June 2006 Archives

The family trip to France and Germany was to discover the land that my ancestors (on my father's side) lived. They left Alsace-Lorraine in the mid-1800s to start a new life in America.

Alsace-Lorraine is a beautiful place with rolling hills, wood-framed buildings in little villages, and vineyards. Alsace-Lorraine is also a noted wine region. After visiting Strasbourg with its picturesque square and cathedral, we toured a few villages south and in the heart of the wine country. We tasted and bought some champagne, and visited a castle.

I've just returned on a trip to Europe, primarily around the Rhine. In Germany, I saw Cologne, Frankfurt, Mainz, Heidelberg, Dusseldorf, Aachen, Trier, and several other villages. No, I was not going to see the World Cup; the trip just happened to coincide with it. (We did see crowds of people watching on outdoor screens in Germany, and we saw out-of-control people get arrested.)

I visited France (Strasbourg, Colmar, several villages in Alsace-Lorraine, and Metz) and Luxembourg, where we stopped at a few villages and the main city.