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“France”

“Then I guess I should say au revoir”

Tears stung her eyes “Goodbye, Rebecca”

After her harrowing ordeal on the road a half-hour ago, this pain was all she needed

Wiping her eyes, she got up to wash her face Once she felt a little calmer, she went down to the front desk

“Could you please tell me which vineyard is the best in the area?”

Without hesitation the concierge said, “That would be the Domaine Chartier et Fils, mademoiselle

“If you take the road west from the town center and follow it three miles, you will come upon a fifteenth-century convent which has been owned by the Chartier faenerations You can’t miss it”

Rachel thanked him and went out to her car parked on one of the quaint side streets

Thousands of tourists flocked to Alsace, the north-eastern province of France bordering Germany and Switzerland Now that it was June, she’d had trouble finding a place to squeeze in

After putting her black attaché case in the front passenger seat, she slid behind the wheel But she wasn’t quick enough to prevent a couple of guys fros The skirt of her white business suit had ridden up her thighs

Ignoring their interested gaze, she leaned over to close the door The action caused her dark, glossy hair to swish against her shoulders Quickly she started the car and pulled into the narrow street

She’d passed through the town center a little while ago, having driven a portion of the village-studded wine route from Colmar, a city forty-five minutes from Thann

Blessed with a good sense of direction, she soon found herself traveling to the outskirts past Hansel and Gretel houses whose -boxes overfloith geraniums and other summer flowers

Instead of the rain she’d left in the UK just over a week ago, a glorious noonday sun shone down The rays caused a dappled effect as they penetrated the lush green foliage of the manicured landscape

If it hadn’t been for that menace who’d run her off the road, the day would have been idyllic

Still bristling over his cavalier attitude, she eventually reached the edge of the town and rounded a curve where she discovered herself flanked on both sides by rows of tall gr

ape vines She followed the healthy-looking vineyard up the slope

In the distance she spied aover the checkerboard plots of vineyards the French called terroirs

A gasp of wonder escaped her throat, pro her to slon so she could absorb her fairy-tale-like surroundings

She htly pinkish cast to its stone walls Any second now she expected to see Rapunzel at one of the arched s, and the handsoolden hair so he could climb up to her

Since Rachel’s early-ht from Bordeaux, located on the Atlantic seaboard, such fanciful thoughts seemed part of her experience

She’d traveled to many beautiful places in Europe on restaurant business with her father and grandfather But this was the first ti to a special spot of earth Her feelings seeo far beyond the physical

In her heart she thought, I could live here for ever