a swiss, an american, and little venice

Tomorrow morning starts the beginning of a new year for us. New years begin when school begins, so we start counting in late August. Unfortunately, we knew weren't  going to be able to go to the states for a long vacation this July like we usually do, but I was determined to go on vacation somewhere around Switzerland that a) was fun and beautiful and b) didn't cost my entire earnings from the month of June. After lunch and extensive research, we decided that we couldn't afford to go somewhere for longer than one night so it was very exciting when I found a beautiful bed and breakfast in Colmar France for 81 euro per night. I called the owner expecting a woman to answer the phone in French and was surprised to find she was actually American. Relieved and excited, I booked it for Monday night and surprised Gabriel when we drove 2 hours northwest and landed in Colmar, France early Monday afternoon. This was my first time ever visiting France.

I have never felt more secure about my German skills when I was in a country trying to speak and understand a language I've never spoken before. High school French just doesn't count. Random phrases kept coming to my mind when I'd see words and signs, but the language center in my brain was focused on German and thankfully Gabriel knows enough French to "get around". (He's said that to me before about Italian, and while we were in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland for our honeymoon he was able to order my food flawlessly every time. It was sexy.) I quickly realized I married a man gifted in language which makes traveling so. much. easier. 

We ate lunch in a hole in the wall delicious restaurant called Winstub (which is a word consisting of both German and French since Colmar has always been a town so close to the border is causes constant territorial quarrel between both nations. The language has adapted to the power struggle by meeting somewhere in the middle).

For my drink I wanted the homemade syrup water (basically syrup and still water mixed together) which is my typical drink of choice when at a friends house. They brought me a glass of bluish green water that tasted like peppermints. For my meal, I ordered mushroom and onion Flammkuchen with a small salad, neither of which I could finish because the portions were so big (the complete opposite of Swiss restaurants which have been known to charge an extra franc or two for ketchup and where still water costs 4.50…with no refills). I was SO happy about being full from a French restaurant and not feeling like I'd have to pinch pennies…I mean rappen... for the rest of the month.

It's amazing how much joy can be extracted from the small things that have to do with saving money. Since living here I've really learned to appreciate the gift of going out for dinner and a movie. We do it about once every two months because it's simply irresponsible when the money is tight. Coming from a country where this is so common and so inexpensive, I've had to let go of it as a convenience and learn to see it as something you do only on a special occasion when you have a hundred or more extra francs to blow.

We spent the afternoon strolling along the quiet streets talking and taking photos of each other. The shops were mostly closed to do some Catholic holiday, so the crowds were fewer and the noise was limited to people conversing on restaurant balconies and horse shoes trotting along the pavement every few minutes.

 The old city was charming and adorable, everything tiny and colorful.

We checked into our B&B, met with the owner to get some advice on restaurants and attractions, and set back for the city around dinner time. We started off the evening with a glass of wine at Murphy's Irish Pub and and followed on to a restaurant I can't remember the name of where we ordered exquisite French onion soup and red-wine sauce glazed duck with vegetables. Simple, but fabulously delicious. Gabe sat close to me in the booth and I could tell he was thoroughly enjoying himself. We headed back to our room around 9:30 pm after finishing off the night with my favorite of all deserts...a scoop of mint-chocolate-chip italian gelato from a street vendor. (I haven't had mint chocolate chip ice cream since living in Switzerland and I'm telling you, it was a little scoop of heaven. The scoop was literally the size of a golf ball. Just one. It was also only 1 euro, where as in Switzerland it would have been 5 CHF. That's like… six dollars instead of two… I know, I know… I really have to stop comparing.

Because Gabriel is an educator and he gets adorably excited about animals, the following day I took him to a "Birds of Prey" exhibition where we got up close and personal with some seriously big birds.

 The famous bald eagle that will make any American proud.

 Yep, those are our legs, and that is a giant vulture.

My favorite thing about this photo is not necessarily the bird but the different expressions on people's faces as they watch him fly. At one point when the birds were doing tricks left and right (they could fly away if they wanted to, but they always come back) I felt the tail of an eagle gently brush my forehead as he flew over me. I can't explain how neat it was to come so close to such a special and symbolic wild animal.

Afterwards, we headed up through the forest to "Monkey Mountain", named differently in French of course, where the monkeys/apes lived wildly in a man-made habitat and were known to come up to you and eat food out of your hands.

 How funny is it that these monkeys look so much like old men!?

We had a lovely day outside and headed home after stopping at KFC for some fried chicken. I haven't even seen a KFC in years, so we decided to eat there for nostalgic reasons. I didn't have time to photograph my food because it was gone in a matter of seconds. We headed home after that, windows down, and souls full.