Napoleon museum

Today, we drove to Salenstein in Switzerland to visit the Napoleon III museum, which is right on the Lake Constance. We were able to visit the estate and walk through the beautiful garden while enjoying beautiful views of the lake. More info available in french, english and of course german at http://www.napoleonmuseum.tg.ch/xml_19/internet/de/intro.cfm

Flying patrols

Swiss border

As I went to Stein am Rhein yesterday with my family, I quickly remembered and was amazed to see the borders between Germany and Switzerland. Since Switzerland is not a member of the E.U, it is not in a Customs Union with its neighbours and the Frontier Guards may ask if travellers have anything to declare. These "flying patrols" have the right to stop any car coming to the border to see if there is undeclared merchandise in your car. Because things are sometimes cheaper in France and Germany, there is a lot of cross-border shopping. Most of the time however, there is no staff at the border, and when there are staff, expect to be waved through!

Mercedes museum

Yesterday, Wednesday July 27, we took the train to Stuttgart (2 hour ride) to visit the Mercedes museum. Very large and interesting. From the very first automobile to some odd prototypes, and everything in the middle (trucks, buses, ambulances, police cars, race cars, etc...).
http://www.mercedes-benz-classic.com/content/classic/mpc/mpc_classic_website/en/mpc_home/mbc/home/museum/overview_museum.html

Constance

Yesterday, my aunt Sylviane (my dad's sister) and uncle Patrick arrived to Germany to visit us. Today, Monday July 26th was a beautiful day without rain, the first in 8 days! Hey I'm certainly not complaining as the whole continental US is suffering from extreme heat (105F in Oklahoma...). So we took the train this morning and headed to Constance, where we visited a nice old church. We decided to go check out the view from the top and climbed the 250 stairs! The views at 60 meter (200 ft) were astonishing, truly amazing. The way down was a bit easier to say the least!! Then we took a boat to Meersburg, we walked up top to the old part of the city (more stairs). Later on, another boat to Uberlingen. This trip sounds familiar, no? We immediately stopped at a cafe to eat a piece of delicious cake and had a cup of coffee, my uncle enjoyed a german beer. This time, we were informed of the time of the train at the correct train station, so no taxi rush!

A nice long hike

A view of the Hohentwiel from Hohenkrähen 

Yesterday Saturday, July 23rd, between light rain showers, Luise, Victoria and I went on a 7 mile hike. Eugen dropped us at the bottom of the Hohenkrähen valley, which belongs to a large chain of volcanoes in the Hegau region, about 7–8 million years ago, when a layer of volcanic ash and stone was laid down. At the top remain some ruins. We had a backpack with rain gears and bottles of water & juice. We first hiked to the very top of the Hohenkrähen, height of 650 meters (about 2130 ft) which took us a good half an hour, it was a bit strenuous. But our effort was well rewarded as we had fantastic views all the way around us. We could see cities like Singen, Aach, Radolfzell and even the beautiful island of Reichenau on the Zeller See of the Lake Constance. We also had a clear view of other hills like Magdeberg, Hohenstoffeln and of course the Hohentwiel. Then we headed south and walked 6 kms (3.7 miles) to the famous Hohentwiel (where I was last Sunday at the -rainy- festival). The Hohentwiel, also an extinct volcanoe, has a beautiful fortress constructed in 914, whose ruins lie at 686 meters (2250 ft). It was a 1.5 hour stroll, with only one rain shower, until we got to the bottom of the hill and then again we had to work our way up. Only this time we didn't go quite all the way to the top as we still had to make it back to Singen on time. So we descended and walked another 3 kms (1.8 miles) to the city of Singen. We were a bit hungry, so Luise treated us to a sausage sandwitch in a yummy brötchen (german round bread) and also a nice cup of Latte.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohentwiel

Zapa

Friday, July 22nd, we had the visit of Luise's son Roman and his family. His wife's name is Monika and they have 3 very nice children (all in their 20s) Norman, Victoria and Maximilian. The kids travel the world a bit with their studies. Victoria just spend some times in China, and also studied in the US, she speaks very well english. Norman can speak good french as he also spent some times in southern France during his studies. Maximilian will go 3 months to China next year and 3 months in the US (Long Island) also for school, and he is a golf instructor. So, Roman treated us all to a nice restaurant in Bohlingen, not to far from Worblingen where I stay. Also Monika's sister and her husband joined us. The dinner was excellent, a beautiful atmostphere and great company. If you find yourself around the area sometimes, I definitively recommend Zapa restaurant.
http://www.restaurant-zapa.de/restaurant.html

Can't escape Oklahoma...

Today, my aunt took me to the Hohentwiel Festival, even though it was raining and a bit cold, we put on our rain gear and carried an umbrella. We stopped and listened to a few bands and we came across a country band. The singer, Kim Carson, introduced her band (in english, she didn't know much german) they were from New Mexico, Texas and one guy from Oklahoma!!! I couldn't believe it. Even when I want to escape Oklahoma, it chases me all the way to Singen, Germany!

