Back through Rüdesheim

The tower of the Brömserburg, the oldest castle in the Rhine Gorge World Heritage Site. It was built in the 10th century on the site of a Roman fortification.

Today the Brömserburg is a wine museum.

There are vineyards all around this area and all along the hills that line the Rhein. The wines have historically been predominantly white, and the finest made from Riesling grapes.

There are vineyards up in them-thar hills.

Painting on the side of hotel showing the harvesting of grapes.

Rhein River Cruise

Here is our little cruise ship. Once again, we were lucky that there was a cruise running today as during the winter, you need to call ahead to reserve spots or else they may not be running a cruise up the Rhein at all.

Tangi, Luc and Anaëlle waiting for coffee and hot chocolate

During a 1 hour 15 minute cruise up the Rhein, you see dozens of castles, many built as early as the 11th century. Some are just ruins today, but many are furnished and can be toured.

The Mouse Tower

Click on this castle and you can see the stained glass windows of the chapel to the left.

It rained just a bit during the cruise, but not too hard.

Close-up of the castle

The only other passengers on the boat were about 25 Japanese tourists. We owed them a big thank you for booking the cruise.

Die Pfaltz, built at the beginning of the 14th century, is the only castle built in the middle of the river (for the purpose of levying tolls).

We passed many barges transporting materials. We waved hello to the family who lived on this one.

The Lorelei is a rock which soars some 120 meters above the water line. It is one of the narrowest parts of the river and a very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there. Lorelei is also the name of one of the beautiful Rhine Maidens who lured navigators of this river to their dooms with their alluring singing, much as the ancient Greek Sirens did.

On the train ride home, we spied a statue of the Lorelei herself perched on a rock in the river.

At St. Goarshausen, we disembarked and caught the train to take us back to Rüdesheim. There was a downpour during our train ride, but the skies miraculously cleared when we exited the train to walk a bit more about Rüdesheim.

Rüdesheim am Rhein

Today I took Anaëlle's family to Rüdesheim to take a short cruise up the Rhein. During that 1 hour 15 minute cruise, you see at least 20 castles on the hillsides that line the river. Last night I checked on cruise time on the internet and discovered that during the winter months, you need to call ahead to reserve spots, or else there may very well be no cruise. Luckily for us, a frantic phone call this morning assured us that there was a cruise already set.

Driving toward Rüdesheim, the sky ahead turned a very dark gray. If it rained, the day would be a huge disappointment. When we arrived, the sky was cloudy and we had some light rain during the boatride, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Tangi

We had some time before the cruise to walk around quiet Rüdesheim. Any other time of year, this town is a tourist mecca. Today, it was rather deserted, with only a few shops open.

Bienvenue chez nous!

Today was Anaëlle's final exam. She has been with us for 12 days now, speaking less and less French and more and more English every day. By the way, there have been several times with Anaëlle where I have unknowingly spoken English, French and German in one sentence (as my husband and kids have been quick to point out). Poor Anaëlle must have been very confused at times.

Her final exam involved accompanying Micaela on her day at the international school, where she would be expected to speak English the entire time. Reports are that Anaëlle passed and she enjoyed herself, with some of the French-speaking students taking her under their wing a bit. What she did comment on later was how everyone shook hands when greeting each other -- even the girls! In France, girls would have kissed each other on both cheeks. "You know, Anaëlle," I told her, "when little Becca arrives at the Kindergarten in the morning, the first thing she does is shake her teacher's hand, and it's the last thing she does before leaving." Not very French.

And who was waiting for us when we arrived home from school? Anaëlle's parents and brother Tangi. The whole family will spend a few days with us.

For dinner, I wanted to make something very American, something you don't see readily in Europe, like you do hamburgers. I decided to make chili and was lucky that a friend with commissary privileges was kind enough to buy some cornbread mix for me to make the meal as authentic as possible. And authentic as chili made by a Yankee in Germany can be.

We told everyone to ladle chili into their bowls and the fixings were on the table. We all sat down and everyone just sat there for a few seconds, frozen. It took a second for me to realize that la famille Quiquet did not know what to do with said fixings. What was this white stuff? (Sour cream.) What is sour cream exactly? (It's similar to crème fraiche.) What does one do with these crackers? (Crumble them up.) How much of this orange cheese (cheddar) should we put in? (As much as you'd like.) And we mix it all together? (Yes.) It was nice to be on the other side of the "Now how do I do this?" thing for once. I feel frozen like that so often here.

And I think the chili was a hit.

Maud et moi.

After dinner, it was present time. Doritos!

French wine and cake!

A French soccer jersey! (Please excuse James' lack of enthusiasm. He had a fever and wasn't feeling well.)

An Astérix book!

Astérix figurines!

My Astérix can beat up your Obélix!

A beautiful Longchamp foldable purse! Très chic! You unsnap it to make a bigger purse. Very à la mode in France. I got a purse and backpack as well.

And the gifts kept coming: Breton butter cookies or galettes, which James discovered are delicious when dipped in hot chocolate; souvenirs from Brittany (playing cards, special card sticker, caramel, hats); French cosmetics; and the one thing I asked Maud to bring me -- reusable shopping bags from a French supermarket that I'll be able to use back in the U.S.

We were overwhelmed. I just hope their stay with us justifies such generosity.

Schloss Fürstenau

A five-minute walk from the basilica brought us to Schloss Fürstenau, my new favorite European castle.

Entering the palace complex which includes old border fortifications, a 14th century moated castle, a Renaissance palace mill, a former mint, lodging for staff and guests and a new palace, among other buildings.

One of the complex residents airing out her featherbed

Schloss Fürstenau is still a dwelling, with the head of the house of the princely Counts of Erbach-Fürstenau and his family still living there.

The gigantic Renaissance-style gateway arch (1588) between the moated castle’s two western corner towers replaced the castle wall and drawbridge and opened the gloomy, dank courtyard back up to the former castle garden.

I fell in love with this castle. It has everything: towers, statues, arches, a spiral staircase, a courtyard, fountains and a moat. It's the perfect castle. I just wish we could have gone inside.

The castle in the summer, with blue skies and green ivy.