We wrapped up our summer trip by spending two weeks in the Loire Valley and then Keith's parents joined us for two weeks where we went to the Alsace Region, Paris and London. Shawna flew home to spend time with her mom while Keith stayed another two weeks as he had to attend his first KISC Committee Meeting in Kandersteg.
Loire Valley
We split our time between two locations - staying in Sancerre for four nights and Angers for five nights. Sancerre is a cute, small town located on a hillside and the area is famous for Sancerre wine. However, like many of the smaller French towns, there is not a lot of activity and many places close mid-day. Angers is a larger city located near the Loire river - it's not as quaint but it is a nice city with some cool sights to see.
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| Town of Sancerre |
Accommodations:
Panoramic Hotel - Located in Sancerre, this hotel is very modern with nice rooms. The bed was not the most comfortable but the room was very cool with AC which was much needed. We had breakfast in the hotel which was a decent buffet. They had a pool but we never used it.
AirBnB - Located in Angers, this 2BR apartment is adorable. Centrally located, it has a large kitchen/dining/living room area, AC and a washer and drier right outside the apartment door. It is decorated very nicely. The only negative is that it is on the top floor (4th floor) with no elevator.
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| Our AirBnB in Angers |
Activities:
Famille Bourgeois Wine Tasting - Located in Chavignol, a small village outside of Sancerre, we did the wine tour and tasted nine of their wines. There are over 300 families that make wine in the Sancerre region and this family is one of the largest producers. We really liked their Sancerre white as well as their pinot. We bought three bottles to take away.
Domaine Alphonse Mellot Wine Tasting - We stopped at this wine shop/tasting room right in town. The woman only spoke French so we did not get a lot of explanation but we did get to taste about 12 wines for 30 euros each. We liked the more expensive Sancerres and we bought one bottle.
Maison des Sancerre - We went to this small museum about the area and the wines. Most of the exhibits were not the best but there was a good overview of the terroir. At the end, we got to taste 3 wines (we each got to pick 3 out of 12 choices) so we tried a few different ones. We particularly liked the Sancerres from Bernard Fleuriet et Fils and Domaine Daniel Chortard's "Les Coutons".
Chateau de Chambord - On our drive to Angers, we stopped here, the largest chateau in the Loire valley. It was originally built as a hunting lodge by Francis I. There is not much furniture or decoration in side as much of it was stolen during the French Revolution. The double helix staircase is quite cool as is seeing the spires from the outside terrace on the top floor. The gardens are not the prettiest but are expansive.
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| Chateau de Chambord |
Chateau de Villandry - We also stopped here on our drive to Angers - this home is much smaller in comparison to Chambord but still quite large and many of the rooms are appointed. The real gem are the gardens which are done in traditional French style with beautiful flowers, herbs and vegetables.
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| Chateau de Villandry |
Fontevraud Abbey - Located north of Turquant, we visited this beautiful abbey that became a prison for a period of time. Like many of the old castles in the area, there are no furnishings inside but was still quite cool to see, especially the area that was the kitchen.
Turquant - We walked around this quaint village that has houses, stores and restaurants built into the tuffeau stone cliffs. These stones are used to build many of the castles in the area and the caves then became dwellings.
Domaine de Rocheville Wine Tasting - Located near Turquant, we did a tour and tasting at this modern winery located on a hill overlooking the town and valley. This area is known for Chenin Blanc and Cab Franc grapes. We liked their Chenin Blanc and bought a bottle.
Marche La Fayette - This is one of the local farmers markets in Angers. We went on a Saturday morning and got yummy cheese and produce that we enjoyed a couple of evenings in our apartment. We were particularly excited about the large, fresh lettuce we got for a euro each!
Musee du Champignon - Located near Saumur, we visited this mushroom museums built into the caves - this area is known for grown button mushrooms as well as shiitake mushrooms. Was cool to see the variety of mushrooms they had as well as how they are grown inside the caves.
Langlois Wine Tasting - Located near Saumur, we did a tour and tasting at this winery known for its sparkling (cremant) wine made of Chenin Blanc and Cab Franc grapes. While they also make still wine, we really enjoyed their sparkling which are mostly dry wines. We bought a couple of bottles - a rose and white sparkling.
Saumur - We walked around this beautiful town located on the Loire river. It's a decent size and had a lot of activity since it was also their market day. We visited the Chateau Saumur which was not as interesting inside (mainly because the rooms now contain art exhibits) but the outside was very cool with nice views of the town. We also went inside the St Peter's Church which is located on a very cute town square.
