Tag Archives: house rentals

Bavaria, holidays

A few days in Bavaria… part one

Over the past week, Bill, his mother, Parker, and I have been hanging out in Würzburg, a beautiful town in the Franconia region of Bavaria. When Parker comes to visit us from Texas, we typically spend a few nights at home, then go somewhere for a few days. It gives Parker a chance to see more of Europe, and me a chance to write some content for my travel blog. Since we moved back to Germany in 2014, Parker has visited three times. The first time was in 2017, and we took a “blind booking” flight to Berlin from Stuttgart. The second time was in January 2020, and we went to Alsace, France. This time, it was Würzburg.

I had originally meant for us to go to Bamberg, another beautiful town in Franconia, known for its architecture and Rauchbier. It took a long time to come to that decision, only to change my mind, because I couldn’t find the right accommodations. I could have booked two hotel rooms at one of Bamberg’s hotels, or I could have booked an apartment. But most of what I found during my searches had some major drawbacks, such as a lack of parking or lots of stairs. Parker has had both hips replaced, so it’s not ideal for her to have to climb a lot of stairs.

I thought maybe we’d do better in Nuremberg, a city I’ve never seen, but Bill and Parker had both visited in the 80s. But then I realized that I’d get bogged down in Nuremberg, as there are a lot of museums there that I thought we’d want to visit. I really wanted to visit Bamberg, even if it was just for a day. 

Then, I noticed Würzburg mentioned on a travel Web site. Located roughly halfway between Nuremberg and Frankfurt, it, too, has a lot to offer. The city, which is the third largest in Franconia, is also located relatively close to our home of Wiesbaden. It only takes about 90 minutes to get there from Wiesbaden by car, if traffic isn’t too heavy. There’s also an easy train connection from Frankfurt. 

When I saw the winery, Weingut am Stein, offering a rental house on the edge of a vineyard, I decided to book it. For about what I would have paid for four nights of two hotel rooms, breakfast, and parking, I got a 1100 square foot house with a fireplace, kitchen, parking, and a beautiful view of the city. Adding to the appeal was the included wine tasting in the winery’s degustation room. With Bill’s approval, I booked the house through Expedia.com, and was delighted when the transaction went through smoothly. As I’ve discovered over the years, booking lodging sometimes results in fraud alerts on my credit cards.

I would have probably chosen to go further afield, but again– I needed a special place to stay. I also would have preferred to visit during a different month, but February was when Parker could visit us. I’m sure Würzburg is even better during the other seasons, when the weather is much more agreeable than it was during our visit. 

Bill, Parker, and I set off for Würzburg on the afternoon of February 5th. It was sunny and mild, and Bill had already taken Noyzi to the Birkenhof Tierpension, which is one of his favorite places to visit. It would have been nice to bring Noyzi with us, but he takes up the whole back end of our Volvo, and the rental house didn’t allow pets. We stopped at a rest area to have lunch at Nordsee, and arrived in Würzburg at about 3:30 PM, right in line with the 3 PM check in time at the house. 

Seen in the ladies room at the Rastplatz… if your pee burns, there’s a medication that can help. I’ll keep this in mind… along with the word “Pippipausen”.  

A strikingly pretty young woman greeted us and showed us the house, then booked our wine tasting, which was included in the rental fee. Then she invited us to come back to the tasting room for a welcome glass of wine. Weingut am Stein’s tasting room is very impressive, and the winery itself is on a hillside, which offers arresting views of Würzburg’s many landmarks. Bill and Parker tried Sylvaner wines, while I enjoyed a Riesling. We later found out at our wine tasting that Weingut am Stein specializes in Sylvaners, which is a somewhat less popular style in these parts. Bill and I had tried them before at wine tastings when we lived near Stuttgart. But those Sylvaners had come from France, not Germany.

