As we started to write this post about Colmar – a beautiful village in the Alsace region of France – Marty and I realized that, rather than focus on the touristy stuff, we would much prefer telling you about some of the people we’ve met or the off-the-wall places we’ve discovered or even simply our thoughts on the traveling experience.

First, though, here are a couple of photos of Colmar. You can see why it is considered one of France’s “Little Venices.”

So pretty!

Our second evening in Colmar, we went to a small restaurant for crêpes and beef Bourgogne. We had a lovely meal, and the waiter was oh-so-patient with my butchered French. We sat with coffees after we ate. A couple of Americans (a woman of about 30 and her mother) sat down next to us and introduced themselves. They quickly directed their questions to the food at the cafe. We told them it was very good and the service was great. They said, “but was it amazing? We only do amazing.” We were taken aback. In truth it wasn’t “amazing” and we didn’t want to lie but we also felt that they would have a good meal there for a reasonable price. We repeated that it was very good. We were a bit shocked when they got up and left the restaurant.

Later we sat in the town square watching people on their evening walks and we saw the same couple going from restaurant to restaurant, examining menus and interrogating customers. To each, their own, we thought! Maybe it was the wine but it seemed to us that we’d much prefer to stop for dinner at a restaurant with very good food (but perhaps not quite “amazing”!) and simpatico waiters and then sit on a bench, enjoying the scenery and the diverse cross-section of humanity ambling by. We hope that they found their “amazing” meal…

We had no wi-fi for a couple of days (either due to false advertising or a breakdown in communication ;)).

So here’s what we did the first two days, despite our jet lag. We drove from Frankfurt to Oberammergau, a trip that our Garmin said would take fours but which stretched into six plus. The next morning we were off to Dachau. Dachau has the dubious distinction of being the first of hundreds of Nazi concentration camps. It’s hard to take it all in – but probably should be required for any person in a position of power (all German school children must visit one of these prisons; why not all elected officials??). The goal of visiting, along with learning a lot of history, is to promote harmony and peace, to ensure that we have learned from the past. Ne plus jamais – never again.

Where prisoners slept at Dachau.

The next day we went to a very different tourist spot – Mad King Ludwig’s castle. It is probably the most visited castle in Germany. It was interesting and beautiful; HOWEVER if we were to do it over again, we’d probably save the 27 euros and skip the (short and drab) guided tour and just enjoy the views and the outside. (Note: Bunny had already been to Dachau and Mad King Ludwig’s in 1982). Here’s a photo:

After the castle, we hit the autobahn for another marathon drive, this time to Colmar, France. More about Colmar in our next post…

We are not seasoned globe trotters, not even close. But, from our limited experience, it is our conclusion that one should not make any judgments about a trip – particularly an international one – within the first 24 hours (perhaps even 48). This theory held true when we traveled with Ben and Scott in 2012 and became miserably lost looking for our London flat. It also played out when we arrived in Nice in 2014 to a deluge of biblical proportions and then walked for 15 minutes (in the rain) to the train station to find that we could not get any French person to make eye contact with us, listen to our earnest yet flawed French queries and explain how the train ticket system worked.

And, as we ventured forth again to foreign soil, we found that the combination of jet lag X unfamiliar customs X limited language skills can combine exponentially to make you wonder why the hell you are spending thousands of dollars for the privilege of this torture.

But then you get some sleep (the most important part of the equation), you meet some simpatico souls, you look around in awe – and you’re back in business.

Wow, I took way too many words (as usual) to get to my point: like many things in life, travel takes some effort and a smattering of faith to arrive at your destination. You may encounter bumps along the way but if you hang in there, you’ll be rewarded.

We made it from Frankfurt to Oberammergau (still in Germany). What a lovely village! Here are a couple of pics:

I’m too tired to write any more tonight! We’ll explain how we made it to France in the next post. ☺