September 30th, 2025–Germany, France and Switzerland

This morning we got off the riverboat on the Rhine at Basel, Switzerland, rented a car, and drove to Lucerne, Switzerland, where we are spending the night.  Because of its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne and within sight of the Swiss Alps, I think Lucerne is one of the most beautiful cities in Switzerland. The major landmark in the city is the Chapel Bridge, a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.  We came here about ten years ago, and liked it so much we wanted to come back.  This part of Switzerland is German speaking, so more German food.  As I have already mentioned, German food is not my favorite.  Too heavy.  Blech!

As you may or may not know, the Rhine River forms a border between France and Germany for about 112 miles, so we have been to both France and Germany in the last few days.  On Sunday, it was France, where we visited a museum that was part of the Maginot Line.  The Maginot Line was a massive defense system of forts, bunkers, and obstacles built by the French after World War I along its border with Germany and other countries.  The line was intended to prevent a surprise invasion by Nazi Germany after the devastation of WWI, but as we know, this strategy was unsuccessful.  During WWII the Germans surprised the French by attacking through the Ardennes Forest which the French had believed was impassable.  I know I have some history teachers and WWII buffs as readers, so I will leave it at this simple explanation.  

Yesterday, it was back to both France and Germany to visit a couple of villages, Colmar, France and Freiburg, Germany.  Colmar was not significantly bombed in WWII, so it was left pretty much intact.  Freiburg, on the other hand, was 80% destroyed, with only the cathedral and a few other buildings remaining.  While the majority of the city center was destroyed, a conscious effort was made to rebuild it on its original medieval plan, so the city has its historic charm.  An interesting fact is that the local community made a concerted effort to take out all of the medieval stained glass windows in the cathedral and store them in a safe place before the bombing raids of November 1944.  They are back in the cathedral now, which is really great.

The following pictures are of Colmar.

We have been on two river cruises in Germany—on the Danube and the Rhine—and I have noticed one thing about German  tour guides when they are speaking about WWII: They seem quite chastened and apologetic about being natives of the country which was largely responsible for the two World Wars.  I know it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I am simply relaying the general guilt and sorrow that these people show when they are talking about Germany’s culpability.  It makes me sad because I wouldn’t think of associating them with the wars after all of these years, but I do remember my grandparents and my aunts and uncles did have negative feelings about the Germans.  Of course, I had five uncles who were in WWII, so the war was a much more immediate entity to all of them.  

Well, I still can’t decide if I really want to do any more river cruises.  It’s just so, uh, intimate.  A lot of togetherness, let us say.  I am such an avid eavesdropper which I admit can be a totally unpleasant habit. Like yesterday morning at breakfast. There were five people at the table next to me. Only two of the five were a couple, but I won’t go into how I surmised that fact. One of the guys mentioned that the toilet paper on the ship had more the texture of paper towels rather than actual toilet paper. Everyone discussed this at length. Riveting conversation, right?

But then there was sweet Lori and her mother, Ann, from the Branson, Missouri area. Salt of the earth. Lori is an 8th grade science teacher and her husband is a policeman. They have three children, and the youngest one is a senior in high school. They were so appreciative of everything on the trip. They even loved the German food.

Tomorrow we are heading to Lake Como in Italy. So far no invitation from George and Amal Clooney to stay in their villa, but I am still holding on to hope.