Carl et Elisabeth et Laura

And last but not least, we visited my old friend and work compatriot, Carl, and his wife, Elisabeth, and daughter, Laura.  Carl and I built houses together here in Colorado about 30 years ago, then he went to France to help build a school for his church.  Well, he met Elisabeth, they got married, had 4 children, and have lived in the Alsace region of France ever since.  Carl and I would play chess back in the '80s every week, and sometimes in the half-framed houses we were building.  When he moved, we played some postal chess, but that was rather tedious and slow.  Enter the Internet.

Colmar by dusk.

From our trip to Europe in 2006... none of us have changed a bit in 9 years.

Dinner in Colmar.

Now Carl and I play as much chess together as we ever did, even though we're on opposite sides of the pond... and we've even been known to Skype.  You gotta love the Internet!

Carl actually helped pound a few nails on our cabin in the mountains here in Colorado, and he and Elisabeth visited and stayed at the cabin with us, and they visited again more recently, with all the kids, and we all got together with Ed, our old building boss/partner from back in the day.  Now we've been to France a couple times to visit them.  Small world!  Yay, Internet!

Meet Carl, Elisabeth, and Laura...

The architect of America's iconic Statue of Liberty was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who was born in Colmar, the nearest town of any size to Carl and Elisabeth.  There is a scaled down replica of the famous statue here in an intersection in Colmar...

We no sooner got there than Carl was telling stories...

He wanted to show us a castle, it seems... and so we were off...

And extremely well and thoroughly renovated...

These French style stove/heaters are both decorative and functional...

Carl and Elisabeth have one like this, only a bit smaller.

For all the light breaking through yon windows, it rained and was windy while we were at the castle.  So much so that we were informed we were the last ones let in, and it would close once we were out.

I know, I'm unconvincing as a warring knight...

Good!

Gorgeous view...

Jan caught this rainbow as we were leaving the castle...

They charged me $350 for our coffees and pastries after touring the castle...

I informed them I was sitting right here until they made it right!

Really, they did get our ticket wrong by over $300... I'm just glad I caught it on the spot.

Our traditional plum pie... above in 2006, and below in 2015.

In 2006, we had just started our fantasy football competition on Papa's.  Carl's team is named 'The Plumb Bobs,' and he won the championship that first year.  We had jokingly said that he had to make us all a plum pie if he won, since he and Elisabeth have plum trees in their back yard.  Well, he did win, and it so happened that Jan and I were able to visit that year, so Carl graciously made us a plum pie!  He didn't win the fantasy football in 2015, but he did make us another delicious plum pie!  And we've been playing fantasy football ever since on Papa's, next year will be our 10th season.

Jan took a little walk to Munster...

And we went to Munster, home of the eponymous cheese and Gilg Chocolates, for some pizza...

Jan and I remembered the storks from 9 years ago... there are lots of them here...

Carl and I playing chess... hmmm...

We went to a fun potato restaurant one day for lunch.  Everything on the menu was a potato dish.  They had some great stuff... and the decor was funky old stuff all over the place...

Friends for over 30 years now!

Okay, it's MY blog, so I can tell my story and my limerick here...

When we were building together in the 80s, Carl got blamed for a crooked chimney that we noticed was way out of plumb one day while we taking break.  Well, it turned out that it wasn't Carl's fault after all.  But I had already written my limerick...

A carpenter named Carl almost made it.

A chimney, yes he could create it.

   He could measure real well.

   Even peck at a nail.

But when it came to the plumb, he just ate it.

I know, I know... but, like I say, it's MY blog!  That's the story behind the plum pies above.  And to this day, Carl's fantasy football team is named "Carl's Plumb Bobs"  I rest my case.

Thanks for a wonderful time, Carl et Elisabeth et Laura!

Merci