It’s been very busy recently, but I’ve finally got a few minutes to update the blog. Aude and I had to attend a friend’s wedding in Nancy, France, and we took the opportunity to visit friends of ours across Europe.

After a quick crossing of the Channel by ferry, we had lunch in Brugges and then drove onwards to Brussels. We met up with my friends Marc and Judith and had a nice dinner (although we had to abandon our al fresco plans due to Portugal fans celebrating their win in the World Cub — they were circling around and around, blowing their horns. With the number of Portuguese celebrating in Brussels, you’d be forgiven for assuming that there weren’t any Portuguese left in Portugal.

From Brussels we made a long drive to Alsace, where we stayed in a lovely hotel right in the middle of a vineyard:

The vineyard next to our hotel

We arrived quite late and had a bit of an ordeal finding someplace to have dinner (which ended up being the Alsacian regional dish of choucroute garnie — sauerkraut with a variety of types of pork and sausages). The next day, we explored the local town of Ribeauvillé:

Ribeauvillé

Matt in Ribeauvillé

Aude seems to be enjoying herself.

Les Cigognes – the Alsacian storks

White storks are one of the region’s most beloved symbols and for many centuries they return every year from Africa to announce the coming of spring in France. Aude reliably informs me that this is also where French babies come from.

A typical Alsacian house in the centre of Ribeauvillé

We visited the shop where next to the vineyard and bought some local Muscat. No prizes for guessing where the inspiration for the wine box came from.

Matt in Alsace

The Alsacian countryside