Breisach and the Black Forest

I hadn't slept well the previous night, not for any particular reason and nothing to do with the comfort of the cabin, probably just because it was my first night in a strange place!  I wasn't even hungry that morning and only had toast!!  However, that had still set me up for the first tour of the day - a bus trip into the Black Forest. This was one of the excursions included in our cruise package.  We had an optional extra one in the afternoon which was to Colmar, a quaint Alsatian town.

However, back to the Black Forest.  When we got to our destination in the woods, you could either go shopping or go with the guide for a short walk.  Not being one for the 'tourist' shopping kind of thing, my husband and I went for a walk through the woods up to a waterfall and back.  If you're thinking about doing the walk instead of shopping, it's not too strenuous, but the ground can be a bit rough and there are some inclines.  It's not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies, and you'd need to be wearing suitable footwear.

I think I had better start including some photos now, so here are a few to get us going:

We visited here and now I can't remember the name of the church - I think it was St. Martin's, but I'm not 100% sure!

Interior of the church - it was magnificent

View over the misty hills from the courtyard

Shopping area

Woods and waterfalls during our walk

Small house

Largest cuckoo clock in the world - apparently!

Our visit here was soon over and it was time head back to the coaches to be taken back to the boat, or is it a ship - I have no idea!! A word about the coaches while I remember - they are fabulous. Very clean and comfortable and all of them have on-board toilet facilities.

Once back to the boat, we had a safety drill.  Your lifejackets are kept under the beds in your cabin should you need them, and our drill went off without a hitch.  It was then lunchtime, and very nice it was too. You can choose to have lunch either in the restaurant or on the Aquavit Terrace for a buffet lunch.  We gave each of them a try and both were lovely, so do try both styles to see what you like best. Remember too that on this cruise, your drinks at lunch and at dinner are included in the price of your holiday.  You can choose from beer, wine or soft drinks.

It was off to Colmar next. Now, I had done some research here and was looking forward to seeing Colmar and the waterways there, but I was in for a big disappointment. When we got to Colmar the guide gave us the option of doing a walking tour, which we chose to do, and it was good, but we never saw any canal systems.  Well, it turns out that they are at least a 20 minute walk away from where the walking tour takes place, but it was my fault as I had never asked about it.  By the time the tour was finished, we didn't  have time to walk to the 'Little Venice' area and back again, so I was really very disappointed that I had missed my chance to see this area as it looks very picturesque if you look at photos on the internet. So, if you want to go to this area of Colmar, skip the walking tour and do it yourself so that you leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the meeting point for your coach back to the boat.

Meanwhile though, here are some photos of Colmar, which is a really lovely place to see.  It's well worth taking the optional tour to visit here.

Colmar

Colmar

Colmar

Of course, these are not the photos that I had hoped to have, but that can't be helped! I just wish I had asked about the 'Little Venice' area prior to the guided walk, so don't make the same mistake as I did! Anyway, we were taken back to the boat by coach and we got ready for dinner. This was the welcome dinner night but, don't worry about dressing up on this boat, you're not expected to wear a dicky bow and dinner suit here, unless you want to of course.  Smart but casual is the order of the day on every night, even on the welcome night.

I did find the timings of things to be a bit odd, because cocktail hour was normally 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and then the daily briefing took place at 7 p.m.  Well, that was usually when we were getting ready for our dinner, so we missed all of those events, although plenty of other people did find the time to attend - I really don't know how they done it!!  Perhaps they are more seasoned to cruising compared to us!! Anyway, dinner was lovely, as it always was, and then there was a concert that night in the lounge area by the Black Forest Voices, which was fairly entertaining.  However, don't expect entertainment on the scale of an ocean cruise - there's none of that on this boat. The only normal kind of entertainment was a chap who played piano and sang in the lounge.

That night we cast off at 11 p.m., the next stop being Strasbourg, France.