We woke up yesterday, bright eyed and bushy tailed. One nice thing about taking trips is that you get to go home. I was ready to go home, although we really enjoyed our weekend in the Cote D’Or region in France. One quirk about staying in a vacation home is that you have to do some cleaning before you leave. Louise mentions a “cleaning service” in the guidebook she made for the Tower, but it was not offered when we booked on Booking.com. For those who would prefer to book the cleaning service, I think it cost 50 euros. But even if we’d booked it, Bill and I (but especially Bill) are considerate people and wouldn’t want to leave a mess.
We stripped the bed and put the towels in a pile. Actually, it was very nice that these items were included in the price of the Tower. A lot of times when you rent a house, you either have to rent towels and linens or bring your own. I scrubbed the toilet and swept while Bill did the dishes. He vacuumed the dog hair off the chairs and floor while I loaded up the car. At about nine o’clock, after our lovely included breakfast, we hopped in the RAV 4 and headed back to Germany. All in all, it was a very successful trip. We came home with plenty of good wine, cheese that smells like feet, wonderful French butter and cream, and crusty French bread.
As we were saying goodbye to Louise and her hunky husband who is obviously very good with his hands, Bill said we’d be back. I definitely wouldn’t mind coming back to Semur En Auxois at all, although it will depend on how much time we have left in Germany. At this point, it’s a mystery how long we’ll be here. I hope it’ll be awhile, because I still have a long list of places I want to see.
Next time, we’ll pick a weekend where we can book the dogs so we can visit some of the local attractions and restaurants more easily. The area is chock full of museums, chateaus, abbeys, and charming places to eat and shop. This isn’t to say that dog owners should not come to Semur En Auxois. I consider it a very dog friendly place, especially if your dogs are less high maintenance than ours are!
Hallo Deutschland!
The drive back to Germany was pretty easy. We had little traffic and France helpfully offers plenty of clean rest areas where one can pee for free. We stopped at one place where they had put a banged up utility truck. It was all crumpled like it had been in a terrible accident. I was tempted to take a photo of it because I was curious as to why it was there. Were they trying to warn drivers? Was it just a place to put a badly damaged vehicle until someone could tow it somewhere else? Enquiring minds want to know.
I enjoyed the drive through this mountain pass near Freiburg. These two mountains reminded me of my family’s hometown of Natural Bridge, Virginia. The only thing missing was the “bridge” connecting the two mountains. Both coming and going, it gave me a flash of homesickness to go through this area.
Ditto to this cool cross on a little hill. I have an Italian friend who claims Europe is full of atheists. He may be right, but I still enjoy seeing something like this on a public road and it not being controversial like it would be in the United States. This isn’t to say that I’m a particularly religious person. I just like it when people live and let live.
I understand there was snow in BW while we were gone. I didn’t see any down in France, but I did notice a splotch of white on the mountain in the distance as we were coming home. I suppose we’ll be shoveling snow before we know it!
And finally, the ads on the door at the first pay toilet I used all weekend… Yep, we were back in Germany, where there are no highway tolls (yet), but you will pay to pee!
Whenever I take trips, I typically do a top ten list of things I learned. I will write that list now and then our trip to Semur En Auxois will be thoroughly explained! Our next planned trip is next month, when Bill and I will be going to Ireland. It will be my first time as someone old enough to remember and Bill’s second time (last time was during the 1980s, when there was a depression going on). It should be interesting!