Day 11 - Burg Windeck

After a my ham and cheese croissant at the Schaufler's, we headed off to the castle that was just up the hill from our old house.  This castle is called burg Windeck.  In Germany you will hear schloss and burg used. A schloss is more of a palace for aristocracy or royals.  They tend to be large and many are right in the middle of a town.  A burg is more of a castle for defense that would house more military.  Burg Windeck is a majestic sight rising out of the  foothills of the Black Forest.  It was started in 1130!    this is a drawing of what it probably looked like when it was at it's peak in the 1400's.

There is now a hotel and restaurant at the base of the old burg and this is where we had dinner on our first Christmas Eve in Germany in 2000.  It sits above many vineyards and there are walking trails behind it that go all through the mountains.  We spent many a weekend walking along these trails.  We enjoyed sitting on the park side and having a glass of wine as we watched the sunset.  We even gorged ourself on blackberries we found growing on time.  Needless to say, we have many lovely memories here and had to share this place with Jemma.  As we walked up to the ruin, we notice a gentleman coming out talking to a small group dressed as a knight.  We began talking to him and he even let Tom try on the helmet!

We went up into the ruin and walked all through.  Jemma of course found every nook and cranny!  She loved it and we loved watching her romp about!

Next we started the climb up into one of the tall towers!  It is such a wonderful view from the top.  You can see the cathedral in Stasbourg, France from here and the mountains of France.  You can see the beautiful twin towers of the church of our village and all of the area there and in Buehl.  Just breathtaking!  Jemma of course wanted to look through the telescope!  She always finds them!  We had fun showing her all the places that we knew!

Here I would like to say a special thank you to my dear friend, Marina, for sending me all these pictures. This is where the charger officially called it quits!  I have to say, it made it for a long time!  This was it's last picture of the trip!

This last picture is the gentleman locking the gate behind us because guess what?  It was really closed!!!! We had kind of whipped in there as the special tour group was leaving and got in before he had a chance to close it!  Tricky, aren't we????  :-)  I asked the gentleman if he had copies of the drawing that I could buy.  He told us that they didn't sell them, but he had a few extras at home that were colored by hand that he would give me.  We followed him down to his house and he gave me two of them for free!!!  I was so excited!  I love Germans!  They are so nice!!!  

Our last evening was spent at the Adler in Ottersweier where Marina had her birthday dinner.  It was a lovely meal spent with our other "family".  Jemma had to dance a little at the end and charmed a large group of older people sitting at the table by us.  One grandfatherly gentleman even gave her a 5 Euro bill!!  So sweet.  We had to say our good byes to Siggi and the girls this night.  It is always so sad to leave, but it is so nice to have friends so dear.  

Day 10 - Schloss Favorite, but not really!

We were back in our beloved Germany and had a delicious breakfast at the Schaufler's.  We headed off to Schloss Favorite which was built between 1710 and 1730.  It was the summer residence of the Margravine of Baden Baden.  The castle is famous for its gorgeous collection of Chinese porcelain and some of the first pieces of German porcelain.  One of my favorite things is in the kitchen there is a huge board with pictures of items you would need in a kitchen, like eggs, chickens, cows, etc...  This was for the servants since they couldn't read.  Very clever!  We listened to Jemma cry the whole way as she wanted a snack.  That was a ton of fun and Marina got this fabulous picture of the pout.

All was better when we got to the little cafe at the Schloss (the German word for palace).  She had a donut and was good to go!

We walked through the former carriage houses to get to the palace.  Jemma loved running back and forth and yelling to hear her echo!

As we walked to the door and pulled, it didn't open.  Guess what???  It is closed for winter and opens in March!!!!!!  Just great!  Not to everyone... do not go to Europe in winter!!  It appears that everything you would want to see opens then, plus you will have nicer weather!!!  This is what the palace looks like in spring when it is actually open!!!

Isn't it pretty?  Well, I guess that will be our next visit!  Siggi turns 60 in four years and thank goodness his birthday is in April!!!  So we let Jemma play some more in the carriage house.  

Notice the boots are off!

She adores her Daddy!  Look at that sweet face looking at him!

We headed back to the Schaufler's to hang out and eat dinner.  We just love them and Jemma was in love with the girls.  She and Isabel would watch Peter Pan clips on youtube and Jemma even convinced the girls to play dress up!!!

  

Well, she convinced the girls to dress up, but where are her clothes?!?  Oh well, she has a purse and in her world... that is all you really need!

Day 9 - Au revoir Paris

We woke up bright an early to a cold gray day.  As I said in a previous post, my one regret was that I did not have Jemma's portrait done.  My adorable husband agreed to go back into Paris for the morning to see if any artist were out.  As we walk across the street to the metro station in the sleety cold weather, I knew there would be no artist, but we thought we would just try.  We take the metro to the Eiffel Tower and there is nobody out at all.  Where was this when we waited in line forever!!  The wind would cut right through you, but we persevered and walked to the river bank where they sometimes sit.  No luck.  Jemma did get to go down by the Seine river and see the carousels again which made her happy!  We took a few more pictures of us with the Eiffel Tower, called it quits and headed to lunch.

Jemma started writing out her name in crayons and the whole family joined in!

We had ordered our last chocolate mousse at this little restaurant.  It came and wash horrible!  It was like it was burnt and dried!  Isn't that the way????

These next two pictures are special! On our second trip to the Eiffel Tower, Tom and I went in search for it in the evening.   I was wearing high heeled boots in order to be tres chic, so in other words, my feet were killing me!!  We walked and walked and could not find it!  I know that seems crazy because it is so big, but when you are down in the middle of all the buildings, you can't see it!  It had started misty raining and the BHW said, "That is it.  If it isn't around the next corner, we are going back to the hotel!" We turned the corner and BAM there is was!  Just like you see below except at night all lit up!!!  Whoooo hooooo!!!  We found a bench and just sat there for about an hour gazing at it, talking, and envying the beautiful apartments that surround that area.  We could see in the windows and you would just die over the paintings, tall ceilings, and trim work!!  It was magical and we call this "our view" of the Eiffel Tower.  Now we had the honor of showing it to our daughter!  

After lunch, Jemma had a quick nap on the metro as we went back to get our car.  She is like her mother in the fact that she can sleep about anywhere!

We headed back to Germany and unfortunately it was just as horrible going back in the snow as it was coming!  We had a lovely time though and had so many take your breath away moments.  It was wonderful to be able to share some of these things with Jemma! 

Au revoir Paris... I know we will come back one day!