Alsace Trip, 30 March

We had obviously travelled far enough east for the time zone to behave itself, as when the alarm went off at 07:30, it was light, which it totally hadn't been in Calais yesterday.  The Swan Whisperer went for a run and came back via the bakery, armed with croissants and a baguette.  We then discovered the services were out of use, unfortunately​ after we had put in €2, rather than before.

So we programmed the Satnav to take us to the services in Reims, on the grounds that they would be more likely to be working than the ones in the next village. And, indeed, they were. We had a bit of trouble finding them, as they had barred of the end of the obvious road to go down, but a very kind man redirected us.  When we got there, they were behind a barrier, but there was a telephone number to ring, which i did, and the person on the other end gave me the barrier code (in English - I think he was American}, and they were working perfectly plus there was rubbish and recycling.  So we made the van comfortable and then set off.

I had thought we might like to have lunch in Nancy, but it became rather obvious that we were not going to arrive there until nearly 14:00, by which time lunch would have been over, so we stopped in a small town called Void-Vacon and found a place recommended by Google. I had a steak with "pommes aux robes de champs" (boiled or steamed potatoes served in their skins) which came with sour cream, and a bit of lettuce, and the Swan Whisperer had a "Salade Vosgienne", which had ham and potatoes as well as the usual salad stuff.  Then he had a custard tart and I had an apple one, and we both had coffee.  I also had a beer (of course!).  It was good value for money, but not outstandingly good, we thought.

We then set off again and, after stopping in the outskirts of Navy to get diesel and a spot of shopping, really had a lovely drive across country, through tiny little villages, past fields and woodlands. I even saw two storks in a field!  Eventually we arrived here, in the village of Obersteinbach, which sounds as if it ought to be in Austria, and is very near the German border, but still in France. It is one of the farms in the France Passion network, where you can park up for the night and they offer you a chance to buy their products, in this case mostly goat cheese. I bought plain, black pepper and sesame, and I regret to say we sat down and tasted them on a Hob Nob with a cup of tea, in a greedy sort of way!

Then we went over to the milking-parlour to watch the goats being milked, which was fun and enough different from the cows milking we know about to be really interesting.

And now the Swan Whisperer has gone for a walk, and I am relaxing before supper, which will be eggs and bacon as we had a full meal at lunch, and will doubtless eat out tomorrow as it is our wedding anniversary.