Day 13

Sunday, July 23, I woke up about 7:00, showered and did a little packing. I went down to the buffet breakfast and loaded up. The Hotel Europa was really an ideal place to stay. I imagine it is not in many travel brochures because it doesn't accept credit cards. I dragged my bags down the stairs and settled my bill. I was off at about 8:30.

I wanted to make it to Reims, France this day because Reims is only about a two hour drive to Paris. I got on the autobahn I had walked over the day before. There was noticeably less traffic on this Sunday than there was on the Friday when I arrived. There were very few trucks on the road. I guess the truck drivers take off on Sunday in Europe. I headed back up toward Stuttgart, on the same road I came in on. Why, you ask? I toyed with the idea of taking a standard road (non super-highway) to Paris, and even entertained the idea of going the Southern route through the Swiss Alps and through Zurich,Switzerland and Basil, France. I decided to retrace my previous route only because it is the most direct one to Paris and I did not want to decrease my time in Paris.

Things were going well along the autobahn. A Porsche passed me going at least 150 mph. I went through Ulm and Stuttgart, no problems.

It was too good to be true, of course. All of a sudden there were brake lights up ahead. The autobahn was one big parking lot about 10 or 15 miles before the city of Karlsbad, a suburb of Karlsruhe. The traffic was either moving at 5 mph or not at all. I was in this tie-up for about 3 hours! Thank goodness for my barbershop tape, "How Sweet the Sound", by the Vocal Majority. I had actually intended to bring one of their other tapes, "The Music Never Ends", but I had it in the wrong case. I should have brought them both. I came to find out there was a detour through the city of Karlsbad. and the traffic from both ways had been re-routed through the city.

The detour signs disappeared somewhere in Karlsbad, and after driving around in circles for a while, I finally found the autobahn going toward Strasbourg. Oops, I turned off too early. I crossed the Rhine at Reinmunster instead. I was on a two lane road. I continued until my road intersected the French A4. I was back on track and had a clear shot back through Metz and on to Reims. Crossing the border between France and Germany was like going from Texas to New Mexico. There were no border guards at all.

I arrived in Taissy, an Eastern suburb of Reims, about 5:30pm. I had planned the night before to stay at another Campanile Hotel because of my positive experience a few days before in Metz. I really liked these hotels. They had just the kind of amenities I wanted without the frills I didn't want. The cable tv was all French, though, except for a station that was in Italian, I think. The hotel clerk informed me that the restaurant would start serving at 7:30, so after I had settled in a little, I got back in the car and drove around Reims a little bit. I found a money machine at a little bank in the old little town of Taissy and drove through a park where families were having picnics. I stumbled upon the headquarters of the Pommery Winery, makers of a fine Champagne. Reims is in the center of the Champagne region of France. The look of the winery was quite impressive. Gray buildings with pink and gold trim. I wish I had had more time for Reims. I learned later that there is a Cathedral there that rivals the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. There are numerous winery, vineyard and cellar tours conducted by the famous Champagne houses around Reims.

I got back to my hotel about 7:30 and went to the hotel restaurant to eat. I ordered a price fixed dinner from the menu (They had special menus in English and other languages.) that included a choice of entree', salad, vegetable, appetizer buffet and dessert buffet. My entree' choice was lamb in garlic sauce and the salad was escarole with vinegarette. Very good, but the appetizer buffet was beyond belief. I cannot begin to remember what all was on the buffet, but it was a huge selection. They had a poached salmon on a big platter, boiled shrimp (with the heads on), Some kind of fish rolled on a pickle (maybe pickled herring), many different cheeses, breads, several kinds of sauces and condiments, and cold escargot in the shell. These are the items I selected. There were many more things from which to choose. I went back for seconds. Accompanying the meal, I had a small bottle of Beaujolais. Here I was in the Champagne region of France, so why was I drinking Beaujolais?

I barely had room for coffee and the dessert buffet, but I managed to waddle up to the table to sample about three of the approximately 12 items they had. I had some chocolate mousse and two kinds of cake. The coffee was espresso in a big cup, because I had really wanted american style coffee and had asked for the kind of coffee in a large cup. I guess the waiter misunderstood, but the espresso was very good. I put the bill on my hotel tab.

I walked around a little bit before going to my room. There was a bowling alley, of all things, down the way, so I went there and found that it looked just like an American bowling alley, with video games and pool tables too.

I went back to my room and watched a little French tv. I noticed in both in France and Germany, that there are a whole host of American tv shows and American movies on tv that are dubbed into the native language.

I got to sleep about 11:00.

End Day 13