Route du Vin Alsace

The Alsace Region's wine road or Route du Vin links 90 miles of vineyards and villages together.

The vineyards cover 30,000 acres in hillsides and valley.

We traveled local service roads to get a close up view.

Growers place monuments in their fields seeking a good harvest.

Turckeim is one of the ancient towns along the route located at the entrance to Munster Valley. It's history dates back to the 8th century.

Market day brings vendor vans full of fruits, vegetables and other merchandise. Most vans have a slide out counter for product display.  Notice he is closing up his van for the day.

The town hall has a colorful green, yellow and black tile roof.

Course de Cote is an annual all class car race being held on the weekend.  The race course will wind through narrow streets in town. 

Sights around Eguisheim

Walking to town one day, we spotted this RV.... called a camping car in France. As RV'rs we wondered where it was going?

We discovered this campground 3 blocks from our B&B.

It is located below the three chateaux built on the Schlossberg Hill.

Nice RV sites with shade. The campground has showers, restrooms but only washtubs to clean your clothes.

The three towers are the castles of Haut-Eguisheim built in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The sign shows the footprints of the buildings.  The middle tower was first constructed for the Count of Eguisheim. 

The sign said it was a 10 minute walk but forgot to mention the path had a 6-8% grade.

The center tower is well preserved.

Hikers enjoy walking the hill route which connects all five separate Chateaux.

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The Count of Eguisheim had his own private water well. 

Eguisheim in the Alsace Wine Region France

Eguisheim is one of ten historic towns in the heart of the Alsace Wine Region located near the border between France & Germany.

Our home base Chambres d'Hotes is owned and operated by the Bombenger Family.  

From the front porch there is panoramic view of vineyards & town center a short walk down the hill.  

The home is finely furnished which includes this special piece.  This wood fired tile heater is 100 years old and has been in the family for three generations.

Our room has a view of the vineyards and castle ruins on the hill.

The city dates back to 720 and was fortified with walls in 1257.

Refurbished half timbered homes & stores dot the city center.

The Romanesque Church was built in 1895 on the site of a castle. The 19th century fountain has a statue of St. Leo IX who became the only Pope from Alsace Region sometime in the year 1000.

Notice the stork nest on the point of the roof.

The church still maintains a Tithe Courtyard Garden.  In ancient times farmers worked 20 Tithe gardens and used their harvest to pay 10% tithes to the church.

First Stop Champagne Region in France

We are ready for our flight with all our belongings in carry on bags.

Traveling light makes the trip easier. 

At Dallas our plane is fueled up for the 3,300 air mile trip.  The 767 Boeing airplane made the 9 hour flight comfortable.

In Dallas the artwork looks like a fort made out of ice.

From the Paris airport we drove 90 miles east to the village of Bouzy in the Champagne Region.  Our B&B was in the town center. 

We met two couples from France who were on a three day holiday visiting as many Champagne Houses as possible.  The Inn Keeper is standing with Karen. 

We enjoyed visiting and eating meals with them.

The Inn Keeper also worked at a small Champagne House called 

Bernard Tornay Champagne.  There are 30 Champagne House in Bouzy.

A view of Bouzy from the surrounding vineyards.

The thin acid soil in this area contains white chalk.  Grape picker at work 

in the fields.

La Phare Lighthouse of the Vineyards in nearby

Verzeney.  The structure is a museum built in 1909 to promote education of Champagne production.

A few miles away is the Foret Domaniale de Verzy.

In the 1600's an Abbey existed in this area.  The story goes a monk put a curse on the beech trees to punish local heathens.

The curse caused these twisted tree limbs. Some of the trees are

 300 years old.

A nice lunch spot at Tours next to the La Marne River.

There are small locks at this boat canal.

In the hamlet of Hautvillers, we visted the seventh-century abbey church housing the tombstone of Monk Dom Perignon who was credited with the discovery of Champagne wine. 

Beautiful artwork hangs in this church.

Entrance to the Abbey.

Hautvillers is a hilltop hamlet which attracts many tourists who enjoy tasting  Champagne. The Abbey steeple is a central attraction.

France Trip 2013

Bonjour,

We are traveling to France and Germany for an early Fall trip.  

Our five week trip starts at the Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris where we pick up a leased Peugeot car.  

France is about the size of Texas with 64 million people. Twelve million live in the Paris metropolitan area. Our travels will center on small towns & villages in the rural areas.

On this trip we will visit four regions in France:  Champagne, Alsace, Provence and Burgundy.  We will also visit the Black Forest in Germany which is next door to Alsace, France.

Corvallis Farmers Market and Oregon Covered Bridges

Corvallis is the home of Oregon State University and great Saturday Farmer's Market along the Willamette River.

The agriculture industries in the area make for great selections of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The colorful setting in a riverside park with abundant flowers makes it a popular attraction.

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Great views on the river pathway.

Fountain area provides entertainment for the kids.

Oregon's 51 Covered Bridges can be found in 12 counties from Portland in the north to Ashland in the south. Most are located in Lane County east of the cities of Eugene/Springfield. 

The bridge is located in the community of Harris founded 1890, Benton County near Wren, Oregon.

Harris Creek Covered Bridge was rebuilt in 1929 over the Mary's River.  The round portal design with board and batten exterior is finished with a shingle roof.

The Howe Truss design is kept dry by the roof which makes the bridge last 80 years or more and would deteriorate in 9 years if left uncovered.

The bridge provides easy crossing the Mary's River.