It's A Small World After All -- Running Into An Old Friend In Colmar, France
There are many reasons I would advocate for long term travel! One of the best is that scheduling longer stays affords the ability to change plans when an unplanned opportunity for fun presents itself.
So it was when my friend Donn strolled past Nicole and I as we ate dinner at an outdoor creperie in Colmar last Sunday (after having cheered RC Strasbourg to its first win of the season).
Catching up at our Airbnb
Way back during 2008, between my second and third years of law school, I spent the summer in Salt Lake City, Utah, sleeping on a blow-up air mattress and clerking for the Securities Exchange Commission. For those ten weeks, I sat at a desk next to Donn, a young legal hotshot from the University of Minnesota. We've been friends ever since.
Turns out, Donn had just arrived in Colmar, a bustling town of nearly 70,000 where Nicole and I have been basing ourselves for our two week stay in Alsace, and was waiting to meet up with one of his friends from back home who was en route on a train from Italy.
Had Nicole and I been in Colmar for a day or two and been tightly scheduled, it would have been difficult to rearrange plans. Good thing we weren't! Instead, we got to hang out with Donn and his friend Anthony for a day and a half wine tasting at Domaine Gruss & Fils (solid vino), exploring the village of Eguisheim (like a storybook), taking a break from cooking and dining out at Restaurant Auberge des Trois Chateaux (excellent hearty French food) and Le Zinc (great outdoor terrace), enjoying wine at the outdoor picnic tables of Presentation de vin Des Vignerons De Colmar (excellent, casual fun), and otherwise having a great time.
Some of Alsace's famous storks perched in Eguisheim
Dining at Restaurant Auberge des Trois Chateaux
Opportunities for this type of unplanned fun is yet another reason everyone should pack their bags for a long vacation! :)
Like this post? Want to read more about Travis and Nicole's travel adventures? Check out The Case For France - The French Markets.
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