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Trip Report: France, Germany, Estonia and London.

Trip Report: France, Germany, Estonia and London.

Old Jul 6th, 2007, 05:57 AM
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Trip Report: France, Germany, Estonia and London.

Hi all. This is my second attempt to start my trip report. As I was previewing my original message I somehow deleted it and can't find it. Pain in the you know where!!
So here I go again.
First of all, thank-you to all those who contribute on this forum and offer sound advice and recommendations. Many great experiences were had because of you input.
Please note: As we travelled for 5 and a half weeks, I will not include minute details as that would make for a very long trip report. However, if you need or want specific details please do not hesitate to ask.

Trip Itinerary:

Bacharach - 2 nights
Heidelberg - 2 nights
Tubingen - 2 nights
Strasbourg - 3 nights
Eguisheim - 3 nights
Dijon - 7 nights
Cochem - 3 nights
Tallin - 3 nights
London - 5 nights
Paris - 5 nights

My husband and I love good food and wine and our trips are centred around wine and wine-growing regions. This was our 3rd time to France, 1st in Germany and Estonia for me (2nd for hubbie) and 3rd time in London for me (hubbie travels to London several times for work).

We left Melbourne, Australia on 22nd May flying Qantas Business class (FF points) to Frankfurt via Sydney and Singapore. A relatively comfortable flight for such a long trip. Arrived in F/f 6 am, picked up ou hire car form Hertz and headed for our first destination - Bacharach in the Rhine valley.
We were too early for check-in so we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and explore the gorgeous town of Bacharach. It is exactly what you'd expect a German village to look like - half-timbered houses and cobble-stoned streets. The morning was cool and misty and the sight of the sloped vineyards made me feel like I was in paradise.
The Rhein hotel is a family run place. It offers comfortable, clean and modern rooms. I recommend it. It is nicely located on the river and the staff are very pleasant.
Feeling human again after a hot shower, we stepped out for lunch at Restaurant Dinze (sp.), opposite the Alte Haus. It was ok for lunch.
As I said before, please ask for more specific details if you want them. We had too many meals too give all food and wine details and prices. Ask and I will provide.

Not quite satisfied with the wine we had with our lunch, we decided to do some wine tasting at the place next door to the Alte Haus. This was great - for 18 euros we got a cirular board (carousel) with 16 glasses of wine and a bread basket. Sitting in the sunshine, sipping on German riesling, what more could I want. I am in heaven. Coupled with jetlag and the wine had previously at lunch this is going to my head but I'm not leaving any behind! I've waited to long to drink riesling in the Rhine.
After a quick toilet stop, we board a KD ferry and cruise the Rhine towards St Goar. Feeling hungry again after all that wine, we head straight for a cafe and each order warm apple strudel with cream and ice-cream and black coffee. We explore the town on foot dodging the tourist train and visit Burg Rheinfels - a castle in ruins. St Goar, lovely as it is seems too busy and touristy compared to Bacharach and I am happy with my decisision.
We take the train back to Bacharach and walk around a bit more before dinner. The hotel restaurant - Stuber's - has a lovely dining room and great food. The chef is the hotel owner. White asparagus is in season and it is on every menu we've looked at. We both have them in differnt forms. We have starters and mains and a bottle of riesling; normally this would easily be polished off with room for dessert - not tonight. After a quick walk, we go to bed early for some real sleep.

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Old Jul 6th, 2007, 07:05 AM
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Up early next morning due to jetlag not out of habit. The breakfast buffet at the Rhein hotel was great - cold meats, cheese, cereals, delicious bread, etc. Feeling well nourished, we drove down the Rhine, through Boppard and headed for the Marksburg in Brabauch - fantastic castle overlooking the rhine. When we bought entry tickets, we were'nt told we had to wait for a tour guide so we happily explored the castle on our own until we realised we were locked in and couldn't get out. We had to wait until another group entered before we could make our escape.
On the way back to Bacharach for lunch, we stopped in Oberwesal. Another beautiful town with a fantastic looking rathaus (townhall).After lunch, we drove through some more tiny villages en route to Rudesheim. I hadn't planned on going there as I'd heard here how touristy it is but I was curious. It is indeed touristy and bigger than the other towns we had visited but pleasant enough. It was mid afternoon and quite warm so we had a couple of cool glasses of wine in the marktplatz before finding some shelter in the Torture Museum - gruesome but interesting. I'd say this was the type of town that comes alive in the evening - lots of restaurants and cafes.
Back in Bacharach for a walk around town and a rest before dinner. We had dinner at Heindrich's Weinegarten - sitting outside on this mild night and tasting a variety of wines amongst many locals. After a few too many, we walked back to our room and crashed for the night.
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Old Jul 6th, 2007, 08:30 AM
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Thanks for the report. Looking forward to the rest. I'm especially interested in the Rhein and Mosel, as we will be going in Oct.! What was your opinion of Marksburg castle. Well worth it?

