Day 3: Tour de France (not the kind with bikes though)

 


Today is when the tour began. We had breakfast and met the tour guides, Mark and Curtis. They would be the ones leading us on this tour. We got to ride in this big, black bus driven by a German driver by the name of Matthias Baus. On the tour, we met some interesting people, including Carol Manning and her husband Scott (who looks like Uncle Vernon from Harry Potter). They were the parents of Dad's mission partner, whom he worked with while he was in Ukraine.

Our first stop was the small, charming French village of Riquewhir. Known for its wine producing, it has been a long-preserved Medieval town. Walking around is like being in Belle's village in Beauty and the Beast. This guy leaning against the fountain is Mark by the way.
While we were in Riquewhir, we had lunch at this authentic French restaurant. This was the kind of meal where they bring you courses. Even though we were unfamiliar with the food, we still ate it. The first course was an egg-onion pizza thing, which was served with salad (even though I didn't eat the salad.) The second course was a pot pie-type thing with chicken and mushrooms inside of it, and it was served with these very soft noodles. The third dish was a lemon raspberry cake served with cream on the side and filled with ice cream. I even was brave enough to try Escargot, which is snails for those who don't know what it is. Luckily, they had no shells, so they were easy to eat. They tasted like steak. Mom was impressed.

Our next stop was the big city of Colmar. Here, we got to see the historic old town, full of cathedrals, canals, and old buildings. Some actually had their construction year built into them. We were surprised to see that a lot of these buildings are older than our home country. This was also the birthplace of Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty. After a scenic walking tour, we got ice cream and dinner, and we did a little bit of shopping.
As we drove through France, we saw a lot of vineyards and castle ruins. We even stayed two nights in an area of France where these things were surrounding us. It was an area called Kientzheim, even though we all called it Kaysersberg because that was a neighboring town. Since we were a big family rather than a couple, we got to stay in a family suite. We got a nice view of the town below, as well as rustic furniture. If it weren't for Dad's constant snoring, I think I might've enjoyed the nights.

Comments

  1. KristynJanuary 7, 2025 at 8:58 PM

    It’s fun to see pictures you took-I haven’t seen most of them before

    ReplyDelete

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