(Wednesday, Sept. 23) We hated to leave Ribeauville. The town had just the right amount of tourist attractions and services, with little foot or auto traffic, great weather, and a terrific scenic setting amount the vineyards of Alsace. Staying with our innkeepers, the Two Sisters Marie, was likely vacationing at the home of your favorite aunties. They ran out laundry down to the cleaners for us, shared some great personal stories with us, and sent us off to fun days of sightseeing and good places to fill out stomachs at the end of the day.
With regret, we finally headed off to Germany late Wednesday morning, on our way to the spa town of Baden-Baden to meet up with our friends Agnes and Leon, who were stopping there for town nights on their way south to the Swiss Alps with a Rick Steves tour group.
The Two Sisters Marie sent on a scenic, although somewhat slow route, down out of the foothills of Les Vosages and across the Rhine back into Germany. When we hit the At Autobahn heading north toward Stuttgart, the slow lane of this two-lane stretch of freeway was almost filled bumper to bumper with big rigs. As a result, we were either screaming by them at 140-150 KPH, or hitting the brakes and slowing down to 80 as smaller trucks and other vehicles pulled out in the fast lane to creep by the large trucks.
Around mid-day we pulled into one of the mini-market gas station/rest stop/cafeterias that dot the European expressways. We filled up the Beemer, filled up ourselves with a quick lunch, and then got back onto the A5. Just as the highway widened into three lanes each way allowing us to put the pedal to the metal, we reached the Baden-Baden exit. Less than fifteen minutes later we had reached the town and Miss Moneypenny saved the day again by leading us through a long-tunnel that takes traffic off surface streets, then out into the sun, a quick turn up a narrow lane, a left down a yet narrower street, and right to our hotel.
After checking into the hotel, we followed directions from the hotel staff to find the Avis rental office to drop off our car. No taxis were available to run us back uptown to rendezvous with Agnes and Leon at their hotel, so the Avis manager kindly had her driver take us there in the Beemer.
We spent an hour chatting with our friends at their hotel, then the four of us walked over to the town’s casino and enjoyed an hour long classical music concert. The weather was once again in the 80’s, so I left Cindy to have a cool drink at a local café with Agnes and Leon, while I walked three minutes back to our hotel to take a shower and change for dinner.
We all had a fine dinner together under the stars in a courtyard of a local restaurant, and after a pleasant three hour repast, said our goodbyes and returned to our respective hotels to prepare for departure from Baden-Baden the next morning.
