GERMANY: A SURPRISING REASON TO LIVE IN FRANCE

That might sound counterintuitive, I suppose. Why would proximity to Germany be a reason for deciding to live in the south of France, just about as far from Germany in France as you can get? Recent history aside, it shouldn’t be hard for the seasoned traveler to understand my thinking. 

Imagine surveying the menu of the best restaurant that you can imagine. All sorts of interesting bits for starters. Main dishes from surf to turf and beyond. Excellent local wine. And top it all off with a sweet dessert and a cup of coffee. Now imagine the sparkling, icy Scandinavian fjords, the riotous blooming of the Dutch fields, and the dark woods of Germany. Next come the gingerbread chateaux along the Loire and the lavender landscape of Provence. Finish with a sweet, fortified Occitanie wine, almost port, as a digestif. And there still remains the Iberian Peninsula to the west and gems like Prague to the east to explore. Drive. Take the train. Fly an array of full-service and budget airlines.

Recently, Cathey and I boarded a train in Beziers in the south of France, had lunch in a cafe in Paris, and met friends for dinner in Cologne, Germany. I'm not going to attempt a full-on travelogue. I'll share some pics and tell a story or two. But my point has already been made. In one easy day, at a reasonable cost and in comfortable surroundings, you can change countries, languages, histories and cultures as easily as deciding to do it.

And by the way, on the way home, we stopped off for a couple of nights in Brussels because...we could. 

Cologne Cathedral stained glass windows were dismounted during WWII. Some say that the Allies ordered bombers not to target the cathedral. Others say that the height and weather around the tower swept bombs away. But some bombs did hit and would have blown out the windows if they hadn't been saved.

This reliquary is said to contain the remains of the Biblical Three Magi. It's apparently opened for display once a year and there are reported to be three nearly complete adult skeletons inside. Serious stuff. Below is a different display of craftsmanship whose purpose escapes me at the moment. But it's beautiful, ain't it.

Just a taste of the goodies available at a local tea room. Germany isn't all meat and potatoes.

The Lindt chocolate company operates a museum and cafe on the Rhine River. You walk out with pockets full of little chocolates in addition to serious knowledge of the industry. And the desserts...

Expansive and carefully tended botanical garden was just beginning to properly bloom in May. The greenhouses and the cafe were closed, but there was plenty to see over 10 acres of curated grounds.

The René Magritte museum in Brussels has a gathered a wealth of works and ephemera.

I like that Magritte, although he associated with folks like Jean Arp, never went so fully abstract that you needed an explanatory label to understand what he was trying to convey on a particular canvas.