Below are some photos I took after our arrival. Unfortunately, the weather was not nearly as nice during the rest of our stay in Würzburg, but we made the best of it…

The outside of the rental house.
This was a restaurant, but they had to close it due to a lack of help.
Outside of the tasting room.
Living room, complete with freshly cut tulips.
Fully equipped kitchen area, except there is no microwave.
Another side of the living room. The chairs can fold out, and there is a large, comfortable couch.
Parker’s bedroom.
Office… this also has a fold out couch for more sleeping options.
The second bedroom. It overlooks the vineyard.
A fancy gate…
A view of a vineyard from the tasting room.
Another view from the tasting area.
Inside the tasting room where we had a welcome glass of wine.
Another shot of the tasting room. I was trying to avoid taking pictures of anyone not involved with our trip.
View from the bedroom.
Zoomed in shot of one of Würzburg’s many beautiful churches.
And another…

I forgot to take photos of the two bathrooms in the house. Both are located upstairs. Only one of the bathrooms has a shower. The house also has a basement, but there was nothing in it but firewood for the small fireplace, which we never got around to trying. The fridges were stocked with Gerolsteiner water and a variety of wines from the winery. There were a couple of reds, several whites, and a couple of sparkling wines, all of which could be purchased and paid for at checkout. I think the water was complimentary.

Located nearby is a bakery, that Bill said also offered some basic incidentals like eggs, jam, and milk. He had to walk up and down stairs to get to the bakery. The train station is very close, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to walk there from the house, as it’s near a rather busy roadway without sidewalks. I would recommend having a car if you wish to book this house. The winery is very close to downtown Würzburg, but it’s not very safe or convenient to walk there from Weingut am Stein. 

I spent about $1700 four comfortable nights at Weingut am Stein’s guest house. We did not have to pay a deposit or any other fees, other than for the many bottles of wine we consumed over our four night stay. The house was also fully equipped with sheets, towels, and other basic essentials.  

After we got settled at the guest house, Bill, Parker, and I went into Würzburg for dinner. Bill found a restaurant called Wirtshaus am Dom, which is located right next to the cathedral. Although the restaurant is listed on OpenTable.de, Bill decided to just walk in, after we parked at Würzburg’s impressive Residenz. 

As you might have guessed, Wirtshaus am Dom specializes in hearty Bavarian fare and beer. Right next door is L’Ostreria, an Italian chain restaurant, for those who would rather have pizza or pasta. Or, you could just keep walking, where you’ll encounter lots of other restaurants. There are lots of choices in Würzburg, and plenty of young people, as Würzburg is a college town.

We sat down at a comfortable table and enjoyed a delicious dinner, consisting mostly of pork… and excellent Bavarian draft beers. Below are a few photos. We all agreed the highlight of dinner was the dessert, which we all shared with Parker, as we were too stuffed to each order desserts for ourselves. I think Bill spent about 90 euros for the three of us. The entrees each ran around 20 euros, give or take a euro, plus we had four beers, two espressos, and dessert.

I had pork with a crispy crust, dark beer gravy, and potato dumplings
Bill had veal meatballs with asparagus and smoked mashed potatoes.
Parker had a veal schnitzel with a salad.
And the best part– dessert! These were hot, battered, fried apple slices with powdered sugar and a side of vanilla ice cream. They were absolutely delicious!

After dinner, we walked back to our parking spot at the Residenz. I was struck by how majestic the building is, and how much went into building it. This city is impressive, day or night… 

The Residenz at night…
Taken from the guest house…
Zoomed in of the Marienburg Fortress…

Not only is the Residenz incredibly beautiful, but it also offers convenient parking near the downtown area. I wish I could tell you we toured it, but we never got around to visiting the Residenz, partly because we were preoccupied by other major life events, which I’ll explain in a forthcoming post. Anyway, Bill and I live somewhat close to Würzburg, and I think we’ll visit the region again. I hope we’ll have a chance to tour the Residenz then.  

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Bavaria, booze tourism

With a mere flip of a coin…

Yesterday, Bill and I decided where we will be visiting next. Bill’s mom, Parker, is coming to visit us during the first full week of February. As is our habit, we are taking her on a short trip. Last time she visited, we went to Alsace, in France. The time before that, we were in Berlin. When she visited during our first Germany tour, we went to Oberstaufen, near the Austrian border…

This time, we decided we wanted to go to Bamberg, a Franconian city in Bavaria known for its smoked beer and fabulous architecture that wasn’t ruined in World War II. I had heard a lot about the town over the years, but never got the opportunity to plan a visit. But, we have four nights… and Bamberg isn’t a big town. A lot of people spend a weekend there and are good with it. So I thought maybe it would be better to go to Nuremberg, which is about a 40 minute train ride away from Bamberg… I started looking for properties that would accommodate us.

