Cannes is best known for the Cannes Film festival that happens every May. It's a very ritzy town with every high end shopping store right on the main boulevard.  My friends got upgraded to a super fancy hotel and the cocktails at the bar were all over 30 euro! No thanks haha.





Cannes is about an hour from Nice and we got a quick, direct flight from Munich.  I'll definitely be back to explore this area more!

 The town was all set up for Christmas and it was way colder/snowier here than it was back home. Half of the things I wanted to do were closed for the winter (funicular up to the top to see the city, ice caves, some hiking trails) so I know I'll definitely need to come back this way in warmer times.


It was only about a 4 hour drive down and I hoped to explore more in the area and hunt out Christmas markets in Austria but my friend got sick so we traveled back as quickly as possible the next day.

Until next time Austria! Those mountains call to me.... so I will be back soon!

We started out with a beer flight- had a few Maisel beers including the Weissbeir- my favorite! But there were also beers made by their "friends"- including a Choco Porter which was pretty good.

These were all on tap but they have beers from all over the world (well mostly Europe I guess) so there is some great selection.... it's kind of hard to find Belgian beers in Germany so we like any place that we can find a Qwak and some Lindemans :)
And look at this beautiful cheese plate! (the fries and burgers were amazing too!)
All the walls are covered with beers from all over the world and how they connect and relate to each other. We went during Lent time so there were lots of Bock beers on tap (as well as a Bock beer event we attended that paired the beer with cheese and chocolate... I hope this place does a lot more events!)
A statue of King Gambrinus- traditional icon of this area of Bavaria for beer, brewing, joviality and joie de vivre! This one just reminds me a Burger King haha.

Another throwback to beautiful autumn travels around Germany.  Hohenzollern Castle is about an hour south of Stuttgart (about 4 hours from Grafenwoehr).  It was an easy trip out of Stuttgart (perfect if you are already there doing the Pumpkin Fest or the Cannstater Volksfest- also don't miss out on Lichtenstien Castle that's nearby!) This is my second time visiting and I loved it just as much this time... the amazing sunny day didn't hurt!  
It was such a beautiful day and we really enjoyed walking around the castle grounds. Last time I was here it was so foggy I couldn't see any of the castle until we got right up on it.  I had to stop and take pictures this time even though it looks so small in the distance!  There are some awesome shots of this castle online taken from an airplane or drone so you can see the whole complex... as a photographer I'm always sad when I can't get those shots too hahaha.
This Hohenzollern Castle dates back to 1454 (there was an earlier one that was destroyed by fire). It is the seat of House of Hohenzollern and it sits atop a mountain in the Swabian Alps.

You park at a lower level, buy your entrance tickets (there's also a ticket booth at the top) and then you can either hike up or take a shuttle bus for a small fee. The shuttle drops you off at the drawbridge of the castle and then you can wind your way up to the top.





There is a beer garden/restaurant in the interior of the grounds. Perfect 1st stop if you decided to hike up! :)

This castle was built about 1840 and is now privately owned but open to visitors.

Holy Cow! That was basically my reaction when I walked around the corner and saw this.... I probably took 100 pics in every different angle! The sky was perfect, it was the golden hour where every thing looks beautiful- a photographers dream! (That's how I get around the Eiffel Tower- even though I've taken so many pictures of it, it amazes me every time I and I try to get new shots, new lighting...)

I mean isn't this lighting just drool worthy!!!


There is a guided tour on the inside which looks pretty cool (medievel weapons and armor) but we missed out on it and barely got inside before they closed the gates! When the sun is shining and it's a beautiful fall day you can just kind of lose track of time but we were so glad we didn't drive that way for no reason! Nov-Mar the castle is closed or has really shortened hours so make sure to look at the times before you head there :)

There were lookout points where you could see the entire valley below.  Sorry for the excessive amount of shots but there were just so many amazing ones I couldn't choose! :)