Almost everyone's first question on hearing you've recently driven in Europe is: "How much does petrol cost?"

We reserved an automatic, air-conditioned car, requesting diesel if possible. Interestingly, not all cars in Europe come automatic and air-conditioned as they do in North America, so requesting it is necessary.

Checking in at Hertz's Frankfurt Airport desk, we were given a choice of a BMW or a particularly sleek new Mercedes model, which we chose. Diesel fuel cost $5.75 a gallon during our trip, the car was quietly efficient, had great acceleration in mountains as well as flatlands and provided very good mileage.

In fact, experts claim 20 to 25 percent more mileage per gallon when driving a diesel. Our total gas expenditure for 15 days, driving 1,276 miles, was $206.

Total cost for 15 days, including CDW and Super CDW was $1,992. If we'd rented a car using regular petrol (sans plomb), cost per gallon would have averaged $6.70 per gallon and got less mileage.

But next time we'll try a van like the Chrysler product we drive at home. The stylish Mercedes looked so sleek, a very new model different than most we saw, that it actually turned heads.

But anyone like my brother Jim with spinal problems feels more comfortable sitting higher. We observed a number of Renault Scenics, often seen advertised in the Mid-Ocean News, and it looked like a possible choice for next year.

Where did we accumulate that mileage? Attractions here are in a relatively compact area, so it's not necessary to drive great distances to reach them.

For starters, there was that daily 28-kilometre round trip down to Obernai to buy an International Herald Tribune . . . then back to many of our favourite haunts to see if they remain unspoiled.

Remarkably, they're still as unique a segment of Alsatian history as before, populated by people treasuring and preserving their heritage. It's that rare state of preservation that lures repeat travellers back year after year.

A German-born Delta Airlines executive told me on a press trip that, for generations, her family spent all their summer vacations in Riquewihr, one of Route de Vin's prized mediaeval walled villages, and continue doing so.

What's so remarkable about these villages that have suffered through endless wars is their survival. The Franco-Prussian War, World Wars One and Two were fought across these landscapes. Some severely damaged lost architectural identity when rebuilt, but others remain a page from the past.

As a consequence, there's an abundance of military sites such as Le Linge where trenches atop its summit are unchanged since their bloody World War One battles. Numerous military cemeteries proclaim the futility of war.

We've previously written about interesting Maginot Line sites one can visit and historic Vauban fortresses. Newly opened is a war museum at Shirmeck, not far from infamous Natzwiler Struthof, a Nazi concentration camp where French resistance fighters were imprisoned and victims who survived being gassed at other camps underwent medical "research".

On this trip we discovered an extraordinary tour of Fort de Mutzig built in the mountains by Kaiser Wilhelm in 1889. It's fascinating and we'll be writing about those unique sites around Remembrance Day.

First thing to do is pick up a free brochure entitled Wine Routes of Alsace. The tourist offices in Strasbourg and Obernai are both excellent sources of information.

In that brochure you'll learn about some of the area's standout jewels. The real beauties share similar characteristics . . . buildings are wonderfully maintained, half-timbered, so bedecked with flowers they make the average botanical garden look like a desert in comparison.

Beautiful Bergheim is surrounded by mediaeval fortifications, round towers and vineyards, including Haut Koenigsbourg, dramatic towered and turreted summer castle of Kaiser Wilhelm when Germany controlled this region. There's also gated Dambach La Ville's St. Sebastian chapel and charnel house, where elaborately carved arms reach out from the wall holding candles to illuminate its 17th-century baroque altar. Walled Riquewihr still maintains its outer defences, fortifications, houses and courtyards from the 13th, 15th and 17th centuries along with a torture museum and another featuring ancient stagecoaches.

Along the way, perched on forested slopes, are many ruined castles to lure hikers . . . and yes, we've climbed up to most of them.

When towns duch as Ribeauville proclaim they're home to numerous stork nests, they are not exaggerating. Be on the lookout and you'll soon lose count of their numbers. Early one Sunday morning this August, bound for Orbey's annual antique market, we saw them feeding in gin local fields, flying around rooftops and preening in large nests above village roofs.

The list of our favourites is long and impressive.

Eguisheim, which is built in concentric circles around its castle, was the birthplace of Pope Saint Leo IX in 1002.

Kayserberg, birthplace of theologian, musician and medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer, has a very worthwhile museum recalling his life. Everything about the town deserves attention, especially its remarkable 16th-century altar piece unlike any this traveller has seen. Avolsheim's Dompeter Church dates to the sixth century and its addition was consecrated by Alsatian Pope Leo IX in 1049. We were sorry to see its 1,000-year-old lime tree had succumbed this trip, but St. Odile has some that are also centuries old.