Angers - We spent our last day walking around the city we stayed in. We visited the Chateau d'Angers which was built as a fort and used as a residence. You can walk around the ramparts with views of the city and the museum houses the largest medieval tapestry in the world, currently 100 meters long (it used to be 140 meters but parts were lost over the years). The tapestry depicts the story of the Book of Revelation. We then popped into the beautiful Saint Maurice Cathedral which is the main Catholic Church in town - there was a mass going on so we could only walk around the back.
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| Chateau d'Angers |
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| Saint Maurice Cathedral |
Restaurants:
Auberge L'Ecurie - In Sancerre, we had lunch here sharing a salad and fish dish. The place was cute but the food was just OK. We had lunch here a second time as only one other spot was open and they were full - this time we shared a pasta and caesar salad - the pasta was pretty good.
Fromagerie Dubois Boulay - We stopped at this cheese store which is one of the largest goat cheese makers in the area; we bought four different types of goat cheese and had that for dinner along with one of the bottles of wine we bought from Famille Bourgeois.
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| Goat cheese at Dubois Boulay |
Le Comptoir de L'Inde - We had lunch at this nicely decorated Indian restaurant. Unfortunately the food was subpar - edible but not the most flavorful and the service was definitely lacking.
Alsace Region
We picked up Jean and Dick at the airport in Paris and swapped our rental car for a van so we could fit all of our luggage. We then drove to Alsace where we split our time between two locations - staying two nights in Strasbourg and four nights in Colmar. Strasbourg is the larger of the two towns but both are very cute. This area transferred between Germany and France several times and thus has a lot of German influence, including some of the names of the towns and the cuisine.
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| Colmar |
Accommodations:
Leonore Hotel - Located in Strasbourg, the hotel is very nice and modern with large rooms, super comfortable beds and great showers. We had drinks in the outside courtyard on both evenings before going to dinner.
L'Esquisse Hotel and Spa - Located in Colmar, this is a very modern and nice hotel located on the edge of a park and near the old town. We got the two bedroom executive suite which was very nice but had a few design flaws. There was one toilet in the living room with no sink in it to wash your hands and while we each had an ensuite bathroom, they did not have toilets so we all had to share the one in the living room. There was a nice sized living room with a dining table but no dishes to use (so we had to ask for some downstairs at the restaurant to enjoy our cheese, bread and pate) and the fridge was tiny and contained their mini-bar items. We had to take those items out to put in our wine to chill. The showers in each room were open to the bathroom which meant when you took a shower, the entire floor got wet. We had a very large outdoor terrace with outside seating but it was too warm for us to use.
Activities:
Strasbourg Walking Tour - We did this 2.5 hour walking tour that went to a few of the main squares, the cathedral and the Petite France area (which is the cute old town located on the canal). We learned quite a bit about the history of the town as well as the Alsace region. The guide was very informative and humorous. Great tour!
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| Strasbourg Petite France Area |
Strasbourg Notre Dame Cathedral - After the walking tour, we went inside the church which has beautiful stained glass windows.
Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg - We stopped here along the way to Colmar - it's the largest and most famous castle in the region. Because there was limited parking, Keith did not go inside and because there were a lot of stone stairs to get to the upper levels, we just walked around the ground level. Impressive example of a medieval castle.
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| Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg |
Ribeauville and Wine Tasting - We walked around the very cute town of Ribeauville which has lots of colorful wooden/tudor style buildings. It is one of the oldest medieval towns of Alsace. We also did a tour and wine tasting at Bott Freres, open since the late 1800s, where they had some nice, dry rieslings. We bought a bottle to enjoy at the hotel.
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| Ribeauville |
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| Bott Freres Winery |
Colmar Walking Tour and Little Venice Boat Cruise - We did this two hour tour of the old town which was very interesting. Our guide was knowledgeable but a bit quirky. The tour included a 25 min boat ride along the canal but it was booked for later in the afternoon so we returned to do that.
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| Colmar |
Chateau du Hohlandsbourg - On our way to Eguisheim we stopped at this castle which was built in the 13th century. While there is not a ton to see inside, you can walk all the way around the ramparts with nice views of the valley.
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| Chateau du Hohlandsbourg |
Eguisheim - This is another very cute medieval town where the streets were built in a circle around the main square. We walked around and stopped for a coffee and pastry in one of the coffee shops. We also did another wine tour and tasting at Cattin, a winery that has been around since the early 1700s. While it's a nice facility, we didn't enjoy it - the wines were not the best and there were too many people so it was hard to hear the guy speaking about the wine. We did the tasting first and ended up not doing the tour as the tasting took almost two hours.