A beautiful day by the Constance Lake

A nice dinner before the rush

Lake Constance (in german Bodensee) is a lake on the Rhine, situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps. Yesterday after breakfast, we took a train from Singen to Konstanz, which is located on the lake. It is served by major railway lines with connection to all parts of the country. There, in Konstanz, we took a large Catamaran, it was very nice and very comfortable (not cheap though), it was a 45 minute ride to Friedrichshafen. This city is the district capital of the Bodensee district in the federal state of Baden-Wurttember. There, we strolled the streets and along the port, the weather was beautiful, in the 80s. Then, we took a small boat to Meersburg where we had to change boat as we wanted to go to Uberlingen. It is where my father was born in January 1948. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodensee district, and a central point for the outlying communities. My parents treated us to a delicious dinner outdoor at a terrasse of a very good restaurant (www.bad-hotel-ueberlingen.de/restaurant.php). We were just about to order dessert, when we were told the train was leaving at 8.10pm from the nearby train station, it was 7.55pm. So my uncle immediately ordered a cab which arrived within minutes. However, we quickly realized that all 5 of us wouldn't fit in the cab (with the driver, we were 6! No van taxi here). My dad said he would run to the train station, about a 10 minute walk. Conveniently, I had injured my ankle earlier in the day and, even though the youngest of us all, couldn't run... ;-). It took us literally less than 5 minutes to get to the train station and we quickly asked the taxi driver to get my dad as he was running down the street. The taxi dropped my dad at the station at exactly 8.07pm, that's when we found out we were at the lower train station and the train would depart from here at 8.24pm. The 8.10pm was departing from the upper train station! What's even funnier is that my dad's uncle, after my dad was dropped, asked him "Warst du nicht in dem Taxi mit uns??" Everything happened so quickly that my uncle didn't realize that my dad wasn't in the taxi with us. We had a good laugh. Back home, we shared after dinner drinks and kept on laughing about our adventure. It was the perfect ending of a perfect day.

Meersburg

Today, my parents and I drove on the northern part of the Lake Constance and stopped in a charming medieval city: Meersburg. The name of the town means "Burg on the Lake", the former referring to the castle which, according to a tradition from 1548, it was built here in 630 by the Merovingian king Dagobert I. The town is home of 2 castles; the Old Castle and the New Castle. The Old Castle, according to the Swiss chronicles, was built by King Dagobert I in the 7th Century. The New Castle was built in the 18th Century as a home for the Bishop of Constance. Following the Secularization of 1803, the New Castle was used for a variety of purposes before becoming a museum. Also two medieval town-gates can be seen, which are the remainders of the fortification.

Mahlzeit

Eugen and his nephew (my dad) Jean Paul enjoying a glass of a very good italian wine Brunello di Montalcino 2004.

Salem, Germany

We are now in beautiful Germany, Konstanz lake, at my dad's uncle & aunt's house. They live in Rielasingen Worblingen, a small town. It is conveniently located, lots to see and to do around here. So today, my parents, aunt Luise and I went to Salem, not far from Friedrichshafen. We visited a monastery with nice garden, minster, a fire-brigade museum, farm buildings, stables, a small vineyard, etc... The weather is wonderful, about 30C (90F) with a little breeze.

Getting ready for Germany

Packed my suitcase again, well actually 2 suitcases (1 large & 1 small), 2 bags, 1 small box of miscellanous stuffs and my computer. Good thing I'm not flying!! Good thing my folk's trunk is big enough! Well, I'm going to Germany for 7 or 8 weeks, so I'm taking just about everything. Checked the weather forecast, it's going to rain all week and temperature to be in the 70s F (about 18C) there, while in Tulsa the temp is a minimum of 104F. So glad to be in Europe, even if it's raining! I do miss Tim, being able to chat via Skype does help. However, I might not have frequent internet access in Germany as my family doesn't have internet. I hope my dad will help me figure something out. Tschuss !!

C'est bon le foie gras !!

Nous sommes passees aujourd'hui dans une ferme pour acheter du foie gras pour la famille en Allemagne. Tres belle ferme !
Today, we visited a farm where I bought some foie gras (expensive liver duck pate) to bring as a gift for my family in Germany where I'll stay for the summer. The farm was very typical and quaint.

Anniversaire de maman

Bon anniversaire Mamounette !!!! Elle a encore 30 ans !!  Jolie comme une fleur ! Nous allons bien le célébrer avec Bernard, Ghislaine, Carole (qui va être maman d'une petite fille en novembre) et Toscane. Le champagne va couler dans les verres et on va bien manger et

rigoler. Maman a eu un beau bouquet de roses de son mari et un nouveau parapluie de golf de ma part. Cela me fait super plaisir d'être la, car je n'avais pas participé à la célébration depuis 16 ans ! Happy Birthday Maman, je t'aime beaucoup !!!!!

Golf day

I accompagnied my parents and two of their friends today for a round of golf today. I didn't play, but I hit a couple of drives, hadn't hit a shot in a few years ! The weather was so so, few light rain drops and sun. Team Jean Paul/Bernard won, but team Jacqueline/Jean were very close. They all got a lot of sun spending time on the beach, sand was a bit hard. Nobody got wet though. We made sure to visit and stay a while at the 19th hole.

In France

There I am, on french soil again. Just for the week. I am staying at my mom & dad's in Normandie. Not the one on the coast, as most Americans know. We're less than an hour drive from Paris, but I will not go there. It's very nice here, I love it at my mom & dad, it's like being a kid again and I remember when I grew up as I stay in my room. Sure, a lot of things have changed, but so have I.  It will be a short stay here as my parents are kindly driving me to Germany (7 hour drive) on Sunday, July 10th where I will reside for a couple month at my dad's uncle & aunt. I'm very excited, I always wanted to live in this part of Germany, it is absolutely beautiful. However, I will stumble with the german language, but I hope to regain some sort of fluency by the end of the summer (and still remember speaking english!!).  I do miss Tim, my understanding husband and my four legged furry kids. After 15 years in the States, I have created a life. But I do miss my past, life and family here in Europe.