Then I realized that Nuremberg might be overwhelming. It has a lot of fabulous museums, and a beautiful downtown area. But a lot of its original buildings were destroyed in World War II. I also figured that if we went to Nuremberg, we might never get around to Bamberg.

So then I thought maybe we should visit Würzburg, which is also a well-known Franconian town in Bavaria, with lots of history, beautiful buildings, and wine! Würzburg is about an hour train ride from Bamberg. At that point, we decided to take Nuremberg off the table for this trip and focus on Bamberg and Würzburg, which is only about a 90 minute drive from where we live.

I spent several days agonizing… because I really wanted to see Bamberg, but the more I read about Würzburg, the more I figured it was worthy of a visit, too. And then I saw a very attractive rental property, which I thought would be great for us. Weingut Am Stein is a functioning winery that has a guest house next to the vineyard. It’s very close to the train station, offers parking, and we’d have separate bedrooms. I went looking for something similar in Bamberg and, although I found a couple of appealing hotels, I found that booking two hotel rooms in a nice place would cost about as much as the house would.

Still… I wanted to be fair, so Bill and I flipped a two euro coin. Heads for Bamberg– tails for Würzburg. Bill flipped, and we got tails. So I booked the guest house for four nights. Truth be told, I’m not surprised it worked out this way. The minute I saw that property on Expedia, I had a feeling I’d end up booking it. Although the idea of staying in a cozy hotel with a nice restaurant is very appealing, it’s not so practical. I also heard that Bamberg is best when you just want to relax and take in the atmosphere. February isn’t exactly Biergarten weather, but I could totally see us holing up in a wine bar. The guest house is right next to the Weingut, which has a wine bar and a restaurant (which I hope will be open). 

We will visit Bamberg on this trip, and if it’s as enchanting as everyone says, Bill and I will plan to visit it properly at a later date. I do like the smoked beer… have had it before, but it would be nice to try it fresh from the brewery. We can do that on this visit. We’ve already been to Rothenburg, which is another Franconian town that is very tourist friendly. But my German friend, Susanne, says that we should visit Bayreuth, too. Sigh… yet another town to add to the list of places to go!

I did watch some videos to help inform me. And I look forward to writing up this trip and collecting a lot of photos. Both towns are notably beautiful, and not actually that far from Wiesbaden. So stay tuned!

I like this guy’s channel. He’s done some great videos about German towns!

And one or two about Würzburg…

It sure is nice to have this problem. We’re definitely spoiled for choices as to where to go on short breaks. I wish we had another day or two, so we could properly do both towns. I did consider booking hotels for two nights each in both towns, but the house at the vineyard just seemed too appropriate. I don’t like booking a house for two nights, either. Anyway… it’s bound to be a blast! I think it will go down as a great trip… but then, most of our trips are awesome. I may not be the world’s most successful person, but I have managed to have a lot of fun in Europe with the best travel companion, ever!

Special thanks to Christian Horvant on Wikipedia for allowing public domain use of his photo of the Marienberg Castle in Würzburg. I look forward to taking some of my own photos when I visit, but I doubt we’ll have such pretty weather!

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Eastern Europe

Cheap thrills in the Czech Republic! Part two

After we decided we wanted to go to the Czech Republic, Bill and I had to determine where in the country we wanted to go.  I was actually kind of wanting to visit Brno, which is a city we hadn’t seen before.  It got some great write ups that made it sound like an appealing place to see.  Unfortunately, we were constrained by the brevity of Bill’s time off and the fact that we’d need to bring our dogs, Zane and Arran, with us.  I did consider another visit to Chodovar, but again, thought of the dogs.  Although Chodovar allows dogs to stay in its hotel, Zane and Arran do better in lower density populations.  They aren’t exactly quiet.

I went to Booking.com, to look for appropriate accommodations near Chodova Plana and found a couple of possibilities.  The place that won our business was Vila Verunka, a little freestanding house in Senec, a suburb of Plzen.  I was won over by the fact that it offered free parking, free WiFi, and didn’t charge extra for the dogs.  It’s not that I mind paying pet fees; it’s just that I’ve found that people who don’t charge extra fees for pets tend to be less nervous about them staying.  They’re usually dog lovers who won’t freak out over normal things that dogs do.  That appeared to be the case at Vila Verunka, too.  The owners were very welcoming to our dogs, which I always love to see.

