France 2023 - Day 6 / Basel instead of Nancy

Steps today : 21 740 / 14.33 km

I wanted to do a day trip to another city because I felt like one full day in Strasbourg was enough. Had we stayed for 2 full days we would have wandered further afield to the Orangerie Park to see the storks and explore that area, but I did that with Frank already and my mom didn't care either way - so a day trip elsewhere made the most sense.

I suggested Nancy which is a beautiful town and we were looking forward to it, but that plan fell through. For some unknown reason the morning trains we all cancelled and the earliest we would have arrived was 1PM - too late, so forget it.

I briefly considered Freiburg which I visited from Strasbourg a few years ago, but there are no direct trains and we wanted something rapid.

On a whim I suggested Basel which was about 90 minutes away and we went for it! Because it was so last minute, we didn't get together with family and I have to say that it was a very strange feeling but it was impromptu and logistically complicated.

It was a blah, drizzly, cold and damp when we arrived, in fact it was so cold (under 5°C) that I was trembling from the dampness. My spring jacket with sleeveless puffy shell overtop was not going to cut it. Thank God there was a sporting goods store right there in shopping plaza of the station; I went in and bought a warm jacket. Not my colour but I was desperate!

That jacket saved my life! I was so comfy and cozy, I was ready to roll and enjoy the day. The weather was disappointing, but I have nice memories of previous visits on sunny days so it wasn't the end of the world... and the sun did eventually peek out.

By 10 o'clock we started exploring the rainy streets

We stopped for a drink around 11:30 and since we were not in France, Kir Pêches was not an option. I remembered liking 'Hugo' from previous vacations in Switzerland and so that's what I went for. Pretty!

While sitting in the café I noticed a gypsy woman begging for change across the street, so when we left I offered her my shell jacket that I no longer wanted - she reluctantly took it but then asked for money so lord knows if that donation did any good.

The Basel Historical Museum nearby attracted our interest - but it was 20CHF! too expensive.

So therefore, time for lunch which was decided upon as soon as we confirmed we were spending the day in Basel: FONDUE!

We went to a restaurant I had gone to before way back in 2014 and remembered fondly. It was delicious.

After lunch, the rain had stopped and we wandered around for a bit. Basel is not a touristy town and we both said that had we known we would be dipping into Switzerland on this trip, we would have organized it better. Going to my mom's home town and seeing family or going just a little further on towards a more touristy spot like Bern or Lucerne which are much nicer to explore and only an hour away.

Hooker parking. Handy. And we saw girls at work too - it was 2:30 in the afternoon

And look! by 3ish the clouds started parting and the sun was peaking out!

Around 3:30 - out of boredom  - we decided to head back to Strasbourg. 

We were not in the mood for supper after that heavy lunch, but I needed something to eat in order to prevent those 3AM churny empty stomach acid pains.

We decided on a salad at place between the train station and our hotel... but do you know what's on the salad menu in Strasbourg? Cervelat salad. I caved.

We made it back to the hotel around 7:30, had one last night cap and then back to the room to start packing for the onward journey tomorrow.

Switzerland 2014 – Day 15 / Koblenz (Germany)

CHEESE COUNT: fondue 7 / raclette 1. 

We did it!!! We tied the cheese record from 2011! That one was 4 and 4, but I did not have raclette more often this time because I could not find a place that served it the way I like it: “melt it yourself” with a little stove on the table.  Instead, it was prepared on the plate in the kitchen and served melted. I don’t like that because it cools (and therefore congeals) too quickly and you can’t eat it fast enough; so instead we opted for fondue.  Here was tonight’s – If I had to rate it, it would be near the bottom of the list; too thick, they must have added starch.

We spent the day with our friend in Konstanz Germany, right on the Swiss border and easily reached from her place.  You can immediately tell you are not in Switzerland anymore because prices for everything drop drastically! No wonder so many Swiss people hop over the border to do their shopping, I would too!!! Switzerland is SO EXPENSIVE!!!

The town of Konstanz and the Bodensee are very nice, I love lake-side atmosphere so we went for drinks after lunch to a hotel terrace by the lake – so nice!! (well, I had drinks and she & my husband had cake!)

We stayed until about 3:30 ish, then said goodbye to our friend and headed over to Basel for our last night as we fly out of here tomorrow…  IN THEORY!

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you already know my flight from Paris to Montreal tomorrow was cancelled. NO CLUE what’s in store and frankly I am too exhausted to speculate. 

We’ll see tomorrow what kind of fun and games await us!!!

Switzerland 2014 – Day 14 / Chur

CHEESE COUNT: fondue 6 / raclette 1

Short and sweet for today; we met up with our friend in Chur for lunch, then back to her place to spend the night.

To get to Chur from Samedan, we took a regular train and guess what…  IT WAS DRAGGING GLACIER EXPRESS CARS!!!  Oh my God I feel like such a chooch for spending money on that thing!! Imagine: same train, same track, just bigger windows!!! Here’s a shot of it when we were turning – normal cars in front, tourist trap cars in back.

Chur was new for me, nice little town to putter around in for 2 hours…

 

Switzerland 2014 – Day 13 / St Moritz & Piz Nair

CHEESE COUNT: fondue 6 / raclette 1

Saint Moritz is very quaint, but there is not a whole heck of a lot to do if you are not skiing or hiking (or shopping!!!). A full day is more than enough if you’re just “walking around”.

We got off to a late start because it was -3°C when we got up! It made us reluctant to get an early start to the day.

We started off by going to Piz Nair, and we were a little annoyed that we didn’t get a discount with our Swiss Pass; normally these excursions up to famous mountain peaks are not included with the pass, but you do get a discount (half price). In this case, we had to pay full price which was 144 CHF for 2 adult return tickets! not cheap!!

At that price I said we’d stay up there as long as it took for the fog to lift, and it wasn’t bad at all – we were above the clouds and fog so we got a nice view. 

We stayed for a drink, I had a Schümli Pflümli, if you are not familiar with it, it’s the ultimate boozy coffee – a well loved Swiss concoction.

…then back down to explore the town(s) a little more: St Moritz Bad and St Moritz Dorf.  Not a lot to see overall, we just walked around the lake then went for lunch.

Ironically, we found a place that serves fondue right by the place we were searching around last evening! Figures.  I have to admit I am slowly reaching my limit for cheesy meals, but I will at least try and have ONE more to tie the record from 2011.

 

After lunch, we walked around the lake a second time then headed back to the hotel so my husband could rest and have a nap; his cold is so far very minor but better safe than sorry! Around 6PM I woke him up and we went for a walk around Samedan (the town where we are staying) and aside from the lake, I like it even better than St Moritz!

In the mother of all ironies, since I was not very hungry for supper, we decide to have a “lite bite” in the hotel restaurant…  and wouldn’t you know they have fondue AND raclette!!!!  If only we would have known that yesterday!

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The Air France strike has been concerning me. We got an email today giving us a head’s up that all is being done to minimize flight disruptions and “reassuring” us that so far they have managed to run half their flights…  How is this reassuring exactly????  Ah well – there is really nothing we can do about it, just have to cross our fingers and toes that all runs smoothly on Saturday!!