On Saturday, I took a tour with Regioscope (another great RS recommendation) through the Alsace region. The tour was perfect - 3 people and the guide. It couldn't have been any more like a private tour, but without the private tour prices.
Unfortunately I can't remember all the villages we went to, so the narration on the weekend may or may not be right. That's the breaks when you wait 3 months to write about it.
That's a general map of the areas we went to. I'm not sure which specific villages on the left we went to, but we started in Strasbourg and then lunch in Colmar and then a few other villages on the way back to Strasbourg.
We first skirted the outside of Colmar and came upon the pretty lady above. I've never seen the US Statute of Liberty, but I can now say I've seen Colmar's version. The guide provided really interesting insights into the region - there are quite a few Alsace nationalists. The region has it's own language. It's only spoken in the home amongst the older generation. The region is neither French or German...it picks some interesting parts from both. It sided with the Germans in WWII. After the war, Paris relocated parts of the government to Strasbourg to enforce French language and dilute some of the German influence. It worked.
First village above. Gorgeous little alley ways with beautiful shops and cafes. Interesting mixture of German and French architecture.
Gorgeous church in the centre of town.
Christmas market in the centre
Loads of fruit cakes in the first market
Christmas tree made of skis in Colmar at the second stop
Canals in Colmar with beautiful German houses with French influences. Cannot ask for a more beautiful view for lunch.
Artisan Christmas Market in Colmar - France is the best at encouraging local producers for the markets. At each one, a certain number of stands had to sell only locally crafted products (and not the stuff made in China). The gingerbread above was being iced right in front of the crowd...and the smell, oh the smell.
Colmar is a much larger city than the villages we went to in the morning and the afternoon, but after staying in Strasbourg, I think I would recommend to people to stay in Colmar and side trip to Strasbourg. Colmar is much more pedestrian friendly and the views are beautiful.
All the Christmas markets after Colmar were in the grape fields. All of the mulled wine (Ghuelwein) was made from local vintages and they had tasting booths at just about every corner. I'm planning to go back for a summer tour through the vineyards - the area has amazing variety and wonderful places to sample.
View from the vineyard of one of the villages we went to.
After the tour, it was back to Strasbourg for a bit more wandering around and to grab a few Christmas gifts. The whole main shopping street in Strasbourg changed colours as you walk down it.
So that's the painting I got for my apartment to go with my sorta French theme. I love the distressed look and I met the painter, which I'm a sucker for.
And I got a vase to go with my French themes.
Sunday was spent wandering the markets in the morning and then headed off to Basel airport for the flight back. Winederful!!!
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