The Saint-Lewis Arzviller Inclined Plane, Chateau de Lutzelbourga, Colmar and Wine Tasting in Alsace, France

We had visitors on Rabelo

We ate a little of everything and enjoyed a few bottles of champagne

After dinner we had a beautiful walk along the canal and were rewarded with a sunset.

It was a stunning sunset.

Someone's waterfront castle

The Arzviller inclined plane is an inclined plane on the Marne-Rhine Canal that enables the canal to cross the Vosges Mountains.  It was built in 1969.  This solved the problem of boats originally needing to go through 17 locks!  There had been an international contest to determine the best method of traversing this area.  At the time of the Arzviller Inclined Plane there was only one other work in existence, Foxton, Leicestershire (1900).  This system works by basically lifting or lowering a caisson (what I call a bathtub) containing a boat on a carriage along a slope using a balancing counterweight.  According to Archimedes’ principle, the barge which enters the caisson drives back towards the canal a quantity of water equivalent to the mass of the barge.  Thus the caisson always weights the same, whether or not it contains a barge.  Thus you’ve now had your physics lesson for the day.

A painting of the Arzviller Inclined Plane

Looking down the Arzviller Inclined Plane as we descend

Looking up the Arzviller Inclined Plane after we had exited.

Russ was re-living his navy days making sure the boat lines were coiled properly after going through each lock.

We had a lovely dinner in Saverne

What year is this?

The girls went for a walk along the canal while Rabelo was on the move

We were cruising along when Tess happened to look up and was surprised by what she saw. The Chateau de Lutzelbourg is a chateau founded in the 11th century on a rocky promontory overlooking the Zorn valley.

Our view from the canal of the Chateau de Lutzelbourg

Of course we had to go exploring.  Here is our group at the base of the ruins.

Dramatic ruins of Lutzelbourg Chateau

We were rewarded for our efforts by experiencing this view from the top.

The intrepid explorers

At the end of the hike Bruce and Russ were heroes and brought back goodies from a boulangerie

Next we visited the delightful town of Colmar with its typical Alsatian character of streets lined with picturesque flower-decked houses and its Little Venice district.

Colmar is a popular tourist destination and its architecture is charming

A half timbered building in Colmar all decked out

Half timbered building in Colmar

Church Saint Martin in Colmar of Gothic architecture

The ladies went shopping in Colmar and all bought new rings

We enjoyed a quick visit to Colmar and then it was time to go wine tasting.  After all, we were in Alsace which is a famous wine region of France.  Here you can find some of the most noted dry Rieslings in the world.  We went to Domaine Albert Seltz.  Tom and I had visited and tasted these wines 10 years ago.  It may be that they are even better now than they were 10 years ago.  The tasting was fun and we purchased more wine than we needed to take back to Rabelo.

We had a great time at Domaine Albert Seltz

Bruce and Tess enjoyed the tour and tasting

Tom had a hard time resisting those dusty old bottles in the wine cellar of Domaine Albert Seltz.

Food coma after our last meal together