Paul
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Old Jul 6th, 2007, 09:53 AM
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Looking forward to your details on Strasbourg, Eguisheim and Dijon etc. We just returned.
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Old Jul 6th, 2007, 01:19 PM
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mideba, we also stayed at the Rhein Hotel in Bacharach in 2005. We also loved the town and found the owners to be very nice and friendly.

Will be interested to hear your report on Tubingen as we are staying there for a couple of days in September.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 02:25 AM
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Paul, we loved the Rhine valley and thought it could'nt get much better until we got to the Mosel - truly idyllic, almost fairytale-like, peaceful and picturesque, and if you're into wine, well then you are in heaven! I can't wait to go back.
If you are in the area, I would visit the Marksburg, probably not as impressive as Burg Eltz but if you have time and enjoy that sort of thing, go see it.

Miriam.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 02:29 AM
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Kate12, I'll get to that part of the trip soon. Eguisheim was one of my favourite places and Dijon was a great base for touring Burgundy. Did you write a report? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Miriam
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 02:33 AM
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BettyK, you'll love Tubingen. The old town is amazing as is the marktplatz and rathaus; and there's enough there to keep you busy for a few days. We stayed at Hotel Am Shloss right next to the castle at the top of the town. Make sure you go to Burg Hohellozern (sp?) about 20 min. away.

Miriam
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 02:58 AM
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Hi Miriam,
I most definitely will be writing a report soon. I found them so helpful to me in planning our trip. My brain is a bit fuzzy with jet lag today but will sit down tomorrow and start one.We had a lovely time.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 03:13 AM
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Day 3 and it was time to leave Bacharach, a place I would love to return to.

Or next stop was Heidelberg. I was a little stressed about finding the hotel in a bigger city as we had an inadequate map and so far we'd had a hard time negotiating signs on the German roads - by the way, I'm a hopeless navigator; I still don't know left from right unless I have a watch on and even then it's a guess!! However, as it happened there was no need to worry as we got off the correct exit - by chance - and we found ouselves on the same street as our hotel.

We stayed at the NH Hotel (a chain hotel) which was just outside the old town. It had previosly been a brewery and had a very impressive foyer. As we had a car we needed a place with parking, so that discounted the hotel in the alstadt. We were pleased with the room - it was the biggest of the nine hotels we stayed in and pleasant enough in terms of decor. I was able to get a good internet rate for it but this did not include breakfast. Wherever b/fast was not included, we would eat in a cafe or on the run.

Today was the hottest day we had on our trip but that did'nt stop us from walking around town town all day. My feet, however, were not happy feet by the end of the day - no serious damage, just sore and tired.

After check-in, we dumped the car and head for the old town, walked up and down the main street and stopped at Nordsee for lunch. Had heard about it on this forum. We love fish and chips at home downunder so we gave this a go. It's not your traditional f and c's shop - more like fast food fish. It was ok.

After lunch, we visited the Heidelberg castle which is mainly in ruins - an amazing sight arising above the old town. The highlights were the pharmacy museum - amazing - and the big wine barrel (apparently the biggest in Europe?). Back to our room for a shoe change, and then out again to follow the Philosopher's Path - a lovely walk, but tough in the afternoon sun and with sore feet. Back to the room for a rest before dinner.

We had dinner in the brewery attached to the hotel as we were to tired to walk any further. Lovely warm night seated outside, this seemed a very popular choice. Hubbie had the buffet grill and I couldn't go past the white asparagus again - I had them quite a bit on this trip. Nice, casual meal and only 1 minute from our room.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 04:17 AM
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I had big plans for today - drive from Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen for lunch, then on to Rothenberg for dinner via Nordlingen and Dinklesbuhl (sp?). Ambitious or just plain foolish, take your pick!

What should have taken no more than 90 minutes to Bad Wimpfen took well over 2 hours. My poor navigating skills and not so clear signage to blame - I'm not taking all the blame!!

We finally got to Bad Wimpfen and I'm so glad we did. Thank-you Betty (I think BettyK or is it BettyI that recommends this town??). Fantastic, medieval town that deserves more than a few hours - this would be a great place to stay a couple of nights. We had lunch and did the tourist walk around town before stopping for a cool ale and riesling. The climb up the blue tower was well worth the effort for the lovely view of the town and yonder. Some great little gift shops offered a variety of goods and many well restored examples of half-timbered houses and medieval buildings were dotted around town.

