Follow the Rotary District 5470 GSE team as they travel through Alsace and Franche-Comte, France in 2011.

Amy here:  We’re back in Strasbourg, at the same hotel where we spent our first night in France.  After dinner, Margeaux, David, and I took a walk along the street that we walked vingt-sept days ago…and we commented that it doesn’t feel quite as exotic as it did on that first night, but it’s still exciting and amazing to be here.  I will miss all the friends I have made.  I hope you remember that chez moi est chez vous.

I have quite a few photos/experiences that haven’t made it into their own posts, so I thought I’d assemble some of them for your viewing delight.  The first two are from Salins-Les-Bains in the Jura region of Franche-Comte, home of a saltworks that’s a UNESCO world site.  The salt was pumped from underground to large vats upstairs where the water was evaporated and the salt was dried over big wood pits.   It was grueling work, and the saltworks shut down in the 1960s (we had the pleasure of meeting a man who had worked there).

Last Friday, we had a free day in Mulhouse, and four of us (poor Margeaux stayed behind to do her coursework for her nursing class) went to Basel, Switzerland with our friends Jonathan and Jerome from the Altkirch Rotary Club.  Basel lies across the Rhine from France, and has more than 150,000 residents.

We took this current-powered boat across the Rhine.  That’s Jonathan with Amanda.

Then we went to a winery in Germany for lunch.   Thinking that one ordered beer in Germany, I asked for one.  But…it was a winery, so….I had wine.  It was delicious.  (We had several requests for information on the wine we’re drinking, so here is just one of the many dozens of bottles we have had.)

Then we went to a neat furniture showplace called Vitra.

We wrapped up at the Fondation Beyeler, a wonderful art museum in Basel, with wonderful works by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Monet, Miro, and many others.  How nice to lose ourselves in beautiful paintings for an hour.

Margeaux mentioned our return to the Rhine on Sunday, thanks to Julian from Colmar, and our friends from the Brisach Franco-German Club.  There’s a Brisach in Germany, and after Louis XIV lost control of it to Germany, he hired Vauban (whose works we saw throughout our travels) to construct a New (Neuf) Brisach on the other side of the Rhine.  Thanks to Captain Francois for providing the boat, our German friend Rainer for the wine.

Heading out of a lock.

I had this for lunch at a restaurant that is no longer called Jack Daniels.  J’ai manger beaucoup d’asperge.  Mmmmm.

And here’s a bottle of Rainer’s wine:

Here are our generous hosts. That’s Maggie on the right.  She’s president of the Brisach club, and very cool.  Julian is beside her, and Rainer the Winemaker is in red.  It was a lovely day for which we are very grateful.

On our first day in Mulhouse, we enjoyed an amazing lunch and,as Margeaux mentioned, a wonderful afternoon at the Mulhouse Zoo, courtesy of Gerard and Pierre.

Gerard picked this wine for us.  It was scrumptious.

The Team’s secret sign.

It’s 11:23 pm, I haven’t packed, and Jacques Grimm arrives with the van at 6 am to take us to the airport.  We’ll continue to add posts to this site, since there’s still more to tell about this fantastic trip.  Bon nuit, mes amis.

David Here: Planes – It seems appropriate to begin this blog entry with planes. Not because we have learned so much about them, but because this extraordinary experience began by departing on a plane and of course, we will be returning on one in just a couple short days.

Trains – Trains are a much bigger deal and a much faster deal in France than in the United States. The TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse), essentially translated to the big fast train, can get to Paris from Strasbourg in 2.5 hours and everyone in the region will tell you this is a much more convenient way to get to Paris than flying or driving. The TGV was founded in France but today, one can use the rail service to travel to many destinations all across Europe. None of us have yet to ride on the TGV, but we have caught a glimpse of it whizzing past us. (http://www.tgv-europe.com/)

Growing up, my younger brother lived to learn about trains. He would watch hours of videos describing the history of the locomotive and together with my grandfather, they even built a couple of their own electric train sets. I mention this piece of my personal history because it has been my pleasure to see two different electric train sets built by Rotarians while being here. The first was in Molsheim and was mentioned in a previous blog entry, but if you missed it the first time or do not feel like scrolling down the page to locate the picture, I have provided another one at the bottom of today’s entry. The second one happened to be in Mulhouse and was built by a Rotarian named Maurice Fischesser. This brings me to my next point.

Tractors – Maurice Fischesser is not any ordinary man and his residence is no exception. This gentleman has an incredible museum set up on his property where one can take a journey down a world that once was. Here’s the kicker though, you have to be his friend or be a friend of a friend in order to be allowed access. Luckily for me, I happened to be staying with his Rotarian friend just a couple houses away so I was able to have a private tour. I was amazed at all the incredible antiques this man has ranging from bicycles to horse carriages. However, I was most impressed by his tractor collection. He has sixteen tractors and he has a rule that anything he has on display must work. I can report that he sticks to the rule as I watched him start tractors that were nearly one hundred years old. It should also be noted that besides being a farmer and a mechanical genius, Maurice is also an artist.

In keeping with tractors for a second, our team visited Etesia on Tuesday to learn about the manufacturing operations of lawn mowers. It was another learning experience for all of us and concluded with some pretty intense lawn mower races. I won’t brag too much, but let it be known that my mower smoked Samantha’s.

Trucks – I’m not sure why trucks are mentioned in here. We’re in France where gas is $7-8/gallon, why would anyone in their right mind drive a truck unless it was for work? Not only that, but the streets are so narrow and people drive so fast, you’d have to be mad to drive a truck for fun.

Automobiles – As mentioned by Amy, we had the privilege to visit the Cité de l’Automobile on Saturday. The unfortunate part of this experience was that we were only given 45 minutes to sprint through the incredible collection of cars. Of course, I probably could’ve spent the whole weekend there if given the chance. Personally, the French-made Bugatti’s caught my eye and wouldn’t let go. The most expensive car ever sold is actually a Bugatti and to this day, Bugatti’s continue to be a treasure few can get their hands on. It should be noted that our team is currently staying near the town of Molsheim where Bugatti’s are still made. Anyone want to buy me an early wedding present?

The same Rotarian I mentioned earlier that took me to meet Maurice and also opened his beautiful home for my stay in his region happened to own a BMW Z8. Denis happens to own one of only 35 in the entire country of France and it is a beauty. For pictures of this and all other topics mentioned in this entry, please scroll down.

I look forward to seeing all the people I love so dearly back at home in just a couple days, but I will miss all my new friends I have met in France. Thank you to Rotary and all the Rotarians that made this experience of a lifetime possible!