Nine hours of flight time, interrupted by a four hour layover in Frankfort, finally found us in Basel's mid-afternoon with only a couple hours of daylight left. We had just missed the walking tour of Basel; we proceeded to stretch our legs with a fifteen minute walk, wash up, read the info, and get ready for dinner. The only Basel we saw was from the ship's mooring. To be discovered at some future date.
          So, the second official day felt like our first day. A sharp sun, that could overwarm if in direct beam on the bus, ruled the morning in the Black Forest. Then, a lowering sky, with  an increasingly viscuous fog settled in for the next sixty hours.
          According to VRC, "Arrive during breakfast in Breisach, gateway to the Black Forest. Take a scenic excursion through the area’s renowned mountain landscape,  rolling meadows and dense forests. Once there, visit a local workshop and see a cuckoo clock-making demonstration. Return to Breisach for some free time before evening departure. Or, choose an optional excursion to the quaint Alsatian town of Colmar...

going cuckoo at Holgut Sternen, Black Forest
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a really old farmhouse, on the way to Sankt Peter tour guide, in front of Abbey of Saint Peter
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a bustling creek, not unlike our Catskills

inside Saint Peter and a holy white
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Colmar's center Christmas Market, Cathedral behind
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more quaint Colmar

medieval architecture

white bears Christmas theme
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Statue of Liberty in foggy Colmar? Yes, Bertholdi model

Christmas white
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tormentor of Nazis (pigs), metalworker Hansi

a Bertholdi sculpture at his home

local color
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a Colmar shop, with Christmas goodies
 

go to Day 3