Avis' Genealogy reseach tour through
Alsace-Lorraine - 1 Waldshut to Abreschviller

There was another French couple to talk to. It was quite easy to leave town & head straight into the Black Forest, which is lovely, especially with all the fresh leaves.The acid rain problem seems to have been solved. I took a photo of the Schluchsee, after which we went out of our way to drive up the Feldberg & walk halfway to the top but it was so hot & the Sun so strong that we did not go all the way. We stopped at Titisee, a dump. The lake is pretty enough but the village is the worst rubbish shop trap I have ever seen & while the buildings are old & authentic, the atmosphere is anything but & they charge for parking, ¤2.50! So, no coffee until down in the glorious Höllental gorge, where we stopped by the Ravennaschlucht. There was a traffic jam into Freiburg but parking was easy & free on a Thursday. The old town was very attractive but the Minster was intimidating & had the Reverse Tardis Effect, smaller inside than it looks outside. However, the Martinskirche was just the opposite.

St Martinskirche in Freiburg

The Erasmushaus in Freiburg

It & much of the town had been trashed in WWII & restored. We had lunch by the Minster at the Hotel Rappen (???Swiss for 'penny'), Avis an Alsace salad & me, leberknödelsuppe (¤15.50). It was quite a winding road to France, as we crossed at Sasbach & took off into the Vosges at Scherwiller on side roads. These were refreshingly both pretty & well-surfaced. At St Maurice, there was a derelict chateau, which we itched to restore. The Col de Steige was not that steep but was crowded at the top by a lake. We made our way down into Schirmeck, which not only did not have a hotel but was a complete dump. The 'Guardian' interviewed people there about voting for Le Pen & said it was a prosperous place but it didn't look it. So, although it was getting late, I took the car up over the Col du Donon & down the narrow, winding road towards Abreschviller. The Hotel Bel Air outside the town (which I had found on the Internet) was full & so was the Hotel Donon but the Cigognes had a nice room & here we had our first bit of luck. The daughter of the house was on reception & Avis mentioned her name & our business. They were fascinated by this & she immediately said Claudine & called the barman, a very nice boy called Luc, who was a friend of Claudine's & gave us her telephone number. We had a vast dinner of too much Wild Boar. This is one of those old inns, where the family eat at one end of the common dining room. After the feast, Avis rang Claudine, who does not speak English but she had a friend who did, a bit, & Avis arranged they come round for a drink at 1930 tomorrow. We mooched round this fairly elegant village before crashing.