Au Gite du Bal Paysan, in the Alsace

I wanted to write a seperate post about the place where we stayed in the Alsace, simply because it was so lovely and if anyone else is heading that way, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it. You do need to book as long as 6 months in advance for high summer and December.

Our hosts were Jean-Daniel and Doris Freysz who, until recently, had spent a lifetime as dairy farmers. The name of their place is Au Gite du Bal Paysan and it's located at 1, rue d'Oluisheim, 67370 Berstett.

They were a delicious couple who had travelled to all kinds of interesting places. Each morning they prepared us for our day with a hearty Alsace breakfast and good conversations, carried out in a mixture of English, French, and German, with Doris and Jean-Daniel talking to each other in the language of the Alsace while Lisen and Yakup spoke Turkish occasionally, and then there was Gert with his Dutch and me curious about the similarities between the German and Dutch words ... we were a truly international table.

Yakup captured Jean-Daniel reading the newspaper, a photo I loved too much not to use here.

The rooms are lovely and you can choose from those with 1 to 2 bedrooms, including kitchen and bathroom facilities, right on down to something small like our Scottish room, with its bathroom and small kitchen.

We were impressed by the cosy warmth of the gite and finding no obvious heating we asked Jean-Daniel as we were leaving ... the entire house is centrally heated. The coldness outside simply wasn't an issue.

The restaurants close by were superb and affordable. We ate out, experimenting with and enjoying the Alsace cruisine. The wines ... oh the wines. I thought I was a dedicated, loving-red-wine kind of woman however the Alsace Reislings and Pinot Blancs turned my head.

Doris and Jean-Daniel had welcomed us when we arrived, constantly refilling our glasses with a delicious white wine. There's an 80km wine route nearby and we asked for the name of the winery of said delicious wine. They directed us to Alexandre Arbogast's winery at 57, rue Principale - 67310 Dahlenheim. We tasted and bought a couple of Pinot Blancs for the road, making a note to return one day.

It's only a short drive to the edge of Strasbourg, where you can leave your car at a tram carparking area for the day. It's a very small fee. Strasbourg is close and there's plenty to see and do there ... it's a beautiful city. Then there's the wine route and the fabulous castle - Haut Konenigsbourg .

Okay, enough about that ... tot straks.