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| Eguisheim |
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| Cattin Winery |
Kaysersberg - We walked around this cute town - definitely one of the favorites. They had a market going on so there was a lot of activity. The buildings and flowers are adorable.
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| Kaysersberg |
Musee Bartholdi - We visited this museum in the home of Auguste Bartholdi who created the Statue of Liberty. There was an exhibit on the top floor that highlighted what he had to go through the get the financing and build it. The other exhibits were of his other works.
Restaurants:
L'Oignon - Located in Strasbourg, we had dinner at this cute place in the Petite France area of town. We sat outside and enjoyed the surrounding buildings. We shared a tasty risotto appetizer and duck with spaetzle for our entree.
Patisserie Buhler - Located in Strasbourg, we had breakfast here, sharing an almond croissant and kougelhopf (which is a slightly sweet bread). We went back a second morning, this time both getting the almond croissant.
Le Galopin - Located in Strasbourg, we had lunch here, sharing a tarte flambe (which is like a pizza but on very flat dough) and a small salad with goat cheese on toast. It was tasty.
La Fignette - Located in Strasbourg, we had dinner at this cute Alsatian restaurant with tables out on a square. We shared the watermelon and feta salad and chicken schnitzel with spaetzle - very good.
D'baecka Ofa Stub - Located in Ribeauville, we had lunch in this cute restaurant. We shared a very cheesy and tasty rosti with a small salad.
Marche du Couvert - This is the covered market in Colmar. We got cheese from one of the stalls that we enjoyed in our hotel room and we had lunch at one of the stalls after the walking tour where we had a very good quiche.
Patisserie Schmitt - Located in Colmar near our hotel, we had breakfast here a few mornings getting an almond pastry.
Lucas and Chris - Located in Colmar, we had dinner at this small but very nice restaurant. We shared the tuna tataki and the fish with risotto - both very tasty. We also had a great Sancerre wine. The waitress was not the best and she was unhappy that we wanted a starter as our main.
Le Quai 21 - Located in Colmar, we had dinner at this very nice restaurant. We shared the tuna tatami and white asparagus with langoustine appetizers and a fish entree - everything was delicious.
Paris
We drove to Paris where we stayed here for four nights with Keith's parents. We had not been to Paris in quite some time and fell in love with it. We liked it so much that we decided that we would come back to spend a month or so.
Accommodations:
Hotel Relais Bosquet by Malone - This is a nice, small and affordable hotel near the Eiffel Tower and the cute street of Rue Cler. We each got our own room - the beds were not the best and the AC did not work the best but for the money, it was pretty good.
Activities:
Food Tour of Montmartre - We did this three hour food tour of Montmartre where we had wonderful tastes from the following places. At some of the places, we tasted the item on the spot and at others, the guide bought items that we later enjoyed in a small location (that looked like a tourist office) with a table and chairs where he also served us wine. After the walking tour, we walked over and up lots of steps to Sacre-Coeur where we had nice views of the city; the line was too long so we did not go inside.
- Christophe Roussel - we had macarons and chocolate.
- Au Levan D'Antan - we learned about the difference between classic and traditional baguettes (traditional is better with all natural ingredients) and we bought the baguettes for our main tasting later in the tour. We also tried the chouz which is a pastry made with cream. The guide also bought eclairs from here that we later enjoyed during the main tasting.
- La Creperie Mon Ami - we had crepes, sugar with lemon from this tiny place.
- Jacky Goudin Boucherie - we bought a variety of meats for our main tasting.
- La Fromagerie - we then bought a variety of cheese here for our main tasting.
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| Notre Dame |
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| Louvre |
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| Emily's Office |
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| Hôtel des Invalides |
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| Eiffel Tower |
Tribeca - Located near our hotel, we had dinner here our first night. Shawna needed a break from French food so we opted for Italian and shared a burrata salad and lasagna which were tasty. We went here again the second night as we were not hungry after the food tour so we had a beer and shared a salad.
Maison Julien Les Saveurs de Cler - Located near our hotel, we had breakfast here each morning - yummy almond croissants and quiche. It is here where Keith got the France stamp in his 'your too loud passport' as a woman came by to tell him so as she was leaving. Keith, in his usual sarcastic yet friendly sounding voice, responded with a 'thank you so much for saying that'!
Peninsula Hotel Rooftop Bar - We went here for a cocktail and glass of wine before dinner. Really nice rooftop with views of Eiffel Tower and Sacre Couer.
