Barge Date:  08-10-2018

Route back to Strasbourg

It has been hot.  Hot, and no rain for about 4-5 weeks.  Gets to where we take showers to cool off. The problem is bad enough that more notices are made for canals with low water levels.  The good old Meuse that gave us trouble last year and early in the summer, has closed the first 6 locks in France.  This means anyone wanting to use the Meuse for the Belgian/France route is out of luck.  And if you remember that picture back a few posts of the collapsed lock, then you know that there are no options in the north central part of France for north/south travel.

We leave Saverne towards Strasbourg and make a mistake right off the bat.  You have seen the hand

operated clickers used to start the lock process.  But another method involves hanging a rope across the canal that must be pulled so you can be put in the queue for upcoming locks - maybe 4 or 5.  Not realizing that this method is now starting - I think the first time in our barge life - we are gliding past when it dawns on us.  The light is green so we figure we are fine. But then, as we are going forward, the light turns red. We stop, try to back up,  seeing 2 boats coming up on us (and probably laughing, but actually they look confused too) we have them eventually pull the rope for us.

Now we just have to stay alert for these signals and line up the boat so Marianne can give it a yank.

Not much excitement on this leg of the trip.  As we slide into Strasbourg we pass the EU Parliament building.  We are skirting the city to get to the south side where the marina is located.  This is just a short distance from the Rhine. They have us moor bow in which is not usual for a 18 meter boat but this allows them to stack in more boats and maximize profit.

Strasbourg has a very nice tram system.  Once we learned how to purchase tickets we used it for almost all travel in town as the marina is on the southern edge of the city.  We followed the tram map one day to go to a very nice park, the Parc de l'Orangerie. This park is working to increase the stork population so you see them out and about, in a "cage" used to make them think this is home, and on the top of buildings.

The boat will be here for about a week but Marianne has plans to go off by train to see some of the sites close by.  We will visit 2 towns and 2 castles but since the towns are somewhat similar in look I will kind of run the story together.  We visit Colmar, Obernai and Haut-Koenigsbourg.  We stay over 2 nights in Colmar.

These towns and Strasbourg did not suffer damage from the two world wars and the war in 1870. Thus, the layout of the streets, the buildings and churches all have their original look.  Colmar, in particular, is a big draw for tourists. They come from all around the world. I notice that the Chinese seem to outnumber the Japanese. Both groups love to take pictures - mostly of themselves with a building in the background. Can't believe that they can use so many pictures of themselves.

Our hotel; our room did not have a canal view but was nice.

Obernai is a much smaller town but again with nice old buildings and churches. We take a tourist train around town and then up on the overlooking hill.  This is wine country and the vineyards make their way up the hills.

The last trip is mostly to see old castles and take in the view from on high. From the floor of the Rhine with extensive bottom land for agriculture you have the Vosges Mountains rising up to the west into France. Not big mountains but high enough that they made for good defensive locations on which to build a fortress or castle. The origins of some of the forts go back 1000 years or more.

The large castle shown below was refurbished by the Germans when they had control between 1870 and 1918.  So at least the French got something for the misery brought to them.

We also stopped at another castle to watch birds of prey.  The site sits high above the valley and the program has the birds soaring about.  One bird loved the experience so much that it took extra food to get it to return.

Did not stop at Monkey Mountain.

Will let the pictures do the talking.

Obviously an arrow shot thru this window will hit its mark.

An interesting note on Colmar.  We were walking around and were stopped by a man that noticed my Princeton T-shirt.  Wanted to know if I went there, famous college and all.  So we explained and thought nothing of it only to learn that Princeton is a sister city to Colmar.  The famous sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, is from this town and the replica of one of his works is featured in the city of Princeton.

Marianne will be leaving the boat soon to return to the  US but with a stop to see family in Brussels.  JingLei goes off to college soon and could use Mom's help.  I will remain with the boat to do some work on board.