France - pastries, pottery and chocolate

Geri Conlin came to the office on Friday morning to see if we were up to a quick trip to France. 

Well, Dave had appointments late in the afternoon, so we settled on an early departure on Saturday morning ... driving toward Colmar, France. Our first stop, a bakery, of course. We each went home with three baguettes. It was so fun just to watch the locals come in for their loaves of bread.

Walking around the streets of Soufflenheim was so interesting. 

It doesn't matter where we are, basketball seems to be a common pastime.

We were invited into the church and found it a little different than what we had seen in other towns. Because of the emphasis on pottery in this cool little town,  many of the nativities were done in pottery.

This was an animated scene with water running through the village.

I will do a whole post

on just doors, but

until then, here are a

 few doors that I

found interesting.

Scott and Geri Conlin were fun to travel with. We stopped at many "dots" on the map.

We had dinner at a nice little lodge-type place in Gerardmer. 

We were introduced to Raclette. We were seated outside, but he breeze was so strong, our flame wouldn't melt the cheese. So, inside we went to finish our meal.

Conlins knew of a upscale chocolate store we had to visit. Luckily, we got there just before closing. 

Oh, so many choices!

Lohr am Main - Snow White's Castle

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮 Saturday is a special day ... it's the day we get to explore-day! 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

This weekend we took a fairly short drive to see Snow White's Castle

in Lohr am Main. It's a quaint little town with the castle nestled among the half-timbered buildings.

The Spessart Museum told the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In 1986, after many years of investigation, Dr. Karlheinz Bartels, a pharmacist and "fable researcher" from Lohr am Main,was able to prove conclusively, that Snow White came from Lohr.

Snow White was, according to Dr. Bartels, an angel of mercy and kindness; charitable toward the poor and the suffering.

How did the dwarfs enter the picture? It was necessary for very small people, at times even children, to be employed as laborers in the low mine tunnels.

A view of the model of the castle.

"Talking Mirrors" have been proven to be a product of the Mirror Manufacture of the Electorate of Mainz in Lohr (1698-1806). Mirrors from Lohr were so elaborately worked that they had the reputation of "always speaking the truth".

Just like a couple of kids, we had fun with the fun-house type mirrors!

Steinau and Bruders Grimm (as in fairy tales)

We stopped in Hanau thinking there would be more to see about the Brothers Grimm, but this statue was about it. 

So we headed to Steinau.

Here we are with the new AMHA, Welby Scott (and his wife, Sally.)

Steinau was a delightful little town with many old timbered houses. Many of the shops were closed, so we headed directly to the Brüder Grimm Haus which was founded in 1998. The Grimm family lived there from 1791-1796. It was interesting to find out more about how the Grimm Fairy Tales came about. The brothers didn’t write the fairy tales, the stories existed long before the two men were born.

It was interesting to learn that their brother, Ludwig, was a talented artist who has many wonderful sketches and portraits displayed in the museum. In addition to compiling fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Snow White and many more familiar stories, the brothers were also heavily into creating a German dictionary and history books. It would be a fun place to take the family, as it has several interactive areas.

The likeness is uncanny. 

The Seven Dwarfs?

Welby and Sally Scott

The "Museum Steinau" across the courtyard from the Brüder Grimm Haus, shows the history of the city and the trade road between Frankfurt and Leipzig, the two big cities with trading fairs in the German Empire.

This is a section of the road showing the deeps ruts made from years of travel.

The Steinau Palace with its Renaissance complex is a mixture between medieval castle, Renaissance palace and fortress. If it hadn’t been so cold outside, we would have spent more time exploring.

The Burgmannenhaus had a welcoming atmosphere and delicious hot chocolate to warm us from the cold. Dave was delighted to partake of the wild boar, which was procured and butchered by the owner. There were some impressive European mounts of other animals, too.

 

Who is that in the window?