Driving the Germany - France border

On July 8, drove Route des Crêtes which is an 89 km long road along the ridge of the Vosges
Mountains which separate France and Germany.  During World War I, the French troupes 
used this road to run supplies north and south.  That is a pretty simplified history, but what we 
saw were some beautiful views of the valley below from both sides.  It reminded us of the Blue 
Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

Lunch was a picnic on the grass up on a high corner, with almost a 360 view of the valley.  Just
look at these pictures we took from our lunch location.

Our hotel in Goumois was an 1875 restored farm house, near the Swiss border.  It has
been an inn for at least 4 generations.  We were taken to a lovely room, with shuttered windows 
that could be open to the outside.  The weather is no longer hot, but pleasant temperatures
that gave us both a good night's rest.

Dinner was superb, fine wine and several courses of food left us full of the flavors of French 
cuisine.  We even had a cheese course, where the server brought out a cart and asked us
to choose about 4 cheeses from the cart.

On the morning of July 9, Odile went for a run from the French hotel to the Swiss border and back.
Actually, it was a pretty short run, although downhill to the river and a very steep uphill run back.

A French breakfast buffet included croissants, breads, jams, yogurt, fruit, meats, eggs, juice, 
and fabulous strong coffee.  After breakfast, we were ready to hit the road again and head for 
Talloires on Lac d'Annecy.