Colmar and Eguisheim
Day three in Alsace started with an early morning visit to Colmar. Unfortunately, we chose Monday morning to visit Colmar.I had no idea, but in many parts of France, the shops are closed Monday morning. The French are clever. They need an extra half day added to their weekend to rest. I wonder why the rest of the world has not yet caught on to this exceptional logic??!! For us though, this meant that Colmar was pretty quiet… not much was happening…. the upside was, that it was quite empty which made it a photographers dream!
Colmar is an exquisite gem. Each half-timbered house is more gorgeous than the next, painted in shades of bright blue, yellow, purple, orange and peppermint green! As with the rest of this region, the houses are distinctly Germanic in style but adorned with colorful French shutters and cascading geraniums from the window boxes…. it is really a feast for the eyes. The water canal in Colmar make this fairytale village look even more dreamy and whimsical.
The most picturesque area of Colmar is Little Venice with a long canal passing through it. We enjoyed the view of the canal from the many pretty bridges and also took a half an hour boat ride. It was lovely!
Unfortunately, the main market place in the center was closed (Monday morning!!) and it is supposed to be a fabulous market. We were rather disappointed!!
The centre of Colmar is fairly small and packed with classy shops and delicatessens selling local gourmet products—white wine, cheese, sausages, chocolates, jars of sauerkraut, and bretzels (salty or sweet pretzels). Overall, we spent about four hours wandering around this gorgeous town… and then drove back to Eguisheim.
If we thought that Colmar was gorgeous, then Eguisheim is even more! Eguisheim has been officially awarded as one of the most beautiful villages of France. It is built with cobbled-stone streets arranged in concentric circles around its castle. It's so lovely just to wander the narrow-paved streets, packed with immaculately preserved old half-timbered houses. The central square is also magnificent with its fountain, the Eguisheim castle and the colorful church. Our Hotel was located in the center and we had a gorgeous view of this square from our bedroom.
That evening, there was a wine tasting festival and they were handing out free glasses of wine!! Such fun!
Overall, it was a beautiful day in Fairyland…. Tomorrow we will drive southwards along the wine trail to Riquewihr and then off to Switzerland!! Stay tuned!
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