Freiburg is in the southwest corner of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The city is within an hour train ride of both Switzerland and France. One Sunday, some friends from my group and I decided to take the train to the German city of Breisach. It was about a half-hour train ride, which was included in the price of our monthly regional transportation tickets.
Breisach is along the Rhein River, which traces the border between Germany and France. Both of these countries are also in the Schengen Area, which means no complicated border crossings between these two countries.
In Breisach, we walked up a fairly steep path to get to the old church and walked around the former monastery gardens.
We walked around the town, which had numerous ice cream shops, cafés, and tourists. From the paths in the central part of the town, we could see an amazing view of the church.
Then, we walked into France.
The weather was beautiful, and we were walking along the German side of the Rhein River. Many people were out boating on the river or enjoying the sun from on shore. Only one bridge connected Germany and France for miles in either direction. The bridge can be crossed by car, bike or on foot, and there is no stop on either side. The ground marker between the countries is so small I missed seeing it on the bridge the first time I went over it. After walking across the bridge, we spent some time enjoying the water on the French side of the Rhein.
After spending some time in France, we walked back into Germany and took the train back to Freiburg.