Info and References (based on our trip) if you’re visiting Alsace Lorraine
Travel/Climate
If you’re driving from Munich you’ve basically got two choices – to drive up and drop down or drive along and go up! We chose the former and headed up the A8 towards Stuttgart dropping down onto the A5 at Karlsruhe. It is approximately 430 km and should take about 4 hours 15 minutes. The journey itself is straightforward but it really does depend how much road work is going on. When the autobahn slows down to 2 lanes this can seriously affect your journey time. You could quite easily adapt this route to include time in Strasbourg and other towns on the Route de Vin. Alternatively, if approaching from the South you could spend more time in Freiburg and the Black Forest. Since my original trip I have driven to all of these places and it really is a wonderful area to explore.
Some good Books/Blogs
- Hidden France by Richard Binns
I’ve had this book since I was a student and regularly return to it. It has a good section on the Vosges, and after reading about the Route des Crêtes, I tried it out with my daughter a couple of years later. The language/writing is a bit ‘old school’ but what this guy does not know about ‘off the beaten track’ places in France ain’t worth knowing about.
https://frenchmoments.eu/route-des-cretes-des-vosges/
- France – The Rough Guide
Another book that I have referred to time and again.
- Lonely Planet – France
- The Rough Guide Snapshot France: Alsace and Lorraine
Accommodation
We stayed at the Hotel Berceau Du Vigneron, 10 Place Turenne, 68230 Turckheim, France. Unfortunately, it appears to be closed at the moment but here are Booking.coms top 10:
Places of Interest
- The Vosges Mountains
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vosges
- Ribeauvillé.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribeauvillé
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g424986-Activities-Ribeauville_Haut_Rhin_Grand_Est.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colmar
Tourist office of Colmar
Wine domain of the city of Colmar
http://fr.domaineviticolecolmar.com
- Turckheim
- Riquewhir
http://www.ribeauville-riquewihr.com/en/index.htm
- Kaysersberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaysersberg
- Kientzheim,(in Haut Rhine!!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kientzheim
Other References
- The Protestant Reformation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation
- Thirty Years War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War
- Franco-Prussian War
https://www.britannica.com/event/Franco-German-War
- Treaty of Versailles
https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919
- Colmar Pocket in 1945.
- visual/kinaesthetic learner (from ‘Multiple Intelligences’)
What are Multiple Intelligences?
http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html
This is the great book that has influenced all decent educators:
Howard Gardner –Multiple Intelligences
https://www.amazon.de/Frames-Mind-Theory-Multiple-Intelligences/dp/0465024335
- Jeanette Winterson
http://www.jeanettewinterson.com
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/22/jeanette-winterson-thought-of-suicide
- remorse
noun: remorse
- deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed. “they were filled with remorse and shame”
synonyms:contrition, deep regret, repentance, penitence, guilt, feelings of guilt, bad/guilty conscience, compunction, remorsefulness, ruefulness, contriteness, sorrow, shame, self-reproach, self-accusation, self-condemnation; pangs of conscience
- ‘A Dialogue of Self and Soul’ (by WB Yeats)
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43294
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/feb/11/poemoftheweek27
Sarah Halliday
June 2017