A lot of people like Air BnB.  I haven’t tried it yet, mainly because their Web site makes it hard for me to find exactly what I’m looking for.  I tend to be specific about what I want in a rental.  Although Booking.com doesn’t seem to have as many properties as Air BnB does, its search process is easy to use.  And, if I end up really hitting it off, sometimes the owners will just tell me to text them personally.  Such is the case in Ribeauville.  We’ve stayed at one guy’s apartment three times in the past year and he’s given us his number and told us to text him next time we want to rent from him.  I’m sure it’s because he makes more money that way, but if I’m honest, I kind of like having our French friend Yannick on speed dial.  😉

I could tell Senec would be a suburban location.  The price was definitely right, though.  For three nights in a two bedroom house, we paid the Czech crown equivalent of 288 euros.  Although we paid in the local currency, it turned out we could have paid in euros or even by credit card.  We didn’t have quite enough Czech crowns when we arrived because Bill stopped at the border and changed money at an exchange– something he shouldn’t have done, because they’re very expensive.  The owners were cool, though, and came the next morning for the money, after Bill had a chance to hit the bank.  Apparently, that house is popular with business people.  The owners asked us if we were there on business or filming something.  They seemed surprised that we’d go to Plzen for fun, although if you’re a beer lover, it’s a must see place.

Below are some pictures of the accommodations.  Everything was very clean and appeared to be new.

The living room.  There’s a gas fireplace, which we didn’t use.  I liked how carefree the couch was.  Very durable material that didn’t embed dog hair.  I will probably be in the market for a new couch when we move out of Germany.  I’m going to look for one upholstered with that material.

The bigger bedroom.  The mattress was a little hard, but the bed was nice and big.  There were flatscreen TVs in both bedrooms.  There’s also a single daybed in this room that could accommodate another person.

This property doesn’t have a shower.  Instead, there’s a bathtub with a handheld sprayer.  Also, the toilet is in a separate room.  The sink is in the washroom with the tub and the washing machine.

Nice kitchen, although the microwave was in a cabinet over the fridge.  Bill had to get it down when we wanted to use it, which was kind of a pain.  We’re both short.  It would have been nice if the microwave were on a cart or a table instead of a high cabinet.  There is a coffee pod machine, so Bill went out and got a cheap French press because we don’t like coffee pods.  Otherwise, the kitchen was well appointed, although lacking coasters.  The water in this house is not potable, though.  I think it may be because the house has a cistern, which means it uses rainwater.  Our first German house had a cistern that we could turn on and off.  

The toilet.  There was a curtained off “closet” with cleaning supplies.  No sink in the WC.

The other bedroom.  Somewhat smaller.

Another view of the living room.  There’s another daybed for another person to sleep on.  Nice flatscreen TV, though there were no English channels.  We watched the Winter Olympics in Czech, which was more interesting than it sounds!  WiFi in this house worked great!  No issues whatsoever.

Washing machine.

The outside of the house.  The picture doesn’t show how big the yard is.  It’s fenced in and has a picnic area and grill.  There’s also a swing set and the owners will rent you an inflatable pool for your kids.  There’s also a very small pond, which was frozen over when we visited.

Another shot of the house.  It backs up to a wooded area where there are trails suitable for walking your dogs.  Otherwise, you can turn them loose in the large, fenced yard.

This house is in what appears to be a developing subdivision.  There are several homes being built now.  In the neighborhood, there are a couple of small markets and a restaurant or two.  We didn’t explore much of Senec, although we did make a very cool find on Saturday morning.  More on that in the next post.  Here’s a hint, though… if you like old aircraft from the Cold War era, you might want to take a peek!

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My Belgian birthday! Part two

We arrived at Holiday Home Bonjour Clara at about 7:00pm, having originally overshot the driveway and ended up at the dairy farm next door.  Marianne, the proprietor of the vacation home, was waiting for us.  While I walked and watered Zane and Arran, Marianne showed Bill around the humongous house.  She told him it was built in 1670.  Looking around the impressive brick house, I totally believe it’s that old.