By the time we'd finished exploring, it was mid-afternoon so our ambitious/foolish plans fell through here. Unfortunately, we never made it to Rothenberg - I'm still sore about that. Do I hear you say "next time"? That seems too far away, and it bloody well is when you live downunder!!

Dinner that night was a brewery called Kaulterbruaeri (sorry about my shocking spelling but I don't have my notes with me and those German words are sooo long!). Anyway, good place for dinner in the old town but not right in the thick of things. I had white asparagus again! Love it. Hurried home before the skies opened to brew - pardon the pun - over not making it to Rothenberg.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 05:45 AM
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We left Heidelberg for Tubingen the next morning. I had planned to drive through Speyer on the way but it wpuld have required a detour and after the previous day's navigating efforts, we decided to just head straight for Tubingen. Good idea in hindsight as we missed the signs and turn off for our hotel a number of times.

We finally managed to find Hotal Am Shloss - should have known it would be at the top of the old town as it is located next door to the castle. We had a hairy time driving what seemed like a tank - Audi A3! - up the tiny winding streets and negotiating a very steep and tiny parking lot in front of the hotel.

Hotel Am Shloss has a great position as I said above the old town and next door to the castle. Our room, however, was nothing to write home about - clean but dated with old furnishings and a crappy TV. I think we got one of the older rooms; the others looked nicer when I stuck my nose in some.

After check-in, we grabbed some lunch at a cafe in the marktplatz sitting outdoors as it was a lovely day. The town square is huge and it was buzzing with people (daytrippers, I think, as it was Sunday and it was a lot quiter the next day). The rathaus (townhall) is a sight to behold - an amazing building overlooking the square.

After lunch, a nutella crepe from a mobile stand and with map in hand we explored the town. If you are in the area, take the time to visit this town - it is beautiful, one of my favourites. We spent 2 nights/days there but I could easily have stayed longer. It started to rain so we ducked into a cafe for shelter and refreshments and then continued our exploration till early evening.

Dinner was at the hotel restaurant. The dining/breakfast room is very pleasant and the food is fantastic, so much so that we ate there again the following night. We had the regional swabian specialty for which they are known, 'maultaschen' - described as ravioli with a meat or vegetarian filling and then topped with your choice of sauce. Absolutely divine. I'm salivating just thinking about them. I'd had a version of them in Heidelberg but they were no way as good as these. Washed down with the regional wine, we decide to come back for them again the following night.

After dinner, we walked around town for bit before calling it a night.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 05:57 AM
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Day 6 was cold and wet. After a very good breakfast at the hotel, we walked next door to visit the castle museum.

Again, I had planned an ambitious day of exploring the area - Swabish Hall and Ludwigsburg but the it was very misty and wet so we decided against it. We drove about 20 minutes south to Burg Hohenzellern - a magnificent castle high on a hill. It was difficult to photograph as it was shrouded in mist. On a clear day, it makes an amazing sight. Rather than take the shuttle bus up to the castle, we walked up the very, very steep pathway. That was painful, especially in the cold and rain, but worth every aching muscle once we'd arrived.

Back to Tubingen for more crepes and another walk around town. Dinner was at the hotel again for more delicious maultaschen. Yummmm.
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Old Jul 7th, 2007, 11:29 AM
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Very interesting report. Thanks for sharing the details of your trip.
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Old Jul 8th, 2007, 03:54 AM
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Day 7 - Did some shopping in Tubingen before check-out. Horrible day - wet, windy and cold. My original plans were to stop in Gengenbach for lunch on the way to Strasbourg but weather conditions made road travel slow and quite hazardous and as usual my poor navigating skills failed me again - passed it before I realised. Anyway, as it was overcautious truck drivers on the steep and winding roads slowed us down considerably and I wanted to be in Strasbourg by early afternoon.

Too many one way streets, but finally arrrived at the Hotel Hannong. Lovely hotel in a great location. Yes, small room but very tastefully restored in modern decor. Highly recommend it. As with all French hotel, breakfast not included. Only negative - very steep parking fees in a private parking lot - 15 euros/ night x 3 - ( x 1.7 aussie dollars) - ouch!!

Spent the afternoon exploring the city - cathedral, petite france, etc. Strabourg is a lovely city but I think I prefer smaller towns and villages and for that reason we really only used it as a base for exploring the upper route de vin.

