Our first port was at Breisach, Germany where we took a morning tour up into the mountains to The House of Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks.  As a child I was fascinated with cuckoo clocks, although we never owned one ourselves.  As an adult, I am still impressed by the craftsmanship that goes into each individual clock.

Even the building itself is a giant cuckoo clock!

While I didn't purchase a clock for myself, I did bring home one each of these lovely carved Christmas ornaments for  my daughter and two daughter-in- laws.  After, I got home I wished I had brought home one for myself as well, but I will enjoy seeing them hanging on their Christmas trees each year.

 We took a walk up to the rustic little local St. Oswald's chapel which was first consecrated in 1148.

The Second World War still seems so close and real here as people continue to bring to our attention things like this railroad bridge which was destroyed by the Germans to slow down The Allies in 1945 and since rebuilt.

Thinking of the war, we took a second excursion after returning to the boat for lunch.  We were docked on the German side of the river, but our tour took us across the river to the French side to visit the Colmar WWII Museum and Memorial dedicated to the liberation of the Colmar Pocket. 

Upon leaving the museum grounds we were able to look around the neighboring area of Colmar before heading out to the U.S. Military memorial.

It was sobering as we looked out over this place where battles waged in the bitter cold winter of 1945.  All seems so peaceful now.

While there was no U.S, cemetery close by, there was a French National one across from the site of the memorial.  It was a great disappointment to us that we were not allowed to go and visit it.  We would have liked to pay tribute those fallen allies with whom our fathers had fought alongside

As I mentioned before, evidence of a land scarred by war are all around.  This wall is all that remained of a church that was bombed and left as another memorial to the fallen.

On a lighter note, we kept noticing these large nests perched on top of tall poles or chimneys and learned that they are home to what is known at the Strasbourg Storks.  The storks are considered a symbol for this Alsace area of France. They represent peace, happiness, fertility, birth and rebirth to an area that has been conquered over and over throughout its history. In fact, the region changed hands four times between  pre WW1 and post WW2 as it bounced back and forth between France and  Germany and we could see the influence of both cultures in the names of the streets and towns.

We didn't see any birds, as the nesting season was long over.  However, I did bring home a Strasbourg Stork for my youngest granddaughter, stuffed of course!

 Our final stop on our memorial tour was to see the place where the French remember and honor Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in American history. He was just 19 years old when he received the Medal of Honor for holding off a company of German soldiers single-handedly while he covered the retreat of his men at this very spot in January of 1945.

I am not usually interested in World War history all that much.  However, after spending the afternoon in the Colmar region I found this past Veteran's Day to be more moving than it had been in a long time.  Our men and women in uniform all over the world are truly remarkable heroes.  Until next time.

Adieu!