--whoa, the train that just passed us, was it trying to break the sound barrier or what!--the description of superman runs through my head, "faster than a speeding bullet..."

• How'd such a sweet little French town survive with a major international airport just a few kilometers away--Roissey du France feels like it's sitting in the countryside far from the chaos and commercialism that surrounds urban areas--a little French oasis--traditional homes, shops, churches, schools, and restaurants--a true French village--just through the park are a dozen large chain hotels--the town seems oblivious to them-amazing--only the French! • No angst at the airport--our daughter's description of the airport reminding her of the "The Jetsons" is apt--indeed, the glass bubbled buildings, suspended escalators, and sidewalks moving through tubes whisks us back (or is it ahead?) to the Jetsons--seats together in a less than full plane, economy plus-and we're off!

The end of a fun trip! Merci, for inviting us on your "Bill and Kari's Excellent Adventure"!! It was the ultimate treat! And as Kari says, "bon journee"!