Prost and Salute!

Hard to believe a year has passed since we said I do! To celebrate, a weekend full of wine was in order. 

Friday we headed Southwest, about 30 minutes, to Bad Durkheim and to the Duerkheimer Wurstmarkt and "the largest wine festival in the world." Now, I'm not sure if this claim holds true, but I do know that they pour the largest glasses of wine ever! 2€ bought an enormous glass that was really a serving fit for a large, cold brew. The wine was surprisingly good as were the assorted delicacies such as the potato latkes with applesauce (Reibekuchen) and the wood fired pizza (flammkuchen-literally flame cake). See, not all German food revolves around sausage! The festival was a nice warm up for Oktoberfest, which we will be attending in just two weeks! 

wine "tasting" glass

Next up was France and the Burgundy wine region. The Saturday morning drive was splendid on a clear day with cool, crisp fall air, and bright green hills as far as the eye could see. We headed to Beaune, the wine capitol of the region, and browsed the local market. We sampled the flaky baguettes and famous Epoisses cheese aka "stinky cheese." This cheese was to die for and I definitely have smelled much worse. I could probably eat Epoisses everyday... After our appetizer, we headed to lunch where Justin ordered a three course meal in the sunny 80 degree weather. I had a delicious quiche Lorraine and watched in envy as he devoured his Burgundian beef with potatoes au gratin, snails and cheese plate

baguette and cheese! 

How cute is this French candy display?

Justin enjoying snails! 

We then moseyed over to our chateau for the night, Chateau de Chorey les Beaune. This bed and breakfast is run by Beniot Germain who inherited the castle first constructed in the 13th century. The Germain family also produces wines grown on their property, which we had the pleasure of tasting. The Chardonnay grape actually originated in the Burgundy region, and he had a very earthy version ready for us to taste.

Our chateau for the evening

Later we attended a Jazz festival and wine tasting of Ladoit, a local winery. An amazing quartet, Aymeric Descharrieres, performed and I was really impressed. The band is lead by a  Polish man who is incredibly talented and writes his own innovative music. I am not the biggest jazz fan, but truly appreciated his talent. 

Sunday, after a delightful French farm breakfast at the chateau, we made our way to Dijon, home of the mustard. Dijon is a really nice town surrounded by vineyards. There we saw the Palais de Ducs (Duke's Palace) and grabbed some delicious local pastry before heading off to Strasbourg.

Lovely Strasbourg canal 

Strausbourg is located in the Alsace region and is where my grandfather's father was from. Gorgeous hilly  countryside bordering the Black Forest surrounds the area. Strasbourg was such a cute city! The Old Town is surrounded by a canal with flowered bridges leading to the city. The massive Cathedral is quite a sight to see.

Then it was time for dinner... I try to keep an open mind when it comes to the local cuisine, but this was just too much to handle... Justin was set on having Choucroute, a French version of sauerkraut, potatoes, and pork. As if that doesn't sound gross enough, his plate came with a gruesome "bonus"of a piglet's jaw- teeth included thrown in for flavor. The elderly waitress proudly remarked that they had obtained the piglet from the butcher that morning and were using pieces to flavor and garnish all their Choucroute plates. Only in France!

Needless to say, the anniversary celebration was a success. I wonder where life will take us next year...

To see all of our weekend pictures click here.