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| Peninsula Hotel Rooftop Bar |
Milagro - Located near our hotel. we had dinner at this cute, small place where the owner is from Santa Fe. We shared two entrees - the pork tenderloin and rack of lamb - both very good.
Cafe de La Regence - We stopped here for lunch after our walking tour sharing a French onion soup and duck fois gras. Cute place with good food.
Au Bon Accueil - Located near our hotel, we had dinner here our last night in Paris. We sat outside with nice views of the Eiffel Tower. The service was fantastic as was the food. We shared trout tartar and duck fois gras appetizers, sole maneure for our entree and creme brûlée for dessert.
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| Au Bon Accueil |
London
We took the train from Paris to London where we spent three nights with Keith's parents. After that, Keith's parents stayed in England another two weeks while Shawna left to fly back to the States and Keith stayed another four nights, mostly meeting up with KISC people.
Accommodations:
Grafton Arms - Keith's parents rented a one bedroom apartment in the Marylebone area of London so we stayed in this pub about 10 min walking distance from their place. The room was fantastic - quite large for UK standard with a large, comfortable King bed. It was nicely decorated and the AC worked very well. Being a pub, it was noisy outside until about 11pm but it didn't stop us from sleeping. There is no elevator so we had to walk up two flights to our room.
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| Our room at Grafton Arms |
Activities:
Buckingham Palace Tour - We did the East Wing and State Rooms tour which took a little over two hours and was fantastic. For the East Wing, it was a small group led by a guide and we saw some of the meetings rooms as well as the famous balcony. The guide was very good. For the State Rooms, the tour was done by audio guide which also was quite good. There was a surprising amount of Chinese art in the rooms. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside. After the tour, we walked through Hyde Park to get back to our hotels.
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| Buckingham Palace Tour |
Phantom of the Opera - Anna, Dave and Tracey's daughter, was playing the lead character (Christine) in this play and it was the second to last weekend that she was performing so we had to go see her. She has an amazing voice and of course did a fantastic job. The guy who played Phantom was also great. After the show, we waited by the stage door so we could see her and get a selfie.
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| Phantom of the Opera |
Visit with Dick's Brothers - We took the train out to first visit with Ian and Val. We then took a taxi over to John and Peggy's where we visited at their house for a bit before heading to an early dinner at a pub across the street from their house.
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| Early Dinner with John and Peggy |
Meeting with KISC people - After Shawna left, Keith caught up with a variety of people related to Kandersteg, including Oli (at Gillwell), Aiden, Andrew, Allan, Kiwi, and Emily.
Restaurants:
Gymkhana - For our birthday gift, Jean and Dick treated us to this two Michelin star Indian restaurant. The restaurant is very hip and the food was fantastic. We shared a few appetizers for the table - aloo chaat (which Keith's parents had never had and really liked), minced goat and Goan style grilled shrimp. We then shared the lamb shank rogan josh for our main (they did not have lamb vindaloo but rather pork cheek which we were not as excited about) and a rice pudding for our dessert.
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| Gymkhana |
Poppie's Fish & Chips - This is a famous fish and chips place with a few locations in London. We ate at the SOHO location before our show. We each got the haddock with chips - very good.
The Bell - We had an early dinner at this nice pub which is located near John and Peggy's house in Aston Clinton. We shared a scallop and camembert appetizer and the trio roast for our entree with sticky toffy pudding for dessert. It was all very good.
Royal Oak - Keith had dinner here with Aiden, near Gillwell. Great fish and chips.
Naroon Fitzrovia - Keith had dinner at this delicious Persian restaurant with Andrew, sharing several dishes.
The Dolphin Tavern - drinks with Allan before dinner, just a couple of blocks from the dinner
The Bountiful Cow - dinner with Allan, shared the Duck Rillettes and Garlic Fried Prawns with the Ribeye for dinner. Delicious.
Harry's King's Cross - Keith met Kiwi here for lunch, had the Mafaldine Al Ragu Bolognese.
Avatar Dining - Keith took the train to Market Harborough to meet Emily and had dinner here. Shared a few dishes.
Switzerland
Keith went to Kandersteg as he needed to attend his first KISC Committee meeting. He went a week early where Steve met him so they could do some hiking together. While there, he also had some meals with former and current committee members to align on how to think about the opportunities at KISC.
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| KISC Committee |
Accommodations:
Alpenblik - Keith and Steve stayed here for one night as the apartment was not available the first night. It was definitely a bit "youth hostel" with a shared bathroom in the hallway
Lotchenpass Hut - Keith and Steve stayed here one night.
