We went to Colmar for lunch! The drive was again through farmland with the multitude of poppies and a purple flower in fields that I don’t recognize, corn is up, as said before, major area for it, “you pick” flower farms are a buzz and peonies are the major at the moment.
Picture is of Breisach where Christoph bought the lovely fruit covered cake, this is the newly paved town square with water park feature.
The restaurant is one we'd both been to before, he with tour groups, me on my own. www.restaurant-pfeffel.fr The food was excellent! It’s patio is adjacent to a large bachle type area where kids play in the shallow water. Mandatory masks in the city centre here but many not wearing them, I did. Lunch was great and we felt as if on holiday since it’s probably been a year of not dining outside at a restaurant.
Our real destination was to friends of Christoph’s farm for me to meet two sisters that live there. I wanted to take pictures but felt it might be intrusive especially for a first time meeting. Uta, the youngest at 78 lived many years in Pennsylvania and has moved back to live with Aries her elder sister at 91. The farm is beautiful but somewhat dilapidated and they know it and want to improve. To get it fully functioning again it needs a full time handy person. Aries has a horse and donkey, she still frequently rides the horse who greeted me with a gentle nudge. The donkey, I’d been warned about wanted to bite my open hand so I didn’t spend much time with him but he was handsome. There is a large pool on the property but hasn’t been cleaned for sometime, vegetation is rampant with cleared circular areas of plantings. The buildings are old, a bit dusty but comfortable. Uta lives in one cottage, small, but comfortable. Aries house is large and open with a lot of light featuring her sculptures done in clay (large) and bronze, I could really appreciate her talent and the flowing cylindrical pieces. More on the brief glance I had of it, old artifacts of farming equipment, bits of memorabilia, eg. Tiny Chain purse you would take to a swanky party, armoire complete with spider web, a piano, so many beautiful and obviously meaningful items to her outlining different phases of her life. She said that in her sculpting days she would present and attend the parties full of “fake” but rich people who would buy her work, make a lot of money but she quit that for other pursuits that pleased her more.
Talented ladies in the arts and very interesting to talk to. Oh, the dog which I didn’t get the name of but think of a shaggy long haired very friendly beast and you’ve got it. The colours in it’s hair were brown and black and he had a fringe over his eyes. I kept filling up his water bowl so he appreciated that and put his wet snout on my knee. A couple were there also, Isabela, spoke German, rapidly and often overtook conversations and Pierre, quieter, probably couldn’t get a word in, who spoke more French. Christoph bought cake in Breisach at his friend’s bakery and we secured it in a box in the trunk, thankfully because there were many roundabouts between points. To explain, 3:00 pm in Germany and France it is time to take a break and have kaffe and kuchen, coffee and cake, Dawna is well versed with this and I think her favourite time of day. I was ready to leave but mentioned the stove which provides heat and hot water to the property Christoph had fixed for them a couple of weeks ago and Aries said it was on the fritz again. So Christoph and Pierre attempted to fix it again delaying leaving by another hour or so. To set the scene, we sat, on a patio with mostly camp chairs underneath gigantic filbert or hazelnut trees at Uta’s place. Tea and coffee were served with the cakes in a variety of cups and plates, mine was a Beatrix Potter delicate cup, honoured! I’ve lately seen videos of her life in the lake district of England and her substantial contribution to preserving the farming way of life there with admiration. Then, of course, there are her books writings and illustrations by her published in a time when there were few woman authors.
We both felt like we’d been on a mini vacation with the added bonus for me of meeting two new inspiring women! I will be staying in touch!
Ute, and a friend who has trouble with stairs, and Christoph, the ever reliable driver, are going to Dijon end of June. Right now he is teaching full time so I offered to look for accommodation for the three. Email sent today with options which are quite a few really with parameters given.
Out my window, I saw a couple of people playing badminton and it’s really quite breezy out, seems like a useless attempt to me but who am I to say.
Watched the 30th anniversary of M.A.S.H always an enjoyable bit of funny and this is too, see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz1a2pY_E8M
The lavender on the balconies are in full bloom and tonight I am enjoying the scent wafting through. I gave a bunch to Frank when he come for lunch yesterday, I will not bring it in the house since it is toxic to cats.
Happy Father's Day this Sunday the 20th!
Lack of pictures means you get a couple of sunsets! Oh joy! I could make a coffee table book with the many I have.
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