ALSACE

Between the villages of the Route des Vins are acres acres of beautifully-groomed vineyards.

June 20:  We awoke early and decided to explore the Route des Vins. Our last expedition down this beautiful road was 1984. We have aged, has it? Actually, not much has changed in the last 30-plus years--at least as far as the road is concerned. There is a breathtaking and quaint village about every eight kilometers or so. There are several tasting rooms in every town. We bought a gerwurstraminer after a tasting in Riquewihr (or was it Ribeauville?) and stopped at the first picnic table we spied to drink it with our chacuterie and bread.

We continued south on the route through Barr, Itterswiller, Dambach, Scherwiller, Chatenois, St. Hippolyte, Ribeauville, Riquewihr, Kientzheim, Ammerschwihr, and finally Truckheim. There we turned west and drove into the Vosges Mountains to Munster where we walked around, drank a beer, and bought some munster cheese.

A beautiful Alsatian village

We were running out of clean clothes, so we loaded up all our dirty laundry and drove to the Obernai laundromat. Europe has a steep learning curve. We've had challenges with parking schemes and unmanned toll roads, but the laundromat was in a class of its own. We finally figured it out and were rewarded with clean underwear.

We ate dinner at the Restaurant Winstub La Dime, a local Alsatian restaurant two blocks from our apartment. I know we've been eating a lot of heavy Alsatian food, but it's difficult to get at home, and we want to have our fill. Richard had a pig's knuckle that was moist and juicy inside with a crackling crust. I had various wursts and we both had sauerkraut. We both enjoyed our dinners immensely.

I should mention the munster. When I took the cheese out of its bag to put it in the refrigerator, it was extremely pungent. At first, I couldn't tell where the smell was coming from or what it was. I was a little hesitant to taste the cheese, but it was delicious. Nothing like the munster impersonators you buy in the US. I won't describe the smell, because if I did, it would be rude.

I love the decreptitude.