Alsace

As car hire in France is about one half the cost of Luxembourg, Ross and I picked up our hire car, a VW Polo 1600 turbo diesel, just over the border in Thionville. We then headed across country (of course) to the Vosges to take in some of the Rally of France routes. We spent our first night in our mini-2-man tents outside Bergheim at a “camping rurale”. Well, it was certainly the latter. In the morning, after a brisk shower, we found a boulangerie for coffee and croissants and then wandered through the town and along the old remparts.

On the Haute Porte town gate tower, we found a curious bas-relief depicting a running man, thumbing his nose and bearing his bum. This was apparently in relation to the town's ability to grant asylum in the 16th and 17th centuries. A grateful villager who had found refuge in Bergheim installed this with reference to the people who had wished to arrest him. 

  

In Colmar, we had a very pleasant visit with Michelle and Jaques Lesage, close friends of Mum and Dad’s from their time here 30 years ago. We then returned to the Vosges to take in some more Rally of France routes. We found our way barred on a couple of really good roads. When we read the fine print on the notices, we discovered that there was a rally underway. So we ended up spectating on the Rallye Plaine et Cimes, a round of the French Championship. Competing were mainly screaming little French 2-wheel drive hatchbacks, a couple of Porsches and only two 4-wheel drives.

We camped that night at Cernay, had a good steak at the restaurant attached to  the camping ground and educated the lady in charge about the origin of Peach Melba.

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