2021 - Fall in France

I don't normally write about something as mundane as heading home but, because things have changed so much because of the pandemic, I thought it might be useful to share my experiences.  As I like to include photos when I write blogs - and there aren't any directly related to this content - I've posted some pics I took from the plane.  I don't normally have a window seat so thought I would take advantage of that. Leaving Frankfurt Airport Somewhere above the clouds Approaching Calgary Now back to the real point of this blog! In order to enter Canada, you have to have a PCR COVID test.  Because I was flying home from Frankfurt, it was very convenient as there is a testing centre right at the Frankfurt Airport between the long distance train station and Terminal 1.  It is operated by a company called Centogene.  I had set up an account before I arrived but actually never figured out how to book and pay for a test in advance - it was something about having an authe...

After 4 days here of dull, dreary weather, the sun finally appeared today for my last day here before I start heading home.  This afternoon, we drove south and west joining the Alsace Wine Road at St. Hippolyte.  Thankfully, there were still leaves on a lot of the vines which provided some wonderful photo ops. We stopped in Ribeauville, one of the most famous of the Alsace wine villages.  With the sun out, it did not disappoint.  I first visited this village in 1979 on my first trip to Europe.  I fell in love with it then and I have been lucky enough to come back to visit it many, many times since.  It is just magical - along with many of the other Alsatian wine villages. Ribeauvillé  (German  Rappoltsweiler)  is one of the oldest medieval towns in Alsace and it lies below the Vosges Mountains about 53 km southwest of Strasbourg.    It was known in the 8th century as Rathaldovilare and passed from the bishops of Basel to the lords o...

Monday morning, I took the train from Meilen to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof where I caught an ICE (Inter-City Express) to Freiberg.  There I changed to a regional train that stops at all the villages between there and Offenburg.  These trains used to be pretty old and grim but now they all seem to be newer with lots of space for people to bring their bicycles on board.  I tried to capture some of the scenery on the journey out of Switzerland because, even with the dull weather, it was lovely.  Here is a not-so-great video that might give you an idea. Because it was November 1st, it was All Saints Day in Switzerland, Germany, France and in other Catholic countries around the world. This day is  also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are known or unknown.   In places where All Sain...