Thank God for weekends!

I mean it when I say it, thank God for weekends. I have been very busy all week, my new job takes up most of my time and energy…and of course I have my family and home too…so again I haven’t had much time for blogging. I am now so happy that the weekend is finally here and its time for some rest and relaxation!!

So since it’s friday and we are relaxing let me take you on a little tour of the French Alps. I have to admit that I am so worn out that I don’t have much intellegent to say…so can we pretend its wordless Wednesday and let these pictures stand alone??

Majestic alps

I love the flat fields with the mountains in the background

We ate our lunch at this idealistic little lake

Let the fresh air of the Alps take your breath away!! Anybody else feel like singing from The Sound of Music??? I had the urge several times during the trip but I restrained myself, fortunately for the others on our trip.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

Bloggers in colorful Alsace

Hello my friends! I am a little bit ashamed because I haven’t been more active in the blogsphere. I have been around Facebook enough but I haven’t been as active as normal here and visiting my other blog friends. Allow me to explain, I have started my new full time job, which takes a while to adjust too. It’s quite demanding and I have a lot of things to figure out since I am responsible for setting up my own work and following up my own clients. On top of this, week 2 on the job I seem to have gotten the flu. I am a little a fraid to call it the flu because everyone is so crazy about the flu these days. I really don’t think I have the swineflu. I haven’t seen a pig in weeks hahaha. No seriously I have been under the weather but no worse then earlier experiences. None-the-less I have also been home today, Monday. Tomorrow I feel like I have to drag myself out the door and in to work, and I hope that my colleagues accept that and don’t throw me out of the center in Swine-flu-hysterics!

Ribeauville Hotel Au Leon

But today we are going to think about something much more pleasant and more colorful.Alsace is located on the eastern boarder of France along the west bank of the river Rhine with a boarder to Switzerland and Germany (both of which we also visited). Alsace has changed hands many times between France and Germany, and the building style reflects this.

Beautiful old houses in Ribeauville

Traditionally houses in Alsace are constructed with walls in timber framing and roofing in flat tiles. This is partially because in earlier times during periods of war and bubonic plague villages were often burned down. To prevent the collapse of the upper floors, ground floors were then built of stone and upper floors in half-timberings to prevent the spread of fire.

The buildings are almost as colorful as the abundant flowers

In recent times villagers began painting their houses white in accordance with the Beau-Arts movement. In order to discourage this and to keep its heritage regional authorities began giving financial grants to the inhabitants to keep their buildings in their famous colorful style and preserve this charming culture. I can’t imagine anyone dreaming of painting these houses white, can you??

Pink houses with matching flowers

Visiting Alsace and the chraming town of Ribeville especially was a bit like entering a storybook land. A land far far away with beautiful cottages, abundance of flowers, complete with an ancient castle overlooking it from above. We had planned on visiting the castle before we left, but unfortunately  we had only one day in Alsace on our way home, and in the morning when we wanted to go to the castle it rained.

Chateau du Hohlandsbourg

So the fairytale will have to wait until another time …or maybe it is meant to stay a fairytale. Whichever the case this was one of my favorite places during our whole trip. I am sure you can understand why!

Renny, Tor and Anna enjoying Alsace wine

Remember to visit our fellow cruisers. RennyBA, Claudie, TorAa, and Lifecruiser.