Riquewihr, France Sept 2

 

France? you say.  We did not know we were going to France.  We set out to see views from the top of the alps but the weather, though not rainy, was overcast enough to limit your view.  So we headed for France.  It is amazing how close countries are to each other. 

And again we were looking for castles.  Found some….

       

and some  churches that could be castles.

                                                                 

We could not believe what we saw right after we got into France

                                                 

 

Yup, that is the back of a replica of our Statue of Liberty.  We got it from France, so I guess it is OK for them to have kept a copy or more for themselves.  There is one in Paris I am told.

At a stop light we were entertained by this guy

                                                                             

Riquewihr is another lovely town.

                                     

                                                 

      The interesting thing about this picture are the overhanging rooms.  They were the bathrooms, or actually the toilets, when the parking lot used to be a moat.  Pretty smelly moat.

You entered the town through this tower which had a pointed wooden gate that was lifted via those wooden beams.

                 

So, if the smelly moat didn’t deter you, the pointed gate would.

We ate tarte Flambee for lunch.  It is like a pizza but with a crust as thin as a potato chip.  It is a local favorite.  We liked it, too.

Here is a picture of the scenery we passed through.  That is one thing we just can’t convey, how green and beautiful the countryside is.                                          

One of the most interesting things we learned has to do with the Danube.  Here in France is the continental divide, like the ones we have in Colorado.  The water on one side goes to the Black Sea and the water on the other side flows to the North Sea.  All the water does this EXCEPT the water of the Danube. 

                                                       

The Danube starts right here in Donaueschinger, Germany at a spring in the castle there.  See it behind the fence?

                                              

It was once thought that the source of the river was on the other side of the continental where it would empty into the Black Sea, which is where it does empty.  Ordinarily if the river started in Donaeschinger it would empty into the North Sea since it is on the other side of the continental divide.  So, what’s up?

The Danube starts in Donaeschinger and then disappears underground and comes back to the surface on the other side of the continental divide so that it empties into the Black Sea.  They were able to verify this in the 1930’s when they put some dye into the water at the spring and it showed up in the Danube.  Isn’t that interesting? 

To another subject, we have never seen a dog that looks like this, like a tiger. 

but we have been living with a dog, Collin, who looks like a lion  

And finally, I just love this picture