Yesterday afternoon, and despite being over dressed for the weather, we walked to the Cave de Turckheim, on the outskirts of town, for a wine tasting. Never a good idea on an empty stomach but we managed and even remembered to pick up our wine this morning. Usefully, each wine had an information card detailing, amongst other measurements, its precise sugar content, surprisingly we both preferred a dry (0.9g/l) Muscat which we associate with sweet wine to a classic Riesling. You live and learn, hic.
Our day ended with a late night walk into town to follow the Night Watchman on his round at 10pm. An ancient role, originally intended to remind residents to ‘take care of the fireplace and candle’ before bed. Today, the round is recreated by the Turckheim Historical Society and, each night between May and October, the NightWatchman can be seen on the streets, singing at each junction and wishing everyone a good night.
There were 12 of us following the watchman last night. On each corner we were encouraged to join the Watchman in his singing followed by local stories. It was such a shame our French and German are simply not good enough to keep up. We had seen the silhouette symbol of the Watchman in many places around town and finally it all made sense.
Today we had 650km drive from Turckheim to Otterlo in the Netherlands. There was some frantic last minute googling to buy a Crit’air badge to allow the car through Strasbourg. £4.50 well spent although, after paying to post it to us, quite how the French Government make a profit is a mystery.
Our route took us past ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’. Colmar was home to Frederic Bartholdi designer of the famous statue that graces New York harbour.
We arrived in Otterlo at 6pm, tired and hungry. We are staying in a sort of youth hostel with no visible staff. Following check in instructions was our first significant challenge – the correct code entered in the correct key locker. We didn’t expect it to be such a challenge.
Otterlo is surrounded by forest and, tomorrow’s plan is to cycle the Kroller-Miller park, visiting the museum. Fingers crossed the Dutch weather stays fine.
braysabroad 