Dinner tonight was at Maison Kammerzell - I had read lots about this place and was looking forward to it. The building situated next to the cathedral is amazing - if you don't eat here, at least go and see it.
I had made a booking before we left home but I don't know if that was entirely necessary as there are a number of rooms. Service by the older waiter was impeccable, however, the younger waitresses were quite lacklustre and dull - disappointing actually. We had aperitifs, starters, mains, dessert, bottle of wine and coffee. Hubbie had the specialty of the house - trois poisson and choucroute - but found it very heavy and was unable to finish it; unusual for him - all servings were quite large. I'd heard this was a Michelin starred restaurant - what criteria is used in awarding stars? Compared to others we went to later in the trip, don't know if this deserved one?



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Old Jul 8th, 2007, 07:37 AM
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Enjoying your report. Would love to drive around those parts of Germany. I took a week's cruise many years ago on the Rhine and Mosel, and just loved the area. At this point in my life, I don't know if I could manage driving in Germany! I'm comfortable doing that in France, so always seem to gravitate there.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.
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Old Jul 8th, 2007, 10:21 AM
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Miriam, I am really enjoying your report.

Yes, I have been a big fan of Bad Wimpfen since our visit there a couple of years ago. It was more than I ever expected! We stayed 3 nights and did day trips to Dinkelsbuhl and Schwabisch Hall. Too bad you mised them.

We stopped in Speyer in 2006 and spent a couple of hours walking around. But it was only because of my husband's good navigating skills that we were able to find our way!

Sorry, too, that you missed Gengenbach. Again, we found it to be a lovely little town. We used it as a base for a couple of days, but we also had some bad weather when we were there so it curtailed some of our activities.

I definitely have Hohenzollern on our itinerary for September and I'm really looking forward to seeing Tubingen after your enthusiastic description.
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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 04:27 AM
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Thanks JN, Sue4 and BettyK for your comments.

Day 8 - I was very eager to explore the Alsace wine road as I had been planning this trip for a while and heard so many good things on the forum. So after breakfast of kougelhopf and coffee in a cool little cafe/bar in Strasbourg, we were off.

We started at Molshiem and drove through Rosheim, Boersch and Ottrott. I was hoping to have lunch at Le Chatalein but they were closed that day. So we drove around a bit looking for a restaurant; many were closed and I was looking forward to trying my first tarte flambee but they seemed only to be served after 6.30pm so I'd have to wait for dinner. We came across a busy looking place with a large terrace so we stopped and I'm glad we did. It's called Rouge D'Ottrott (in reference to one of few red wines made in the area) and the food was very good. Hubbie had the Alsatian choucroute which was a very impressive and large platter of pork cuts and sausages with saurkraut and potatoes served above a flame to keep it warm. It certainly turned heads when it was served. He thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a goat cheese served 5 ways which was also very good. All washed down with delicious alsatian wine.

After lunch we drove to Obernai for some souvenir shopping. This is a lovely town with some gorgeous buildings and would be a great base for the upper part of the wine road. I almost wished we'd stayed here instead of Strasbourg but we I wanted a mix of big and small places and we were staying in Eguisheim - very small - later in the week.

After a while in Obernai, we visited the monastery at Mont Ste Odile. Too many school kids on excursion and bus loads of tourists visiting so the impact was lost a little.

Back to Strasbourg for a walk around town before dinner. I was hoping to have the tarte flambee but unfortunately L'Ami Shutz doesn't serve them. This winstub has a great looking interior - apparently it's been around for a while - and service and food is good.

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Old Jul 9th, 2007, 05:10 AM
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Day 9 - After breakfast, decided to get some supplies at Galeries Lafaytte for a picnic on the wine road today - baguettes and wine,etc.

Drove to Mittelbergheim and walked aroud this tiny, beautiful village. Continued south on the wine road and stopped in Dambach-la-ville for a look around and for a good picnic site - found a nice quiet spot near some vines and enjoyed our lunch.

On to Chateau Haut-Koenigsbourg - this place is amazing; one of the most impressive of all castles we saw on this trip. Don't bother with the cafeteria here - the coffee was awful.

Back on the wine road, we stopped at an organic winery for a tasting and came away with a few bottles. A drive through St-Hippolyte and Selestat and back to Strasbourg.

Was still craving a tarte flambee so I cancelled our reservation at Chez Yvonne (didn't know if they serve it)and opted for a winstub called La Stub who had it on the menu. It was ok - not as good as the one we had the next night in Eguisheim.
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Old Jul 10th, 2007, 07:28 AM
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Super, Miriam!
Now I wonder how you could get perfectly well to the center of Dijon since you said you're a hopeless navigator! ;-)
Looking forward to the next episodes!
coco
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