As you can see by my previous post, I got my day off to the right start!  I was full of energy and ready to embark on our day in Baden-Baden.  And, what a day it was!  After a brief period of light rain, the skies cleared and we had a beautifully sunny day of around 80 degrees.

After a stop at the Rose Gardens of Baden-Baden, we continued to the city center.  Baden-Baden is located at the foot of the Black Forest, near the border of France.  It is a posh, ritzy, or wealthy city; choose you adjective, because they all apply.  There is no industry or University here; it is mostly a retirement place for the very wealthy.  Homes range in price from 3-27 million- EUROS.  I have never seen so many Porsches, Audis, BMW’s or Mercedes in one place in all my life!

The city center was quite nice (of course) and charming with a narrow canal running through.

Baden-Baden has a casino, however, coat and tie is required- and, there is a charge of 5 Euros just to enter.  We took a pass, but the scene out in front was starting to get festive.  Baden-Baden has  big horse races each year, along the lines of the Kentucky Derby.  It lasts six days, however, so there are a lot of festivities to go along with the races.  This weekend starts the festivities, so they were getting ready for the crowds.

After our walking tour, we had some free time to explore the town.  They had a lovely outdoor pedestrian street with posh shops lining each side.  I found a (very) nice market and scored on some chocolate that I had on my list to hunt down, but had not been able to find.  Great timing; it was our last day in Germany!  The boat left Germany while we were in Baden-Baden and sailed to Strasbourg, in France, where we joined back up with it, this evening.

So, now we are in France and will be saying “Bonjour!” and “Merci!”, along with a few other necessary French words and phrases.

Upon our arrival, Mom and I were greeted, again, by swans at our cabin window.  Like ducks, they sure are curious!  I think they were looking for handouts, too…

In the morning, we’re off to the Alsace wine region for wine tasting.  This is a dream come true…