Colmar, France: Day 2

We were heading to Freiburg, Germany later in the afernoon so we decided to see a few last sights in Colmar before we left. When we arrived in the Old Town it was so blazing hot and we happened upon this amazing water fountain with happiness glistening with every drop. We thought we'd just get our feet wet for a bit then head to a museum. Well, Naomi's feet got wet, then mine, then Naomi got her whole body wet, then Chris got his feet wet...by the next hour we were all soaked and enjoying life so much we decided to skip the museum and eat lunch by the fountain. A little breeze kicked up and Chris said, "Whoa, I just got the cold chills. That hasn't happened in about 5 days." :) 

   

    

We splashed and played in the water for a few hours after lunch. It was fantastic! Come to find out the museum we wanted to see had been closed all day, so we just walked to the train station to wait for our train to Freiburg. Colmar was absolutely wonderful!

Colmar, France: Day 1

We arrived in Colmar to a nice breeze and set off to find our Airbnb apartment. It took quite a while and we realized we were lost, or were given different directions :) I stopped in to ask a lady in a shop where Rue Du Pont Rouge was and she said she didn't know. She didn't speak any English and I only know a few words in French but we got through :) She got out her map and couldn't find it. She used her phone to call our host but they didn't answer. Then she said to walk to a cafe to ask there. As we started walking to the cafe she came running out and said it was straight down the road to the blinking lights (or street light...) and then a right. So we went that-a-way! Just when we thought we were lost for good we noticed we were across the street from the apartment! The host walked out and met us and we were home! This apartment was cute! It had two huge rooms and a big private patio. They also had a pack-and-play for Fiona. Fiona was so tired so we took cold showers and put Fiona down and Chris and Naomi went to find food. They took a long time but finally came back with a watermelon and bananas. They said they got to the store but it had moved to another location and found a tiny shop selling fruit and bought some. It took a bit to log in to the wifi but as soon as we did our host messaged us where the grocery store was and a nice bakery close to the house. That night it was hot but not too bad.

In the morning we headed to the grocery store, which was actually quite close, and then to the tourist office. We got brochures and schedules and then boarded a train tour around the city!As we were walking to the city a bus was parked near the curb. Naomi saw it and said, "Do you want to get on that bus and see where it goes?" That's what she probably thinks we are doing, just getting on a bus and seeing what adventure awaits! It was so fun and a great way to see the overview of the town. Fiona, again, enjoyed pulling our headphones off so we switched off again. By now it was midday and HOT! I think it was about 102 degrees with high humidity. We soaked our shirts from dipping them and Fiona's blanket in fountains and it felt soooo good! Then we set off down streets we'd seen on the tour to take a better look.

Naomi on the train trying to get her headphones situated :)

   

A very lovely looking French woman that I wanted to take a picture of. 

It was the Fourth of July so we walked down this street, Rue Des Americains!! We also had our Red, White and Blue Bonbons to eat and they were so delicious!

Beautiful sights around every turn!

We loved these potted plants that lined the streets in one area!

The Auguste Bartholdi Museum was really neat to tour on the Fourth. He designed the Statue of Liberty and many other really beautiful statues. 

On our way home we saw this fire. It was so scary but the firemen had it all under control. I bet it's extra scary because all the homes are so close together. 

We went to the grocery store and they were having a big sale on children's clothes. They all were so beautiful and a really great deal! So we got some but I really could have bought them all :) I couldn't believe there were this high quality of clothes at a grocery store. Imagine if Wal-Mart had such clothes!

Colmar is just beautiful! A lot of colorful houses and quaint little canals. There were a lot of tourists but not too many to be overwhelming. 

A funny story while we ate lunch: We were eating sandwiches and were waiting for our crepes to be made. Naomi said she was hungry but didn't want a sandwich, she'd just wait for the crepe. We were sipping some soda as we waited too. It seems the soda's are cooled but the water is warm and not refreshing at all. They brought the crepe and she didn't want to eat for some reason. Then she got a funny look on her face and make an noise, like a pre-throw-up noise. Chris jumped up and grabbed her and leaned her over the trash can next to the door of the restaurant. She moaned a bit and I was thinking, "Oh no! Poor thing! We'll have to get her home fast." Then she suddenly did the loudest man-burp right into the trash can so that it echoed throughout the country. She turned and gave me a goofy, relieved smile and said she felt better. Chris and I laughed so hard!! 

