Germany... and here comes France!

I've spent a very short time in Germany, just a couple of days.... but I enjoyed it immensely! From the medieval cottage style architecture to the exuberant, friendly, go-out-of-there-way-to-help-you Germans, this was a great stop.... and amazingly enough, it's only a few hours north of Switzerland and France. These countries are so close in proximity to one another, it's interesting to think about the size of my state in comparison!! Along the Rhine River, there are several medieval towns dating back more than 1,000 years old! I stayed in an old medieval castle at the top of the hill in Bacharach, Germany. It was a quaint old town with cobblestone streets, small family-owned German restaurants (serving traditional German food like Schnitzel and bratwurst) and kind locals. My favorite afternoon in Germany was visiting the great 1,000 year old fortress at the top of the mountain in St. Goar, a town nearby on the Rhine River. This fortress, Rheinfels Castle, had a drawbridge, a moat, and at one time (more than 1,000 years ago), was its own town having 300-400 people living within the walls at all times. When there was an attack, more than 4,000 local Germans would station themselves there to defend it. Rheinfels also had their own pharmacy, pantry, 6 dungeons and even their own bakery! I guess they needed to eat too, right?!
So, I'm now on my way to Paris and look forward to see what's ahead... vive le paris!