Bonus today. "Wine County"

[Mira]

Went by train to a very nearby town to visit my niece. That almost put me into France. Very near Strassbourg. I saw with my naked eye the spire of its famous cathedral in the distance.
What I did not know was that I would be in wine country. At the end of harvest, not quite, but almost done.
A beautiful day.
Climb up the steps with me and see.




Now a few views from the top







Zeroing in









A couple more I saw walking back
one pretty, one weird

[Soph0571]

1. Love the up close and personal of the vines

I can almost smell them

[northoftheborder]

2. So lovely! Thank you for that eye refreshment!!!

[Adsos Letter]

3. These are gorgeous.

Thank you for the tour Mira.

[steventh]

4. Thanks for sharing.

Wishing you continuing safe travels.

[barbtries]

5. beautiful pictures.

from the OP headline I had to click to see if you'd left out the "h" in wine or the "r" in country. I thought it might be about a county full of whining republicans. this is much more ambient!

[Mira]

6. I'm laughing

I thought about a play on the words also, but let it go. We are so very stunned that humor has to be extra funny to even penetrate.
There's only one "whiny little bitch". Ask Bill Maher.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. These are such lovely photos, my dear Mira!

Thank you for taking us with you on your journey. I don't normally like climbing, but these steps were so easy!

The grapes are wonderful and I love the windows at the end.

[Mira]

9. I must tell this.

Where I am staying the house is presently full, and my SIL had to take a tenant into the room where I stayed- a perfect young French girl needed a place right away. So I moved into the attic for the rest of my stay. To go down to get water to boil for tea is 40 steps. To come back up is 40 up. To to out, realize you forgot something as you leave the house means 80 steps. The Stephans dome in Vienna is 343 steps to the best of my memory and people get true accolades if they make it.

I think I do the Stephan's dome amount and more every single day at the moment.
I need new knees.

I'm going to show you what those last 15 steps look like. I will insert a photo. I must.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. Wow, you are way stronger than I am! I await your photo.

[Mira]

11. Here they are - photos of where I am right this minute

This is the window - open to my right. But it's night now. Look across to the house you see and I'm in one like that. The TOP row of windows in the roof is where I am. The steps are 24 " wide, and in order to not fall into them you have to brace your body along the roof till you're down three steps.
About that other thing: I think I'm older than you are. So I whine.
Pardon the mess. I'll clean up when I leave.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Oh good grief! These steps are truly scary.

How is the photo of the steps oriented? That is, are you looking straight down? Or?

That's a very scary angle.



Well, I'm 75! You don't need to tell me how old you are!

[Mira]

14. Looks like we were born in the

same year.
Looking straight down, yes. And the photo does not do justice to the angle. I have to hold on to the sides and then the front floor area to get down forward. Sometime I go up like climbing a ladder with both hands as well.
My heart rate is easily 100 plus after doing the whole 3 floors - I go to the gym to achieve that 3 times a week. Now it's many times a day.
I will definitely have gotten younger on return.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Oh wow, dear Mira. Please be extra careful!

My balance is not good and those stairs would kill me.

I hope your youth feels wonderful!

[Mira]

16. I am so laughing

There was also a 15 kilometer hike in a mountainous forest region, on steep slippery paths. I have photos, of course, but I’ll spare you. I would revert to being a teenager if I stayed another few weeks. Which I won’t. I need to see 45 collapse under his own weight, crumble and have the remains dragged off to prison. That’s what I want to photograph.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. I applaud your agility and strength!

I have never been very strong and now I am much slower and clumsy.

I want you to photograph the remains too! That would be a sight to see and celebrate.

[mnhtnbb]

18. My knees hurt just looking at that photo!

Please be careful!

[Callalily]

8. Your photos are lovely

Thanks for much for taking us along on your trip.

I was in Strasbourg last April and was very impressed with the town.

I'm guessing this is the church that you mentioned above.



Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame, France

[Mira]

12. Oh yes this is the one.

They have a Christmas market there at the foot of that cathedral that is to end all Christmas markets. The brother I just lost took me there one Christmas. A treat never to be forgotten.
Thanks for not tiring of my photos. I'm so glad to have a place to show and tell.

[alfredo]

19. Beautiful work. I hope you sampled some of the local produce.