Marianne was very surprised there were only two of us and dogs.  She said she usually rents her house out to large groups.  Holiday Home Bonjour Clara has sleeping space for at least ten people.  There are three rooms that could be considered master bedrooms, along with two “cubby” type rooms.  One has a full sized bed and the other tiny nook has bunk beds.  There are also two sofas downstairs, a crib, and plenty of floor space for cots and/or sleeping bags.

Holiday Home Bonjour Clara has two bathrooms, one on each floor.  One has a shower and the other has a large bathtub.  There’s also a water closet.  Should the need arise, you can even do laundry in the house.  Marianne has thoughtfully included a washing machine, which we did end up having to use.

The kitchen is enormous!

 

The kitchen in this house is huge and inviting.  There’s a large table with seating for several people.  In the dining room, there’s another large table, as well as several tables outside.  The kitchen has a stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher, and fridge, as well as plenty of other appliances you might want or need.

Huge table for a group.  In the next room are a couch and a loveseat, as well as a flatscreen TV with plenty of channels in English.  I love that Belgian TV has programming in English with French or Flemish subtitles.

Living room.  Wood stove for the winter.  There’s also another fireplace in the dining room.

The upstairs bathroom has a shower.  Arran is checking it out.  Marianne supplies plenty of towels, so there’s no need to worry about bringing linens.

The downstairs bathroom.  A water closet is next to it.  This is also where the washing machine is.

 

The cool looking sink in the WC.  Marianne has decorated this house with a lot of art.  I don’t know if she’s an artist herself, but I would not be surprised if she was.

 

The foyer.  Steep stairs lead to the upper level.  The downstairs bedroom also has a small set of steps to climb.  Those with mobility issues may have problems in this house because getting into all of the rooms involve climbing steps.

 

A couple of the bedrooms.  We stayed in the one pictured with Zane on the bed.  Every morning, we awoke to birds chirping, owls hooting, and the smell of beer.  I’m pretty sure the local breweries were supplying their spent barley to farmers for feeding their cows.  There is a dairy farm next door.

This house is equipped with WiFi.  The signal went in and out, which was a little annoying.  However, I was surprised it worked as well as it did, since the building is very old.  It’s been my experience that Internet in older buildings can be a bit dodgy.

After we toured the house, Marianne showed us the coolest (literally) feature her holiday home offers.  She has a “swimming pond!”

Bill checks out the “pond”.  It was refreshingly cold!

This pond is also home to two fish.  They aren’t koi, but they are similar to koi.  Marianne couldn’t remember what they were called in English.  She says they are smarter than koi because they somehow avoid being snatched by birds of prey!  The fish aren’t bothered by human guests.  I did take a short dip just to say I did.  Unfortunately, I was visited by my unpopular “Aunt Flow” over the weekend.  She always shows up at the worst possible times.

A bench near a very pleasant sitting area.

Large yard for the dogs.  This was not completely fenced in, so we couldn’t let them off lead.  Marianne has a dog, but he stayed near the house.  He seemed very friendly.

Next to the house is a canal, where a family of birds was living.  They looked a little like ducks.

I thought they were ducks at first, but upon closer examination, they looked more like small pheasants.

A morning shot of the pond.

 

Lily pads.

 

The pond has a rope that facilitates getting in and out.  Otherwise, you have to be pretty careful getting in and out.  I noticed Marianne’s college aged son seemed to take a leap into the water.  In any case, this isn’t your typical American pool with lots of safeguards.  Use at your own risk and be careful!  We thought it was a pretty nice feature, though.

After our dip in the pond, we sat by the canal and drank beer.

This was the view.

 

Besides birds, Holiday Home Bonjour Clara has a wild bunny who visits in the mornings and evenings.

And two chickens who were almost tame!  They let me get within a foot of them.  And every morning and evening, they peeked into the house.

On our first night, we arrived too late to get to a grocery store.  Marianne very kindly brought us eight eggs from her chickens, some ham, butter, and bread.  The eggs were especially delicious!

Breakfast for dinner!

 

Since we didn’t have any cream for my coffee, Bill went to the farm next door and purchased a liter of milk.  This very fresh milk cost 50 cents.  The farm also has potatoes, but Marianne said they’d been experiencing a drought and the potatoes are very difficult to unearth right now.

