After a disturbed night's sleep, from both the snoring guy next door and my itching hands (miraculous water made things worse!) we headed down into the breakfast room where a beautiful spread was waiting. There was fresh pastries and freshly baked bread, cereals and yogurts and home made jams. We ate well and were ready for a day exploring this region.
We drove to Saverne, in the Alsace area and parked . This is an old town, with charming buildings and a 12th century church. We spent a few hours walking around in the hot, hot sun. All the shops closed at 12noon, but there were still some tourists around. This is not a big tourist area. There are no crowds and it is really strange to hear someone speak in English.
We had a coffee overlooking the Palace, which is now a museum that doesn't look all that good, but the view was nice. I made the mistake of ordering a cappuccino. We discovered last year when we were in France that this is not the coffee of choice and they don't do it well. Note to self: cafe au lait.
The town has a lock in the canal in the middle of town. We watched it fill for a couple of boats and then empty for another one. It was a pretty cool to see how it all worked.
We drove back to Sarrebourg as there was a gallery there Ken wanted to see. They have some really great street art in this town, but the place just doesn't seem to be very vibrant. They also have an amazing chapel with an massive window of Chagall stained glass . This is what Ken wanted to visit so we went there first. It is really beautiful and with the sun shining so brightly outside we saw it in the best circumstances. Our entrance also gave us entrance to the Sarrebourg gallery which we checked out. They had some nice pieces in there including a big Chagall tapestry. There was also a room of gorgeous glass pieces. The town claims to be a glass artisan town and these were certainly worth seeing. There are also some archeological finds in there. We were almost the only people visiting these galleries and they are certainly world class. There is no real tourism associated with it, and not even any glass shops in town. Where can I spend the last of my euros?
We went supermarket searching again. Though, this time we had seen one on the way in and entered the street into the GPS and there we were in giant supermarket land, with an enormous Lidl next to an enormous Cora. We chose the Cora and Ken was immediately distracted by the range of goods in there. I started filling my basket with bits and pieces I needed . We found a small baguette, a small cheese (we have no discipline, if we buy big we eat it all), fruit, chocolate (see no discipline) and beer and wine.
Back home to snack and have a siesta before our dinner later tonight.
I booked this area for the most beautiful village in France and was disappointed. I had booked this hotel because it was called L'Etable Gourmand, with a gourmet restaurant with great reviews.
We walked across the road and entered, being shown to a room, built between 2 old buildings, with huge beams and a pitched glass ceiling. It is not a big room, but the tables are positioned with plenty of space around. We were given a taster of home cured ham and terrine, olives and pickled veges. We chose the degustation menu with matching wines.
OMG! The food was unbelievable. We started with a plate with gazpacho, which had mozzarella and ham, a tiny chicken and chickpea salad and a tuna salad. Then we were given another home made bread roll. I hadn't finished the first, but it was to go with the next course, a beautiful plate of home cured ham with an orange salad .
Next up came a langoustine scampi in a beautiful sauce. It was so delicious and the wine was matching perfectly. Then came a steamed cod with a yummy lemon butter sauce. Then a glass domed plate arrived which was taken apart to reveal pigeon. The pigeon smelt so amazing, we inhaled the aromas for a while and then dived in. Wow. Great.
Feeling quite full, we were then presented with a cheese plate. 5 different hard cheeses. Most of these were yummy, but one was too strong for me, a cauliflower/farmy taste.
Final course was dessert. It was presented in a 2 tier glass bowl. The crockery was all really beautiful. It was a delicious berry compote in the bottom half and a home made gelato which had a slight licorice taste and a tuille biscuit. So good.
The owner, Nathalie, was our waitress. She speaks very little English, but was relying on my very little French to convey each dish. We did OK. At the end of the meal we were the only ones left and the chef, Pierre, came out to say hi. He is Nathalie's husband. He says he is the cook and she is the chief. His English was pretty good so he chatted to us for a while, then gave Ken a cognac and me a champagne. A perfect way to finish. Definitely best meal of the trip!
We walked across the country road, giving way to a tractor (really) and tucked up for a good night's sleep, our last in France for a little while.

Steps 8,997
Kms walked 6.3