Later that afternoon, at the urging of Amanda & Taylor, we decided to visit Caracalla Therme - a very European Spa.
Let’s just say it was a new experience for us. #EnoughSaid
We arrived in Baden-Baden mid-afternoon, and quickly discovered its charm.
With its green lush landscapes and dense forests, it was a stark contrast to Santorini.
We had a delicious lunch, looking out on one of the plazas.
After our spa experience, we headed out for dinner and enjoyed a very traditional German meal.
We then made our way to Bergheim, where we would be staying the night.
We then headed to Kaysersberg; the adorable French town we visited when McKenna I first arrived (it was also the set for our Belle video. 😊)
So we headed back to our hotel, for a good nights sleep.
For day 2, we set out to drive the Alsace Wine Route, which is a beautiful drive through ~20-30 small (some tiny) French towns.
You’ll notice many of the towns have more German sounding names. That’s because this region has changed hands between France and Germany several times.
Glenn was a happy camper and took full advantage. He may have gone even a little faster than this.
Parts of the Autobahn have no enforced speed limit; you drive as fast as you safely can.
Even at this speed, cars would go flying by!
It was a great decision and we really enjoyed the drive.
Maybe because its different from what we’re used to, but even the major highways seem to be very scenic here.
Our next stop was Ribeauville, for a wine tasting.
Many of the towns we drove through were part of the route for the Tour de France. Their pride was evident in the bicycle art we saw in several towns.
View out our hotel window:
It was such an awesome road trip for us; great company, and a beautiful drive - what more could we ask for?
And while driving, we passed a lot of RVs. Glenn noticed every one.
So we did a lot of RV dreaming - one of our favorite pastimes. Won’t be too long before we will be making road trips stateside, in our very own RV.
We can hardly wait. ❤️
Our destination for our first night was Baden-Baden, Germany. It was a beautiful drive, much of it through the Black Forest - often associated with many of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
It’s easy to see why; it feels like a resort town. There are gorgeous huge trees throughout, with a lovely stream running through town.
Cave de Ribeauville turned out to be a wonderful place to visit. They are a wine cooperative, meaning several dozen area farmers bring their grapes to them to process and bottle.
They were friendly, accommodating, and informative. And most importantly, they had great wine at affordable prices.
Baden-Baden is a popular European spa town, and is often referred to as the summer capital of Europe.
Our hotel was quaint and full of character. The courtyard was the prettiest part of the hotel.
After this stay, I am also adding a few items to the list of things to inquire about when making a hotel reservation in Europe: parking, A/C, and WiFi. \240I realize the last two are not necessary, but sure are nice to have.
We then had a fun afternoon walking around and exploring.
Bergheim was kind of cute, but it’s seen better days. It was also very small.
We had a really hard time finding a place to eat dinner; there are only 4-5 restaurants, with limited seating.
The streets were very pretty at night, and cleared out fairly early.
Although delicious, I find German food to be rather heavy. It usually consists of large quantities of meat and potatoes, washed down with beer. It always leaves me feeling stuffed.
In the morning, we chose back roads for our ride home.
It is a fairly large city, with a small town feel. There were plenty of shops and restaurants, beautiful buildings, and cobblestone streets.
It remains one of my favorite places I’ve visited. It is so quaint and full of charm.
We had lunch and then checked out some of the shops, where Glenn found a great hat.
The countryside was beautiful, with rolling hills, miles of vineyards, and \240castles here and there.
We made our first stop in Barr to get more information about the wine route. Everything we checked only referred to it as the wine route, but no designation as to which road.
We stopped in the tourist info \240center in Barr, and even she couldn’t tell us.
We finally figured it out on our own. It’s D35, in case you ever decide to drive it.