All in all, this house was a delight for four nights.  If you’re looking for a home that can accommodate a group and is pet friendly, I would recommend Holiday Home Bonjour Clara.  Besides being in a delightful rural area, it’s close to Ghent, Bruges, and the beach.

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My Belgian birthday! Part one

Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned 45.  I am definitely not living the life I thought I would live at this age, but I can’t complain.  Bill and I learned our lesson the last time we were in Germany.  You have to take all the opportunities you can to see Europe.  Last year, we stayed in town for my birthday and visited one of our favorite local restaurants, Osteria da Gino (Nagold).  This year, Bill decided to take a few days of leave so we could go somewhere.

Although I have enjoyed most of the countries I’ve visited so far, Belgium remains one of my favorite places.  I love the frites, chocolate, and beer.  Also, any country that has a statue of a little boy peeing wins points with me.  Belgium evidently has a number of such monuments, but the most famous one is, of course, Mannekin Pis, which is in Brussels.  Bill and I visited Brussels in 2008.  I would actually love to go back there for the beer scene alone, but we were going to be bringing our dogs, Zane and Arran.  When the boys are with us, it’s better to be out in the country.

Off I went to Booking.com to find a rental house.  To be honest, although we ended up in Belgium, I also considered places in Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.  I finally settled on Holiday Home Bonjour Clara, located in Alveringem, Belgium.  I picked this house because it offered everything we needed and was in an attractive location near Bruges, Ghent, and the beach.  It had free WiFi, free parking, and was pet friendly.  Somehow, I failed to notice that it also sleeps at least 10 people!  The house is HUGE.  Moreover, besides being very large, it boasts a “swimming pond”, which I also thought was pretty cool.  More on that later.

Anyway, for four nights, we paid 760 euros in cash.  We were actually supposed to do a bank transfer, but the hostess never sent the information to me.  I guess that makes sense, since we booked it just a few days before our arrival.  We usually spend less on our vacation rentals, but again, for some reason I didn’t realize just how huge the house was.  For as many people as it can accommodate, it was definitely priced fairly.  I will review the house in the next post.

On Friday morning, we loaded up the RAV4.  I was feeling a little out of sorts because I ordered coffee from the States again and it hadn’t yet arrived.  Just my luck, the post did try to deliver it on Friday… or so that’s what the mail tracker says.  We have to pay a duty for the coffee, so I was wanting to hang around long enough to take care of that.  Bill, being ever practical and wary of long drives, noted just how far Alveringem is from the Stuttgart area and nixed my idea of waiting for the mail.  It’s a good thing he did that, since it took all day to get to where we were going.  I had initially told our host, Marianne, that we would arrive by five o’clock.  We didn’t actually get to her house until seven.  In all, I think it took about 8 or 9 hours to get there!

On the way to Belgium, we stopped at Ramstein Air Base to gas up the car, buy a top up for my phone, and get some lunch.  Although I had heard about the Burger King fire at Ramstein, I had forgotten about it and was shocked to see the charred skeleton of the building.  The fire happened in mid April.  It must have been quite the inferno!  We spent a lot longer at Ramstein than we should have, although I will admit to being impressed by the facilities there.  It’s like a little America!  I hadn’t been there since our last Space A trip in 2014.  We had burgers from Johnny Rocket’s for lunch.  I think I can safely say I don’t need to have another one of those for awhile.

Our drive to Alveringem was mostly uneventful, though very long.  Just getting out of Germany seemingly takes forever.  We ran into the usual staus and had to stop a few times for potty breaks.  Like Germany, Belgium’s high speed freeways are apparently free (for now, anyway).  But the roads aren’t in the best condition in some areas.  I also noticed both on this trip and our last Belgian holiday that free rest areas aren’t as plentiful.  Lots of “rest areas” in Belgium are really just places where you can pull off on the side of the road.  If you have to pee, it seems you just do it outside.  We saw lots of men doing just that.  And if you go to a rest area, you’ll most likely have to pay for the privilege of peeing.  I actually don’t mind that, since it allows me to get rid of change and usually ensures that the toilets will be clean and stocked with toilet paper.

As we got closer to our destination, I noticed the aroma in the air.  It smelled of manure, then ripe cheese.  I said, “Ugh!  That really stinks!”

I looked over at Bill, who had a big smile on his face.

“You like that smell, don’t you?” I asked.

