Alsace

Today's Date: March 28, 2013 (Thursday)

March 27, 2013 (Wednesday)
     So, as I said, yesterday there was no school for most of the high and middle school students.  Due to this, our group had a few planned excursions to explore in another part of Alsace, the region in which we are staying.  We left at 8:30am to visit a castle, the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, first.

Inside was a mid-evil castle, stunning and drafty as could be likened to anyone's dreams.  Surrounding the castle was "La Montagne des Singes," or "Monkey Mountain," but we did not get to see any monkeys on our way to or from the castle.  I did, however, try on some play-knight garb.  This was entertaining.
  

The main dining chamber.

     After we exhausted the tour, we drove another ways to a small town called Riquewihr, in Alsace.  It was such a quaint town!  We were sure it inspired Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  Even after some minor research that declared this theory inaccurate, many group members simply refused to believe it.  While here, I tried some sauerkraut--famous in this area--and salmon.  We had one stop to make before our outing was complete, but took about a half hour to explore the shops and streets of this small town.

Riquewihr, Alsace Main Street

     A wine tour was last on our schedule of things to do and, having never been on a wine tour before, it inspired me to have a whole new respect for wine, how to make it, how to experience it, and how to recognize a great wine from a cheep wine.  Our tour guide was a little clumsy, but he was very kind and answered all questions.  Some type of bunt cake or bread was brought out for us to enjoy while we tasted the wines.  From dry to sweet, we tasted five white wines (these are for what Alsace is known) and one red wine (upon request).  More wines could be tried, individually, at the check-out counter.
     As a surprise for us, we went to see a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty!  Many photos were taken in front of it with our West Virginian flag, but sadly, none with my phone.