Are we there yet? No, but we are into the last third of this 26-stop marathon. We are in the countryside just outside of the Alsace Wine Route arriving in Saverne, France.

It’s Friday, May 8 and it is Victory Day in Europe, the day of Germany’s surrender and the end of World War II in Europe.

With the holiday, many people are out with families enjoying the day. Some are spending it fishing in the town’s canals.

Marie Antoinette’s Stay

Does the name Rohan seem familiar? It should if you stopped by my previous post of Day 17 in Strasbourg. There she stayed at the Palais Rohan. Every prominent family close to the royal family needed a little cottage in the country and the Rohans château was here. In the lovely town of Saverne she stayed at the Chateau des Rohan, hosted by Prince-Bishop Louis René Édoure de Rohan. A grand reception was held in Marie Antoinette’s honor and likely everyone in this small town could see the fireworks lighting the sky.

Saverne Today

This is a pretty little town sitting in the Vosques Mountains. Even Louis XIV was said to exclaim at its beauty when he visited and the Château is still referred to as the Little Versailles of Alsace.

Saverne today has the perfect combination of convenience and modernization. In this town of canals and flowers, you can pick up your Amazon order at the train station and charge your vehicle while shopping on the downtown street.

The gardens around the château are still lovely as are the canals that run through the town. I like to think the youthful Marie Antoinette would have enjoyed the merry-go-round, the boat rides and ice cream stands along the canal where she spent a night on this journey.

And that Chateau des Rohan now? It serves as a grade school, a museum and a youth hostel. Although I enjoyed my room overlooking the Roseraie with its 800 varieties of roses, had I been aware of the youth hostel in the chateau, it would have been my choice to stay in the château. Ah well, next time.

There are also hiking trails just out of town that will take you to another ancient castle. I happened to find my way in that direction as I turned down the wrong street from my hôte and just kept walking, uphill 800 feet according to my Garmin. When I saw the trailhead to the hiking trails, they were quite muddy with other hikers slowing making their way through.

I wisely found my way back down the hill and into the middle of town where a lot of people were gathered, out for a coffee or a glass of wine. A relaxing day during a whirlwind journey.

Bonus Photo – a bit of whimsy in the square