It dropped below 30°f again this morning. A sweater hung out to dry yesterday is but frozen wool cardboard this morning. Another month or so and we'll look just like this photo. Well...without the glacier, mountain peak, and probably only a sciff of snow. This is a pic I took from the top of JungFrauJoch in Switzerland.

Over the border and up a little bit we snapped many shots of the northern Alsace village of Birlenbach. As I noted last week, some of our great relatives left this area (for Russia at the time) during the French revolution. It's a beautiful and snug little town, surrounded by fields of corn and, of course, row upon row of grapes. Not finding any stores or shops in Birlenbach we stopped at Wissembourg and bought some eclairs, goat cheese, and fresh Muscat grapes to nibble on. Even though Muscat is a white wine the grapes are red skinned. They have the same unmistakable, almost perfumey flavor of the wine.

We spent three days in Strasbourgh, France which is where we rented the car to drive up to Birlenbach and through the Alsace wine region. I've been to Strasbourg twice now and really enjoy the city. A map of the town shows the Petite France area outlined by the waterways. This is where you find the Cathedral (with the fascinating mechanical Astronomical clock inside) and many of the old buildings and shops. The waterway is worth a leisurely walk as illustrated in this picture of my Mom.

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