North East France

Thursday

After our whirlwind days at Europa Park, we were looking forward to a few days where we could take it slower and explore the country side.  We were winging it here — and a bit out of my comfort zone!

We hunted online and found a Chateau that looked like a fabulous place to stay, but they did not have any rooms available for us on Thursday.  Fortunately Keller managed to find a hotel in Pont a Mousson, in the Lorraine Region of France.  It was in the old Abbey of the Premontres, which dates back to the early 1700s.  So while not a castle, it was still going to be an interesting building!  We penciled in the general direction we needed to go and headed off to explore.

We attempted to get lunch at a Thai place in the town of Selestat, but they were full for lunch already.  Instead we ended up at a Turkish restaurant, Istanbul, which was delicious!

Once we hit the road again, we drove toward the Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges.  We hadn’t gone far when we saw a tower on top of a hill that caught our attention.  We pulled over on the side of the road and discovered it was a castle!  Both kids were interested in visiting, so we changed directions and headed up the hills.

We discovered why we could see the castle from so far away … it’s at the tippy top of a hill and you can see for miles!  The guide at the castle said that you can see the Alps in Switzerland on a clear day.

Haut Koningsberg was a very interesting castle!  It had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times since its first iteration in the 1100s.  Most recently, it was rebuilt from ruins from 1901-1908 by Germany.  At this time Germany controlled the Alsace region, so the castle was rebuilt to exert German authority in the area and lay historical claim to the castle.  It was rebuilt based on how the architect imagined it would have been in the year 1500.  We got the English audio guides and worked our way through the castle.  It was really neat — there was a different audio guide program for the kids, so they could teach us something about each room too!

We finished at the castle just as it was closing so we drove toward the Abbey.  On the way, we ended up going through a really long tunnel, Tunnel Maurice Lemaire!  As we drove into the tunnel I saw a sign saying it was 6800 meters long.  That’s almost 7 km!  Keller thought it was so cool.  😉

Once we reached Pont a Mousson, we checked into our hotel and then walked to dinner at Chez Lulu in town.  Dinner was tasty and the waiters tolerated our broken French with a good sense of humor.

We noticed extensive war damage on many of the buildings in town.  Most of the damage in major cities has been repaired and replaced at this point, but the scars of WWI and WWII persist once you get out in the country.

Friday

We stopped at a local boulangerie for breakfast and then ate by the Moselle River.  We wandered the Abbey before loading our luggage and heading off to explore again.

Since we had hotel reservations at a cheateau in the same general area, we just started working out way that direction.  Both the chateau and the abbey were in the Parc Naturel Regional de Lorraine, so it was definitely quiet countryside.

We stumbled upon the St Mihiel American cemetery.  It is the third largest American cemetery in France, honoring the fallen soldiers from World War One.  The grounds were immaculate and it was a moving memorial.  We haven’t really covered much of WWI history with the kids, so we spent some time filling them in on the overall conflict and explaining American involvement.

Next we headed toward Lake Madine for a picnic lunch.  The park area was deserted, so we nearly had the place to ourselves.  The kids played on a little playground for a bit.

As we were getting ready to leave, we saw another building on a hill in the distance.  Once again, with Google as our guide, we discovered another WWI memorial.  This was the Montsec American Memorial, dedicated to the offensive that pushed the entrenched German army out of the area.  This was a strategic point due to the views alone — 360* views for miles and miles.

Hattonchatel was just up the road, so we made our way to the Chateau next.  The Chateau was impressive from the outside, but absolutely stunning inside!  There’s a courtyard and green space that has incredible views.  In fact, we could see the Montsec Monument from the Chateau!

We are staying in two adjoining rooms with a shared bathroom.  It’s just right — the kids have their own space and we’re not right next to the other hotel rooms where we could potentially bother other hotel guests.  And the view was pretty special too!

The kids played in the yard before we all took a walk through the little town and down some of the local walking paths.

Kamy even got to have her princess moment, looking out her window in the castle!

We arranged to have dinner at the Chateau — they offer a fixed menu to hotel guests only, in the castle, so it was very intimate.  Fabian, the hotel manager also serves as the chef and waiter, and he was able to adjust the menu so the kids could enjoy dinner too.  There was a roaring fire, delicious food, and incredible ambiance.  The kids even tried escargot!  It was very memorable!

Saturday

Keller and Kamy got up extra early this morning to try to catch the sunrise.  The hillside of the chateau faces east, so they were hoping for a beautiful view.  Unfortunately the weather was a bit hazy with low clouds, so while they were glad they did it, it wasn’t spectacular.

After packing up, we ate a quick breakfast at the castle (included in our stay) and then started driving to Paris!