Day Whatever; Strasbourg!

Well, first, to complete yesterday's story;
I was sitting just off the boat with some new friends enjoying a HefeWeizen, when Susan comes up and taps me on the shoulder (she was still on the boat); she said she had a surprise for me; I looked up and lo and behold there was Margit and Jorg Wengerter!! My kids, you probably remember, you have heard about him all your lives. He was my main doubles partner in Germany from '77-'80, and we did quite well together. He is now a Judge, of all things, and still does not speak English well. His wife Margit, a really fun gal, speaks excellent English since she was raised in South Africa. Anyway, what an incredible reunion. It was so unbelievably fun to see them again. They made the trip in the hopes of meeting the boat before it sailed since his doctor's appt ended sooner than expected, and so they came on down to the pier. We only had about 1/2 hour together, but what a time. We are to meet them again in a couple of days to spend the night and have more time to reminesce. He is a great guy and was a great partner.
After we had to leave them and board the boat, we traveled to Strasbourg. It is another incredible European town, going back and forth from German to French to back to French. The Cathedral is amazing, and the clock inside still works from the year 1450 or so. We spent the day in Strasbourg, had a boat tour in the canals (it is the "Venice" of France. The problem for me was, now we were expected to speak FRENCH. I don't like that language, no one spoke either English very well or let alone German, and so it goes. Susan was not really prepared so she wasn't that helpful...still, she managed to buy a pretty table cloth; I bought the Eclair Chocolat for breakfast tomorrow. Our friends will be jealous. Maybe; they aren't exactly starving us on the boat, and the wine flows freely. The nice German white wines, that is. We walked and walked along the little cobblestone streets, by the canals, and window shopped. It is expensive here and the value for the $$ that would be spent is not good. Unfortunately, there are one-of-a-kind items here that are quality made and it's tough to let some go bye. But we did...
Tonight we already had a disembarcation briefing. It is sad; we've made some great friends and we will miss their fellowship. Tomorrow though is yet another day, to Colmar (a medieval French town), and another one in the afternoon. Tomorrow night is the Captain's farewell dinner. Ugh. It will very hard to leave. BUT, then we get on the train, head for Mannheim to once again see and stay with the Wengerters', then on to Kirchberg and stay w Gerlinde Koppke. We will also see Peter Shittko and spend a day with him in the Huhnsruck. Still so much to look forward to but we've found a niche of friendship that has just seemed to mesh.
Love to all, DAD