“Yes!” Bill sighed.  He loves stinky cheese.  Maybe that’s why we’ve managed almost fifteen years together!  I am kidding, of course.  I don’t actually smell like stinky cheese… Do I?

The long trip was worth it…

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A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part one

Excuse the boring title for this series of posts.  I have just come back from enjoying the holiday weekend in Semur En Auxois, a lovely town in Burgundy, France.  Ten days ago, I had never heard of the place.  I was simply searching for a pet friendly vacation home rental for me and Bill, as well as our two hounds, Zane and Arran.  Until very recently, I habitually booked Zane and Arran in a local hunde pension.  But the one we used to use fell in to disrepute and the one we use now is frequently booked early for holiday weekends.

It wasn’t lost on me that Bill and I have had the great fortune of living in Germany together for the second time and we needed to make the most of our time here.  Although we did manage to see a lot of Europe the last time we lived here and in the years between Germany stints, we also know that things can change quickly, especially given our current election nightmare.  In late July, we took our first pet friendly trip and we’ve done several more since then.  Last month, we spent Labor Day weekend in Belgium and rented a vacation house for the very first time.  We decided to try the same thing in France.

So, off I went to Booking.com, which is where we had luck the first time we rented a house instead of booking a hotel room.  Originally, I thought we’d go to the Champagne region.  Bill and I visited there in 2014 when we took our most recent hop from the United States.  We enjoyed visiting Reims and Epernay, but I wanted to go back and spend more time visiting Champagne houses.  Unfortunately, I had some trouble finding suitable accommodations there.

I expanded my area and searched in Nancy, Dijon, and Beaune.  It was the same story.  I was having a hard time finding a place that had all I wanted– parking (preferably free), free WiFi, and pet friendly (preferably free).  I also wanted to find a place where we weren’t sharing walls, if at all possible.  Part of the appeal of vacation homes as opposed to hotel rooms or apartments is that we’re less likely to annoy someone if our dogs bark.

We did find one place near Dijon that looked very promising.  It was at a winery, which was a huge plus!  And, at least on Booking.com, it was supposedly pet friendly, too.  Then I did some more searching and found the place listed on other sites.  On those sites, it said pets were not allowed.  I got the sense that the owner was one of those people who will rent to pet owners if she has to, but would definitely prefer not to.  When I rent a place, I don’t want to be merely tolerated (although in truth, that’s probably the situation most of the time).  Anyway, I figured she’d rather rent to pet free folks and I’m fine with that.

Just as I was about to tear my hair out in frustration, I found a very unique property in Semur En Auxois.  It was called simply “Hexagonal Tower for Two”.  It was a nice, generic name, kind of like the title of this blog post.  But the property was far from generic.  What I was looking at was literally a tower intended to host guests.  And it was pet friendly!

Yes, this is a tower for two– count ’em– two people…

 

Although I had never heard of Semur En Axois before and had no idea of how to pronounce the name, I did some checking and thought it looked like a very picturesque place.  So I made a booking request and quickly got a response from Louise, the proprietor.  She advised me there would be a small supplement for the dogs (30 euros for both dogs over our three night stay).  Booking.com took payment for our stay and we’d need to pay Louise cash for the dogs.  That was fine, so we made our plans to visit.

The first thing I learned is the pronunciation of the town’s name (say-moor-ohn-ohk-swah).  Next, we plugged it into our GPS and were advised it would take about 5.5 hours to get there, mostly by way of excellent French high speed highways.  Then, when I looked for it on Google, I was advised it was actually seven hours away.  Nope– turns out the GPS was right.  If my series makes you want to visit, plan for about six hours tops on the road.  Also plan for tolls, though I don’t think they were excessive.  I think it came to about 30 euros each way.

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Our pet friendly Belgian Labor Day Adventure… Part one

Several weeks ago, Bill told me he wanted me to find us a place to go for Labor Day.  The only stipulation was that it had to be dog friendly, since our regular dog kennel was fully booked.  Since we were taking the dogs, Bill said wherever we went should also be within a few hours’ drive.  There are several places somewhat near that we want to see, so I did what I usually do when we need to make a tough choice between travel destinations.  I got out the champagne bucket.

