Molsheim to Geneva

After leaving Strasbourg on Sunday we drove home through France.  I wanted to see the countryside and stop in a small town for a wine festival.  After about 30 min of driving we arrived in Molsheim, France.  This little town is in the Alsace region of France and produces some delicious wine.  We found out Molsheim is home to Bugatti cars.  Who knew?

Our stop lasted about an hour, just long enough to see some dancing, try some wine and buy some cheese.  Then it was back on the road for the 3 hour drive to Geneva. 

I love this view.  The road looking straight down to the lake, and the mountains coming out of the clouds, the camera doesn't do it justice.

Strasbourg, France

Despite our rainy road trip to Strasbourg, we made it to the hotel in about 4 hours.  There was little time for resting since we were just spending one night.  So we dropped off our things and headed out to see the city.  It was a little dreary but it didn't keep us from spending a few hours walking the town.  When the rain picked up we went into the Cathedral de Notre-Dame.  When the rain slowed we walked the streets and found a few shops to check out.  And after that we found a Belgian bar to relax and have a few drinks before heading back to the hotel before dinner. 

I think Strasbourg is one of my favorite cities so far. Even though it was cloudy and rainy the German style architecture and the massive Gothic Cathedral were beautiful. And since it is France everyone speaks French which for me was great. German confuses me and I barely know 4 words. At least I can work my way around with French. The region is also famous for some really delicious wine like Rieslings and Gewurztraminer and I hear they also have a wonderful Christmas market.  We don't have any plans to visit Strasbourg again, but I highly recommend it if you get a chance.

The Road to Strasbourg

Our road trip to Strasbourg, France included lots of snacks, lots of rain and 3 countries.  Because I had never been to Germany, I demanded we drive north through Germany then hang a left to France.  Germany was not as eventful as I had hoped because of the weather; and there isn't much to see when you are only on a highway. 

Essence = Gasoline

Craquantes = rippled chips

My favorite German word.  Ausfahrt = Exit

Entering Deutschland

St-Cergue

On the first day of October we headed out for another hike.  This time we stayed a little closer to Geneva and tried the hike from St-Cergue to La Dôle.  We weren't very successful at making it to La Dôle, but it was still fun.  And our friends Ed and his girlfriend Aoife came with us, which was even better.

Here was our intended route.  We started in St-Cergue on the right and followed the path to the left of the picture via the red dots.  3 hours later when we were only at Chatel la Dôle.  We ran into some English speaking hikers who said they had come from the other side of La Dôle.  They said probably had at least another hour of hiking to do to get to the top of La Dôle.  So with the prospect of potentially being caught in the wilderness after dark, we decided to head back. 

La Dôle!

I love these stairs.  You can be walking through fields or up hills and then all of the sudden, stairs.  Sometimes there aren't even walls on either side.  But apparently cows don't like them, so I guess they do the job of cow fence pretty well.

On the way back to St-Cergue we took a different route which brought us to an over look.  Unfortunately there was so much fog you can't see the glorious mountains.  C'est la vie!