Tuesday morning we hated to leave Baden-Baden behind, but the time had come. A final big breakfast at the Rathausgloeckel, then a cab to the train station. The old saying is that you can set your watch by the trains in Germany, and our experience everywhere confirmed that. We arrived on the platform one minute before the train arrived at 9:14, and at 9:17 we had pulled out of the station on the 501 InterCityExpress, the same train we rode from Frankfurt to Baden-Baden, and which continues on to Basel. We shared a compartment with Jens Schmidt, a young father of two who was escaping his family to study for a banking exam.
It was a chilly morning, and cloudy, but not raining as we sped through farm country. Perfect little German villages, orchards and field after field of cabbage, potatoes, corn, and whatever other crops, unidentifiable at 100mph, lined the tracks . The train runs along the flatland - pancake flat to the right / west, with low-slung hills to the left / east. The landscape looks not unlike rural Virginia, but the towns are unmistakeably European. The path of the train generally followed the Rhine, with France in view a few miles to the west. Farms gradually gave way to massive hill side vineyards. In a flash we were at Basel SBB, and Billy was waiting on the platform for us.
Betsy drove us to her apartment in Lange Gasse where we visited and ate lunch before setting off for the whirlwind foot tour of Basel. The tram is the preferred mode of transport in this city, and they were clean, smooth and quiet as we zipped through downtown and across the knee of the Rhine.
Our target was the Fischerstube, home of Ueli beer, but alas it was closed for mid-day, as were many of the other establishments. Never mind - we had a little souvenir shopping, including a stop at the local Ferrari / Maserati / Lamborghini dealer. Impressive is all I can say!
The day had become sunny and warm - perfect for a walk along the Rhine and through downtown to see all of Billy's haunts: Globus, the department store with groceries to die for; the Cafe Rio, which looks untouched by anything post-war; Fumare - Nonfumare, a cafe / Internet hotspot.
The famous painted Rathaus dominates the Markplatz, and street vendors were sprinkled around the plaza. We followed Billy's old walking path back to Betsy's for a nap before taking the tram back downtown to Bistro au Violin, a classic French restaurant located in the old Basel jail.
The day had become sunny and warm - perfect for a walk along the Rhine and through downtown to see all of Billy's haunts: Globus, the department store with groceries to die for; the Cafe Rio, which looks untouched by anything post-war; Fumare - Nonfumare, a cafe / Internet hotspot.
Dinner was of the classic French sort. Foie gras, quail roulades for starters, venison on red cabbage or "open" ravioli with scallops for main plates, excellent wine, then coffee and dessert. A French restaurant in German-speaking Switzerland with English-speaking guests was fun, with a cacophany of butchered language flying in all directions.
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