Week 102: My Birthday Week!

My birthday week was a big blur! My biggest wish was to go somewhere in the Alsace region and drink wine in a wine cave. Since we would be dog sitting later in the week, we decided to go on Monday.

When the kids left for school, we got on the road for Eguisheim, France. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the scenic drive through the French countryside.

When we arrived in Eguisheim, we did a short walk around the center of town. This is one of the three villages that Belle’s village in Beauty and the Beast is based off of. The main parts being the fountain and town square. It was definitely really cute and you could see the similarities.

We walked around looking for a restaurant that served French Onion Soup, but unfortunately, none was to be found. We settled for a wine cave and Asparagus Soup, which I had never had before. I was shocked with how good it was! I’m normally a picky eater and was a little anxious to try something new. It was so good, I exclaimed “Wow!” after the first bite, lol!

My mom and I tried just about every white wine on the menu, in the tiny Alsatian wine glasses. Then, we finished up lunch with a delicious Creme Brûlée.

After lunch, we did some more walking around the ramparts of the town, taking pictures.

We were surprised during our walk to look up and see huge birds’ nests. The birds were storks! I had always thought these were mythical creatures, but turns out they are actually real. The are really big, with big nests so it makes sense that they supposedly deliver babies. Storks are the symbol of Alsace, and I even own some Alsatian wine glasses with storks etched on them, but never knew why. Spring is nesting season so we started noticing the nests and storks everywhere.

After Eguisheim, my parents took me birthday shopping at my favorite French store, Cora. They stocked me up on plenty of French wine for my collection.

The rest of the week, we were running around as usual. Paisley and Tobi came for a visit, we had many good dinners at favorite restaurants, and some stops for ice cream in town.

On Saturday, Brooklyn had another double header and Ryan brought his bike and biked miles around the track.

Sunday was my birthday and we visited a nature park close to Lake Bodensee called Appenberg Salem. The main draw of the park are the macaque monkeys, but there are several types of wildlife in the park, as well walking trails, and a treetop walk. Since we had so much fun with the macaques in Gibraltar, we were excited to see them again.

First thing we noticed when we arrived where all the nesting storks on the rooves of the buildings. We were just across the Rhine River from Alsace, so that made sense. Affenberg was packed! It was pretty nice weather, so of course, the Germans were out in force. Once we got into the nature park, we hiked over to the monkey mountain. We did see some macaques, but they were extremely tame and meek. There was food all over the ground so they are obviously fed quite well and don’t need to fend for themselves like the Gibraltar macaques. Since the mountain was so crowded, it was hard to see them up close as huge crowds formed around every macaque.

Within the monkey park is a treetop walk, made up of varying pedestrian suspension bridges. My parents told us they wanted to go at the ticket booth, but I don’t think they knew what they were getting in to. My mom has vertigo and is afraid of heights, among other anxieties, so I was shocked she got on when we arrived at the the walk. I was so proud of her though; she went all the way around and finished, even if she didn’t stop and check anything out. lol

After we finished the Treetop Walk and left the monkey part of Affenberg, we hike around the lake, which is stocked for enormous fish; not sure of the type. In the lake were islands where many swans were nesting.

The final attraction were the German deer, which we got to see being fed. They were pretty cute.

After we were done at Affenberg, we headed to Tower 66, the Route 66 themed steakhouse in our town for birthday dinner. We ate here last year and really loved it so were excited to go back again. The food is so good and the Route 66 decor is pretty spot on. We had a great dinner and it was so special to have my parents here for my birthday!