One also sees sequoia trees in towns such as Orbey and Le Howald.

Both Rosheim and Boersch still have their ancient town gates, ooze charm and personality ranging from a 12th-century church to ramparts.

And that was just for starters . . . every day we drove through Bernardswiller, Obernai, Ottrott and St. Nabor and marvelled at their beauty. The best way to enjoy all these village gems is to walk through them because obviously roads, often just lanes, are narrow, winding and often difficult to manoeuvre.

This year's trip coincided with mirabelle season, a luscious small, sweet golden plum the size of Bermuda's Surinam cherries. Cost at roadside stands ranged from one to one and a half euros a kilo. About $1.36 to $2 for more than two lbs. We devoured them in great quantity.

When we weren't nibbling on them between meals and picnics, it was salz-stucks (pretzels) and choco-riz, a very tasty treat of rice crispies coated with dark or light chocolate. You can find these at the Aldi store in Kehl (near Strasbourg) or Super U stores all over this area.

We haven't even mentioned endless possibilities for wine tastings in villages whose noted vintages can be found in your favourite liquor store.

Picnicking in some scenic setting is a daily event. And although there are picnic tables and hikers' benches many places, the French custom is also to set up your own chairs in the site of your choice.

Since we'd hauled all the collapsible collection home in 2002, including chairs and hammocks, we went out and bought some chairs to do as the French do.

Every village offers special seasonal activities guided walks through vineyards, wine festivals, flea markets, concerts, dances, art and craft fairs. Regional food is the focus of many such events from honey, blueberries, beer and plums to onions, sausages, pretzels, even hay, sugar, and celery.

We've attended some very memorable free concerts at ancient churches with treasured Silberman organs and discovered treasures at many annual marches aux puces (flea markets). We'll take you to one next week that is full of surprises.

One of the joys of returning to the same place is the opportunity to develop friendships with people who live there. Christine Parmentier-Hernandez, whom we'd met at the reception desk that very first day 18 years ago, has become a special friend, along with husband Raymond and 13-year-old daughter Inez Odile.

We enjoyed a couple of very memorable meals together, one at Mount St. Odile's lovely new dining room, the other in Zellwiller, the village where Christine manages the mairie (village hall) to be closer to her home.

It's great dining in a local village restaurant, especially when you're with wine experts like Christine and Raymond who are flawless at finding the perfect vintage to suit our palates. Our meal at Belle Vue was delicious.

Many of these small village restaurants are really marvellous finds. Jean JoHo, one of America's top-rated chefs, got his start at a small Zellwiller bistro, Chez Genevieve, where Christine had also taken us to lunch.

Born in nearby Barr, JoHo went on to please palates at Chicago's prestigious Everest on the 40th floor above the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chicago's Brasserie Jo and Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas' Paris Paris.

Meanwhile, this interesting town in the valley overlooking the Vosges Mountains has seen much change since our 2002 visit. It has now attracted the horsey set who come out from Strasbourg to Zellwiller. But they've in no way ruined its atmosphere, but enhanced it, restoring and gussying up already existing buildings and planting still more flowers. We were impressed, not depressed as so often happens in our own country where overdevelopment often reaches gross levels.

Obviously one expects more over-the-top development in a city like Strasbourg as headquarters of the Europrean Union parliament. Happily, it's mostly on the city's perimeter, with the centre reminiscent of what Paris might have been 50 or 70 years ago.

We drove to the Bank of France to turn in our old francs, still possible for ten years after the introduction of the euro. We still had several hundred dollars' worth of them.

Then we strolled through town, over to the cathedral and the Bas Rhine Tourist Office, where effervescent, well-informed Claudine Levy, whom we've known for years, brought us up to date on tourism news and area development.

In years past she has directed us to some surprising and little-known sites, such as the remarkable Jewish cemetery in Rosenwiller, with ancient monuments unlike any we'd ever seen before.

Her office at 9 Rue du Dome is a good place to obtain information about the region and purchase some memorable and very modestly-priced dramatic posters recalling Alsace's major wonders.

Petite France, the city's interesting historic district, was still a jewel . . . that is, except for one ghastly eyesore horribly out of place. We always park in an area near the river, walk down past the Regent Hotel which sadly was restored in a bleak, minimalist style which might be fine elsewhere, but totally out of character with this area.

It's location is interesting, with the river actually rushing under the hotel and emerging as a waterfall. We cross the small rotating footbridge here to our favourite shops.

New across from the hotel, totally out of place, was a weird looking, boxy wood building which appears to serve as a multi-storey garage whose appearance bears absolutely no relation to this otherwise delightful historic district. Some city planners must have lingered too long at a wine tasting en route to whatever meeting approved those plans!

Next Week: Anatomy of a French flea market