Out of France and into Germany!

We left Paris a week ago tomorrow, and I cannot believe we've only been in Germany that long! Every day has really been an adventure since we've been driving and have been lost at least once every day but today! The first day, picking up our car from the leasing office at Charles De Gaulle airport outside Paris and driving to Strasbourg (about a five hour drive) was the worst. We actually thought we would never leave the CDG airport area! It was like a Chevy Chase vacation movie! We could not find our way to the highway that we wanted and drove in large circles trying to go in the right direction! Not reading French road signs well was a major part of the problem. Finally we just pulled onto a side road that led to an area that we later discovered was for freight. There was a map of that area at an information stop (we're not the only ones who get lost there, it seems). The map did not help much, but another driver pulled over, noticed our wide-eyed, frantic look and asked if we needed help. He told us to follow the signs to Paris (!), which we'd been avoiding, knowing that that couldn't be the right way. He said that would lead us to the road we wanted. We offered to pay him to lead us there, but he said we couldn't afford him! We followed his directions and, low and behold, it worked. Well, sort of. He told us we couldn't miss the gas station on our way to the interchange which we needed to find because we had almost nothing in the tank. WRONG! We never saw it and once we got onto the highway, we began an immediate search for a gas pump. We have a diesel engine and had been assured that the yellow handled pumps, labelled "diesel oil", were what we wanted. We did find a gas station, right next to a Burger King (!), but then couldn't get the machine to take our credit card. Finally we talked to the lady in the little booth, who spoke almost no English but motioned us to another pump. At that one, we just pumped the gas and then she scanned our card. Ahhh - the correct highway and a full tank of gas, 2 hours after we'd picked up the car, and we were ready to start our drive to Strasbourg.

It was a gorgeous drive, rich in fall colors and beautiful farm land. Our thoughts turned to World War I and Verdun, the Argonne and Ardennes areas. The Alsace area has been drenched in so much blood, not only then but also in the late 1800s under Bismarck and of course in WWII. It is very tranquil now. We stopped for a bit in Reims. Another ancient cathedral; this is where the kings of France were crowned for hundreds of years. We also had lunch there in a little cafe and walked around the small town. Then we continued on. As we drove, the weather grew more stormy and for the last hour or so rain came and went. By the time we actually arrived in Strasbourg, we had just come out of a downpour. It was dark but we managed to find our hotel right in the middle of town by the incredible cathedral. We were drained. Many hotels, including this one, do not have elevators to all floors. Our room was on the third floor but we only had to haul our bags up one flight of stairs. Happily the room was nice and we found a good place for dinner. Our window looked directly at the cathedral which was just across a small brick square. And what a cathedral! My favorite so far, I think. If you are interested in it, just google and I'm sure there will be pictures. Unfortunately, there were lots of tourists besides us and many of them enjoyed staying up late at the cafes in the square, drinking, singing, and looking at the well-lit building. We finally got to sleep at about 2.

The next day, we got on the road into Germany, with lots of instructions which actually worked!

The Rhine river is the boundary between the two countries and it is not far beyond the Strasbourg city limits. We drove into the the northern area of the Black Forest and immediately relaxed. We had lunch in a small town called Oppenau and then took the scenic road to Baden Baden. The views were breathtaking. At one point we stopped and hiked to a waterfall. It was a lot like the Olympic forest at home. So much vegetation, a small stream gurgling by, a nice trail to walk on. We got into Baden Baden at about 3:30 and tried to find the hotel we wanted from the Rick Steves' book. No luck, much frustration. Finally we stopped at another hotel and asked how to find our choice. They told us that it was hard to find (!), in a pedestrian area, and that if it had no vacancies, they had room for us. That sounded good to me, but we persevered. After a few more wrong turns, including driving up a hiking trail (!), we asked a nice man and he told us that although he personally had only walked there, he felt sure that we could drive down to the street, go down a block or two, turn right and we'd get there. And so we did. And they did have a room for us, their last one. The hotel was in the old market area, which is now a pedestrian zone and very up scale. We walked around for a while and found some great shops to browse. We each made a couple of purchases (Jon now has a German sim card in his Iphone) and I picked up some birthday gifts for some loved ones back home. We had a very nice dinner at a restaurant around the corner, which included some good German dishes and wine. We did not go to the baths, nude or otherwise. We got a better night's sleep that night.