We headed to the grocery store and cooled off while shopping for dinner, then went home and made it and ate. It was still hot again at night. Not much sleep for anyone. 

Strasbourg, France: Day 1 and 2

Strasbourg, France was an hour and a half train ride from Stuttgart! Heavenly! It was so nice to get to our destination so fast. We got off the train and the heat wave hit us. Our hotel was hot with no a/c. We filled up the tub with cold water and all put our feet in, it felt so good! It was hottttt that night and hard to sleep. I slept with a wet towel and it helped. In the morning the heat was up with the sun so we headed out first thing before it got hotter. We took a boat tour on the canals which was very pretty and a good history of the city. Fiona was not a fan of the boat but loved pulling our headphones off (it was an audio tour guide), so we'd take turns holding her and the other one listened. After that we toured the Alsace Musuem (Al-sauce) and learned about the culture of the region. The culture is so neat and has very specific decorating and designs related to the area. Plus, it was in a typical Alsace home so it was neat to see what that was like. We just sweated all day long though and a few of us might have gotten quite cranky. We soaked Fiona a few times to make sure she was cool. As we were walking around Chris walked into a store and I turned to ask him what we were going in there for but as he opened the door a big wave of cold air blew out and I thought, "I don't care what is in that store or what we need to buy, we are going in and staying for a while." Apparently, Chris thought it was a different store than it was but it turned out to be a candy store and as soon as he felt the cold air he thought the same thing as I did..."We'll buy whatever candy we need to stay in here!" We looked here and there and himmed and hawed, trying to decide which lovely morsels to buy. All the candy near the air conditioning fan looked extra delicious so we lingered there (heehee!). We bought some delicious bonbons and left the store in such cheery moods! It's amazing what sweets and cold air can do for a person!

The hot day ended in La Petite France where the houses on the canal were just beautiful! Some history on Petite France from Wikipedia: "The name Petite-France ("Little France") was not given for patriotic or architectural reasons. It comes from the "hospice of the syphilitic" (Hospice des Vérolés, in French), which was built in the late fifteenth century on this island, to cure persons with syphilis, then called the "French disease".

Who would have thought it would be such a big tourist attraction later on!

            

         

         

   

   

    

The next day we toured the Strasbourg Cathedral in hopes to find some relief from the sun. It was cooler in there but jammed with tourists so a little humid :) We watched the Astronomical Clock strike 10:00 (or 10:30 because it is on Medieval time or something like that...) and some animated figures walk around a figurine of death and an angel tipped a hourglass. The clock was really impressive. Here's some info from Wikipedia: The clock existing today originated in 1838-1843 (the clock has 1838-1842, but the celestial globe was only finished on June 24, 1843) and was built by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué in Dasypodius' clock case, and with roughly the same functions, but equipped with completely new mechanics. Schwilgué made a number of preliminary studies years before, such as a design of the computus mechanism (Easter computation) in 1816, and built a prototype in 1821. This mechanism, whose whereabouts are now unknown, could compute Easter following the complex Gregorian rule.

The astronomical part is unusually accurate; it indicates leap years, equinoxes, and more astronomical data. Thus it was already much more a complex calculating machine than a clock. Often the complicated functioning of the Strasbourg Clock made specialized mathematical knowledge necessary (not just technical knowledge). The clock was able to determine the computus (date of Easter in the Christian calendar) at a time when computers did not yet exist. Easter had been defined at the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 as "the Sunday that follows the fourteenth day of the moon that falls on March 21 or immediately after". (See also Easter controversy,Ecclesiastical new moon, and Paschal Full Moon.)

After the Cathedral we went to the Orangerie Park outside of the city. Because of the heat all the buses were free that day so that was good! But when we got to the Park it was hot, hot, hot! There was a little outdoor zoo but we didn't want to be outdoor so we walked around for a bit and headed back into the city to tour another museum that hopefully had air. On the way back we found a mall and it was nice and cool and everyone was there! So we hung around there and ate lunch. We people watched and noticed the French really know how to dress well. Everyone is very stylish and classy, with well fitting clothes. No high-heels or short shorts/skirts, no too tight clothes or too low. They also wore make-up :) We were impressed! The style is also a lot more colorful than Germany. In Germany they wear a lot of black, gray, dark green...etc. Here there were patterns, pastels, bright shoes and bags! Cultures are so interesting!

    

    

We went back to the hotel and grabbed out luggage and got on the train to Colmar. It was just a 2 hr train ride plus it had a/c!