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| Lotchenpass Hutt |
Chalet Rita - Keith and Steve stayed in this basic but clean two bedroom, 1 bath apartment for six nights. This is the same apartment that Wendy, Dave, and Jan stayed in when we were all together several weeks prior. It's quite affordable and has a nice sized kitchen/living room area for only 50 francs per night per person plus a cleaning fee.
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| Chalet Rita |
KISC - For the weekend of the meeting, Keith stayed in the Kanderlodge for free in the Adler room
Hyatt Place - Keith stayed here which is on airport grounds the night before flying back to Texas
Activities:
Not surprisingly, the week with Steve was centered around hiking and more hiking. The six days of included the following walks with stunning weather the entire time. Steve was 4 months post-surgery and was operating at 80-90% of capacity. But 80% of Steve is equal to 130% of Keith! In total we hiked 121 kms with almost 10,000 meters elevation gain.
- Kandersteg to Lotchenpass Hut: it was a 16km hike from the village to Selden to Gfalap Hut to the glacier and to the hut. Elevation gain of 2400 meters with 4:45 moving time and 5:45 total time. The glacier was bizarre 36 years later with almost no ice to be seen, it was all gravel and rocks on top.
- Lotchenpass Hut to Hockenhorn to Ferden: after staying the night at the hut we hiked up to the Hockenhorn to see the sunrise. It took 2 hours to get to the peak and we made it for the sunrise with 1 minute to spare. Round trip to the peak was 525 meters elevation gain to the top, with a total walk of 6kms, taking 3:08 moving time and 3:44 total time. The walk to Ferden was another 6kms taking 2:09 moving time and 2:22 total time. It was fascinating to see the landslide of Blatten from the top of the Hockenhorn.
- Jagertosse and Doldenhorn Hut: a great day with 20kms, 1500 meters elevation gain and 6:34 moving and 7:47 total time. Keith had not been to the Jagertosse before so that was gorgeous, walking through the avalanche fences to a stunning view of the village. The Doldenhorn hut had just reopened in '26 after being closed in '25 for renovations. The new hut is gorgeous with great outdoor and indoor seating. The 42 beds are also really well done.
- Blumlisalp Hut: this day was 26.5 kms with 1800 meters elevation gain and 7:51 moving / 8:55 total time. We skipped the chairlift and walked from the village. This hut was also renovated in the last couple of years so is also gorgeous.
- First: the gondola was broken so the hike started behind the chalet and went up to Almenalp, up to First, down to Stand, over the Golitschenpass, down to the Cheesery, and then back to the village. Total of 17 kms, 1520 meters elevation, 6:17 moving / 8:04 total time. The view from First was stunning. The only janky but was from the top of First down the back to Stand...maybe the first 60 feet was a bit of climbing down rocks with a wire rope to support. We stopped at the cheesery for a drink and a taste of the cheese, just like 38 years ago!
- Tschingellochtighorn: the last day we got over 50K steps with a hike of 29 kms, 2000 meters elevation, and 9 hours moving / 11 hours total. We started in the village and hiked to the Upper Hut (closed for the season). From there stayed to the right of the valley and hiked to the base of the Tschingellochtighorn and then up the ridge. We then walked to the base of Chindebettihor to the Chindebettipass. Then we made our way to the Shwarzgratli (where we were 2 years prior but declined to go down the part with the steep cliff and wire rope). We then walked the Gallihore ridge to the Gallihore peak, then down to Stock and back to the village. The longest walk of the trip for the last day.
Restaurants:
Hotel-Restaurant Spycher - ate here twice, once for pasta and another for pizza.
Alpenblick - had breakfast here our first morning since we stayed at the hotel
Lotchenpass Hut - had dinner and breakfast here for our overnight. The beer was great, and the the dinner was delicious soup and pasta/sausage at a community table where we sat with Swiss and Germans. Also, the hut had excellent pie.
Restaurant Seegarten Marina Spiez - had dinner with Cilo here, the grilled perch was delicious. The marina on the lake was quite pretty.
Lido Thun - had a pizza dinner here with Flor before going back to her house for a drink to meet her boyfriend.
Restaurant Ritter - met Emma here for dinner outside the Victoria Ritter. Had a salad and the schnitzel
Des Alpes - ate here twice. Once with Thijs where I had the rosti, and for lunch with Pani/Mischa where the pizza was great.
Crystal - the committee had our first night dinner here with a group fondue
KISC - ate here the rest of the weekend of the committee
Marmotte - had a coffee and pie here with Thomas H
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