A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 - Page 14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Saturday 31 August – part five: I didn’t expect to see this in France…
Soon we were out of Nancy and back on the motorway again, heading for our next destination.
Of course, we found some cows on the way.
The next part of our journey was very contradictory. You started to see the mountains, all enveloped in mist, which was a very cool sight to see.
However, for a lot of the journey, we were in a valley. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a shot of this, but trust me, there were vineyards alongside the road and up the hills. There was also masses of sweetcorn. France is not somewhere I associate with sweetcorn, but I guess it can be like the Swiss with their wine, in that it’s not exported.
It was also fascinating to see the architecture of the buildings here. You could tell we were nearing the Swiss border, as suddenly the houses were more like alpine chalets.
On the way to Colmar, we had a choice of going over the mountains or through the tunnel. Well, the GPS made the decision for us, and we went through the tunnel. Honestly, I don’t think either of us have ever been through such a straight tunnel in our lives. The only bend was literally right at the end just as we were coming out of it.
A bit blurred, but you get the idea…
Soon we were getting near to Colmar, and I was fascinated to see place names that sounded very German. Again, I guess it’s another sign that it’s near to the Swiss border, but given how proud the French are of their language, it surprised me.
We found our way into Colmar, which my guidebook told me was the best preserved city in Alsace. In its heyday in the 16th century, wine merchants shipped their wine along the waterways running through the town’s canal quarter, which is known as Little Venice.
As we approached Colmar, we found this 12-meter high replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the sculptor Auguste Batholdi, who created the statue originally, and was born in Colmar.
… and found our way to the RAPP parking, which was marked on my map, so I figured from there I could find my way around the town. This car park was quite something. It’s underground, but my goodness, it’s very well done, and they’ve spent some serious money on it.
When we came out, we saw somewhere else that they’re about to spend serious money on. Work has only just got underway on it, as you can see.
We headed towards the town, and immediately we found some beautiful buildings. Little did we know…
Mark found me a patisserie that specialised in macaroons. Hmm… guess where I’ll be coming back to on the way back to the car park?
We carried on walking, finding first one stunning little square….
Can't wait to see more of the town, I can already tell it's going to be one of my favorites. It's so interesting to see the architecture change as you go along.
As always, I am enjoying your photos from your lovely trip. Late to the party, but getting a chance to catch up is a great way to enjoy morning coffee!
As always, I am enjoying your photos from your lovely trip. Late to the party, but getting a chance to catch up is a great way to enjoy morning coffee!
OK, now I'm totally envisioning Fantasyland in WDW!! What a surprising Germ -- oh wait, you're still in France, right?! Stunning buildings. Just gorgeous!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
OK, now I'm totally envisioning Fantasyland in WDW!! What a surprising Germ -- oh wait, you're still in France, right?! Stunning buildings. Just gorgeous!!
still in France... but we will be in Switzerland later in the day, just to confuse you.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
It’s underground, but my goodness, it’s very well done, and they’ve spent some serious money on it. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Linear Mode
