The Last Time I Saw France

In the late 1990s I made two back-to-back trips to France. This was before the Euro when the US dollar was 7 to 1 over the French Franc and trips to that country were relatively inexpensive for Americans. I absolutely fell in love with France. Both trips were, ostensibly, research for my novel RIGHT FROM WRONG, which came out in 1999 and deals, in part, with the First World War. At least a third of it takes place in France, but there was an awful lot of sightseeing, eating, and most of all wine-drinking that had little to nothing to do with the novel. When I got back home after the second trip, I figured my France days were over, so many other places to see and explore, and in the ensuing 20+ years, I have done that. But here I am, sitting at my desk writing this, and I am days away from seeing France one more time. And I couldn't be happier.

This time it will be combined with a couple of other countries, those that have banks and bridges along and across the Rhine River. We went on a river cruise of the Danube before the Pandemic, and had this trip scheduled to take place in August 2020. Well, we all know what happened. Everything got canceled in 2020 but we are going now. I hope we are in a Covid window here, and it will be as good of an experience as the last river cruise. The cruise line is requiring passengers to be totally vaccinated, and there will be regular testing throughout the trip. But ... France ... again. And probably finally this time. 

I've been to most of the stops on the Alsatian border of the Rhine, but there's always something missed. What I remember is ancient castles, medieval castles, the big unruly nests of storks on platforms high over the houses. I remember the Vosges Mountains in the distance, and that the Ill river conjoins with the Rhine at Strasbourg somewhere near the European Parliament building. There's an unfinished cathedral there in Strasbourg, with a missing spire, and inside the cathedral, a huge astronomical clock with hundreds of moving parts. I stood and watched that clock for most of an hour. I remember the half-timbered architecture and the good sauerkraut and sausages I had there. 

And then there's Colmar, another half-timbered city, La Petit Venice, because of the houses that sit right on the Lauch River which runs throughout the old town. Riesling and Pinot Blanc and Gewurtztraminer (pronounced "Girls Are Meaner"), and an effervescent wine with the word Alsace in its name. I remember walking through the streets with all the lovely windows dressed by the merchants: knotted loaves of crusty bread, and sweet cakes with cream toppings and fruit slices arranged perfectly on top. French people appreciate the beauty of their country and their pride in it shows in the care they take to make everything beautiful. I'm so happy to be able to spend a few days there again. I wish my French hadn't got so rusty, but I'm sure we'll be with French-speakers so I shouldn't have to worry. 

We will also be floating through The Netherlands, Germany, and ending in Switzerland, but I left a piece of my heart in France in the 1990s. Maybe I will find it again next week. 

En avant ...