Day 6: Black Forest - Baden-Baden

We left the Rhine Valley headed for the Black Forest area. It rained on us for a bit at first while driving, then stopped. Seriously - the weather is coinciding perfectly with our travel plans. The Black Forest is the southwestern region along the Rhine/bordering France. It's a beautiful area with a densely wooded forest (hence "black forest" or Schwarzwald in German) that becomes hilly then mountainous then turns into Switzerland.

Baden-Baden marks the beginning of the Black Forest and is an area with a lot of geothermal activity. "Bad" means bath in German. This is a high-class spa resort town full of expensive shops and wealthy international travelers along with Germans looking for some relaxation.

As you might imagine, this isn't really our sort of thing, but it was on our way so worth a stop for a quick self-guided tour, some people watching, and a stop in at the market for some groceries to make a picnic. There are some pretty buildings, but my favorite sight was these very old light fixtures outside the Trinkhalle. They are pulley lights, a much larger and much more impressive version of the counter-weighted pendants we just put in our kitchen.