I probably put about six destinations in the bucket and had Bill draw one out.  He pulled out Rochefort, Belgium.  I started looking for dog friendly places to stay in Rochefort and ended up finding a whole lot of vacation homes.  Apparently, there are lots of people in that part of Belgium who rent out their homes to vacationers.  Bill and I had never rented a house before, since we don’t have kids and usually don’t bring our dogs with us.  The idea of renting a house for the two of us and our dogs seemed a bit extreme.  Now, having done it, I think we will rent houses more often!

We didn’t end up staying in Rochefort, by the way.  Bill had to go to Ethiopia for a conference, so that delayed my decision on where we should go.  A few of the places that looked appealing to me were snatched up before I could book.  One location that repeatedly popped up in my research was Durbuy, a town I had never heard of prior to our visit.  I read that it was quite a cute town and very tourist friendly.  I also found Chalet Montana, a great house in nearby Barvaux, which is just a few minutes from Durbuy.  The price was right; the place was pet friendly; so I made my booking on Booking.com.

Bill went off to Ethiopia and I waited all last week for him to get home on Thursday.  He told me that despite the long trip to and from Africa, he’d be alright to drive the six hours to Belgium.  To be honest, I kind of had my doubts about that, but I went ahead and reserved us for four nights.  I very quickly got an email in perfect English from the owners of the chalet, who sent some instructions.  One thing I didn’t have to worry about was payment; Chalet Montana is set up so that you pay Booking.com.  We only needed to bring 250 euros in cash for a deposit.  The owners also suggested that we bring certain things with us, like towels, matches for the barbecue, and Senseo pods for the coffee maker.  Because we are coffee snobs, Bill made plans to bring a French press, our coffee grinder, and some nice fresh Peet’s.

What the owners didn’t mention in their email was sheets for the bed.  The chalet had pillows and duvets, but no sheets.  Fortunately, I bought two extra large beach towels that were perfect for covering the mattress.  Next time, we will bring sheets as a matter of course.

On Thursday morning, Bill got back from his business trip.  Unfortunately, he was delayed in Frankfurt due to someone checking bags and not showing up on the aircraft.  Then, once he got back to Stuttgart, he stopped by his office and then got stuck in traffic.  By the time he got home, it was almost 2:00pm.  I was a bit perturbed and so was he, especially since he hadn’t been able to sleep on the plane.  He took a shower and quickly changed clothes while I loaded up the car.  Just as we were pulling out of our town, I asked him if he’d remembered to pack the coffee.  Naturally, he hadn’t…  so I said, “Well, I guess that’ll give us a chance to try those Senseo pods.”  More on that, later.

Once we got on the road, we were delayed a bit by traffic and road closures.  It was pretty stressful getting out of Stuttgart.  Our route took us by Ramstein Air Force Base right around the time people were getting off work, so we got stuck in that traffic, too.  And we stopped at a couple of rest stops where I saw some guys peeing in public.  I mention this only because there was an article about kids and public urination on The Local Germany.  I shared it on my Facebook page and it sparked a very long discussion that went in several different directions!

I was awestruck by the beauty of the German countryside, especially near Trier, a town we visited in 2012 on our very first Space A hop.  Every time we drive through that area, I think I want to take a trip there again.  But we were on a mission to visit Belgium.  I was really looking forward to it.  During our first tour in Germany, Bill and I visited Belgium a couple of times; indeed, our first visit was to Brussels over Labor Day weekend 2008.  The Belgians embrace excellent beer, amazing frites, raucous humor, and chocolate.  What’s not to like?

Zane was like this most of the way to Belgium.  He gets nervous in cars and needs reassurance from Bill.

We stopped for gas in Belgium and Bill made use of the self service pay option.

 

The countryside in eastern Belgium is beautiful.  I couldn’t resist taking photos from our speeding car…

Just after I took this photo, we passed through a small town where a topless potbellied man stood on the side on the road.  I had my camera poised for taking photos, but did not take one of him.  He must have thought I did, though, because he gave me a dirty look as we passed.

We were supposed to get to Chalet Montana by 8:00pm, but traffic conspired to make us late.  We got there at about 8:30pm instead, where we were met by a very nice guy who had our keys and told us he manages 20 properties in the Durbuy area.  He showed Bill around while I held on to Zane and Arran, who were tired of traveling and very excited by the property manager.  After a few minutes, I entered the chalet and had a look around…  More on that in the next post!

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