Europe 2016 Sept 17th Day 20 Alsace

Today was class day for Jane at Sainte Marie aux Mines and I was to drive her there. So it was up at 6.30 and downstairs for breakfast before collecting the Volvo from the offsite carpark, setting the satnav and away we go. It was a very good and easy hour drive to the village and once off the motorway quite pretty, very rural. Got there in time and then walked half the village to the building where she was doing a Mola, hand stitching class with Marion Wetter. I left her after agreeing to be back at 3 to collect her. It was then time to find a coffee which was very easy (and good too). Very funny thing, four American women sat down at the table next to me and continued talking. Very soon one commented if it was table service or not, so I politely said to them yes it was, just a bit slow. To this one said to the others as if I wasn't there; "ooh look, he speaks English, AND he's a male". Was definitely time to go. :-) . Had a lovely walk around the village, a lot of which was devoted to the quilt show with many buildings holding exhibitions and classes. Very much like Deloraine craft fair spread over four towns. I went to look at a mine but it was closed and ended up on a little track above the town which lead to a "ruin"; description in Italian so I couldn't understand but it looked like remains of old dwellings.
After this I collected the car and headed up a hill to the Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg, a 12th century, fortified Chateau/Castle that was restored between 1900-1908 by Kaiser Wilhelm ll when this part of Alsace was still German. Was an excellent visit, beautiful y restored with stunning views over the Alsace wine area. So after leaving this visit ( I must say after 3 weeks castles, cathedrals and  churches are starting to all look the same ) it was down the other side of the hill and a gorgeous drive through the country side to Ribeauville. A beautiful old town that I walked around ( along with many other tourists sadly) till finding a nice spot for coffee and pastry. Not a hope of losing weight with all the walking I'm doing when it's offset by the fantastic pastries, breads, cheeses, meats, beer and wine available anywhere, anytime. It was then off back over another hill (792m Hill) to Sainte Marie aux Mines to pick up Jane. I so enjoyed the town and drive that I took Jane back for a look as well, spending more time wandering the streets before it started to spit around 5pm, so we decided to head back through the country side to Strasbourg.
Once back at the hotel we dropped of our stuff and headed out for the night ending up at an "Italian" restaurant for pizza, pasta and vino.
Great day for both of us and Strasbourg was an unexpected gem that I would gladly recommend to anyone to visit.