The next day it was off to Worms, home to the Schneidler clan before Jon's great grandfather left for the United States. Jon wanted to see if he could locate any family or family history there. We planned to stay 2 or 3 nights, depending on what we found. Since RS doesn't mention Worms in his book, we went to the TI in town upon our arrival and found a room in a small hotel/B&B. No internet but good restaurant, reasonable rates, large room, and in the center of the town, again right next to the cathedral. Worms is an interesting town. Until WWII, it had a 700 year old Jewish community; there is a current Jewish population which looks after the ancient cemetary. The cathedral dates back hundreds of years. Martin Luther addressed the famous council there in 1521. It is the largest city for miles around. It has a modern mall plus a good sized pedestrian area with individual shops. Since we arrived on a Saturday, we spent time exploring the town on foot and then looking in the phone book for Schneidlers. No luck. We had talked to the young woman, Jasmine, who checked us into the hotel about what we were trying to do. While we were walking around, she went online and found some Schneidlers in a nearby town. She printed out their names, addresses and phone numbers for us. So...we had a lead. The next day, Sunday, we decided to drive out there and pay them a surprise visit. We waited until afternoon and then headed north. We had directions and a map, but...after asking an older gentleman who spoke NO English but could read the name of where we were trying to go, we found the ferry (just like home!) to go across the Rhine to the town we wanted. The first address produced no results - no "Schneidler" on the mailbox and nobody home. The second address was located eventually. We opened the gate and a middle aged man greeted us. Seems they were expecting guests for his wife's birthday party, but not expecting us! This was Dieter Schneidler, whose great-great-great grandfather was Jon's great-great-great-grandfather's brother! (or so we've since found out) We met Karin, Dieter's wife, and their 3 sons. This was very fortunate timing because the oldest son, Tim, was home from college and the middle son, George, was leaving at 2 am to go to Spain with his high school class! Lars, the youngest, is 11 and was the perfect host, offering us something to drink etc. They were all so gracious! We stayed long enough to meet Dieter's mother and two sisters, as well as some other friends, and then we made plans to meet Monday evening for dinner. As you can imagine, we were very excited by all this! And we took an immediate liking to them; they felt right away like family. We drove back to Worms, only to get totally lost trying to find our hotel. There were several construction projects which closed roads where we expected to turn. Anyway, we eventually made it without any physical damage to the car or each other. Monday we spent doing some errands. My mission was to brave the German postal system and mail the purchases I had mail in Baden Baden. I made the happy discovery that if one uses a mailing envelope instead of a box, it counts as a letter, not a package and there is MUCH less red tape/forms. It took a mere 15 minutes to complete the task. It was also a contrast in cultural style from the French. In Paris there were 3 lines and you got in the one that did what you needed. There was a constant din of conversation and 3 people roamed the room as helpers (thank goodness!). In Worms, there was one long line and a long bureau with 5 postal employees behind it. No one talked while they waited in line. You got in line, hoped you had what you needed, and waited your turn. Happily, "my" postal clerk was a very pleasant young woman who spoke enough English to get us through the process. She told me what I needed to fill out and told me to come directly back to her when I had done it. I did, she slapped the addressed forms onto the envelopes, weighed them, attached postage, told me the charge, I paid and we were finished! Monday afternoon we walked into the cathedral, around a couple of parks and memorials and into the old Jewish cemetery. Then it was time to meet the others for dinner! We actually drove straight to the ferry this time and got to their house a few minutes early. We had a great time talking and sharing photos (I took my laptop) and then had a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant. All was well until we went to take the ferry back across the river and it had quit for the night! No problem, Dieter said. He would lead us through the back roads and get us back to our hotel that way! That was very nice of him, we thought, but we were concerned that it would be a late night for him on a weeknight. He said it was just 20 minutes each way. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like 40 minutes one way, due to roadwork that he wasn't aware of blocking our way. We just laughed - it was all SO familiar!!! Happily we know that he did make it back to his home eventually!

This morning, Jon got up early to get to the Archives office when it opened. He was able to trace his family back to the early 1700s, with the help of the clerk there. He was so pleased! That's how he discovered the direct connection between Dieter and himself. By 11:30 we were on the road to Bielstein, a small town on the Mosel river. What a beautiful drive it was! We did the first part on the autoban but then continued on much smaller, slower roads. We wound through vineyard after vineyard, on steep slopes with the vines running vertically down them. Many fields were being harvested and I wondered why the pickers didn't fall down the hillsides because they were so steep. This beautiful little village is so picturesque! We are staying in a 600 year old building that is our hotel! It is right on the Mosel river and we could sit on the terrace and watch barges and other boats go by. Tomorrow we are driving back to the Rhine to the town of Bacharach and we'll see our first German castles. Rick Steves loves that area and we'll go see why. Then we are off to Rothenburg for the same reason. It is the north end of Bavaria which is the region that is the favorite of many tourists. Then on to Dresden and Berlin and into Poland. At least that's the plan! Auf Wiedersein, for now! (I doubt that I spelled that correctly - sorry!)