The Canal Town of Colmar

We thought Strasbourg was pretty special yesterday, but today’s trip to Colmar, about 40km south of where we are staying, was even better. We took the scenic route through more delightful villages before arriving in Colmar. The first thing we noticed was that it was much quieter than Strasbourg – no coach parties and crocodiles of schoolchildren, for a start. Once again, we ambled around following the self-guided walking tour provided by the Visitor Centre. The houses were of similar age and style, each beautifully painted in soft pastels à la South Beach, but that is where the similarity ends. These houses were over 400 years old, their aged timbers still looking well up to the job of supporting the tall houses that once accommodated the tanners and fishermen. Narrow streets wind around three churches, each with their tall tower and cobbled square. Small shops displayed chic but affordable French fashions, shoes and gifts, but nothing as tacky as you might see elsewhere. The charcuteries (butchers) and boulangeries make the heart sing! First stop of any note was in the cathedral, which had some splendid antiquities and beautiful artwork. The only fly in the ointment was that the camera battery faded barely part way into the tour. Never mind, a good excuse to return another day. So we ambled arm-in-arm and just enjoyed the whole place. We ambled down to the canal in the area known as Little Venice where small wooden punts with a guide offered 30-minute tours (just €6 per person) along the canal. They went past some of the houses that can only be accessed from the water. With terrace gardens and window boxes of geraniums, petunias, begonias, alyssum and red mandevillas hanging over the water, it makes an irresistible sight for those lucky enough to have a working camera! Hunger struck around noon so we headed back to Le Stam, a charming half-timbered bierstub/winstub at the back of the Church of the Dominicains. We took a table beside the cobbled square and watched people passing by as we waited for the Menu du Jour – Magret du canard avec legumes forestière. This was a tasty slices of duck breast covered in a rich brown forestière sauce of assorted fungi (mushrooms to you and I) and a heap of fresh vegetables to warm the heart of any Brit abroad! It was delicious, and it was then the turn of passers-by to watch us with envy. We sipped a glass of local brew – Paulane beer – and awaited the set dessert. It was a delicious pistachio mousse beneath a rich chocolate mousse topped with a strawberry – quite heavenly. All for €9 a head. Eat your heart out folks! We then headed off into the mountains for a scenic tour along the valley of the River Fecht to Munster (France) then up the zigzagging forested mountainside to the Col de la Schlucht at 1139m. The views were quite something – until the sprinkles and drizzle started, so then we headed for home after another thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable day.

Around Strasbourg, France

We are staying in a very pleasant budget hotel just outside Strasbourg, so the obvious place to start our explorations was in the historic part of the city. Strasbourg is the well-known seat of the European Parliament in a contemporary building on the outskirts of the city, but this interested us far less than the historic district. It was very easy to drive in and park in an underground car park, amazing dug out beneath the old city squares. We popped out near a double-height carousel with elephants and horses, dated 1900. Built on the Grand Ile of the River Ill, a bit like Notre Dame in Paris, the area known as Petite France is a well-preserved cluster of half-timbered structures and cobbled streets dating back to the 16th century. It is unbelievably pretty, even in the drizzle, and we took endless photographs of the four storey merchants’ houses around the town, with their wooden shutters, tiny dormer windows in the roof and blooming window boxes. The overall effect of the overhanging upper floors and the dark wooden timber supports was totally charming. First stop after the Visitor Centre was the rust-coloured sandstone Cathedral. It was busy in the square but we nipped inside for a look around, as you do. Built in 1225 AD, after the earlier church burnt down, the crypt dates back even earlier, to 1015. The 142m (466 foot) spire towers over the city and leaves you wondering how they managed to haul the materials up so high. It was the tallest building in the world from 1647 (when St Mary’s Church Spire at Stralsund burnt down) to 1874. Visitors can climb up to the platform for views over the city, but we declined and stuck to the lower level. The Gothic carvings on the façade are just amazing in detail. There were wonderful side chapels and vivid stained glass windows, some exquisitely created in the late 12th century at a time when some civilizations were still living in mud huts! The carved pulpit is covered in 3D detail by Hans Hammer (1486) and the suspended pipe organ is a rich gold-trimmed affair circa 1385, hanging above the central nave. Next to the chancel and choir with its beautiful medieval painted ceiling we saw a massive astronomical clock. It was too crowded with tour groups for us to get close during the striking of the bells, but we saw the beautiful clock later with its zodiac face. We were then ushered out of the building at 11.30 as it closes for a couple of hours over lunchtime, as do the shops we found out. The clock strikes every quarter hour and at 12.30pm every day the carved figures of the twelve apostles parade before Christ. There was also a gleaming golden statue, possibly the Virgin Mary, as the Cathedral is dedicated to her. We went down to the canal/river to take a narrated boat tour around the Ile but tickets were sold out – but we’ll be back. We had a bite to eat in a small Winstub which are casual family restaurants or taverns serving traditional food such as Tarte Flambé, a flat pizza-like concoction, or Choucroute which is sauerkraut served with sausages or pork. Everything was surprisingly affordable with plenty of two course lunches in historic eateries for €14 or less. Fully rested, we continued to amble around the streets and shops ogling the patisseries and chocolate shops which had edible works of art. We found ourselves frequently going around in circles despite having a map and we put it down to having so many distractions. We would deviate off to look at one house and then another and they all looked like something Old Mother Hubbard should have lived in. The Tanner’s House was particularly beautiful with its wooden balconies where the leather hides were dried. Eventually we reached the tip of the Ile where several canals divide the island. The river actually runs at quite a pace underneath or through some of the houses which is quite a sight from the lock bridge. The covered bridges (Ponts Couverts) are one of the main sights there, with three towers (13th century) which were once used to defend the city. The roofs were removed in the 18th century but parts of the old city walls can still be seen. Unfortunately, the Vauban Dam terrace was under plastic sheets being restored. We certainly had a day to remember in Strasbourg and you can easily spend all day there taking in a boat ride, train tour or visiting a museum inside the splendid Palais Rohan. We certainly walked our legs off and after visiting Monsieur LeClerc (supermarket) again we were happy to collapse back at the hotel.

Paris Orly to Strasbourg, Alsace

Bonjour, and welcome to a summer in FALS – for the uninitiated that’s France, Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland! Family, friends and unfortunates who blindly stumbled upon this blog by chance and didn’t hit the back arrow soon enough, will find themselves with a one-way ticket around Europe with us during summer 2012.
It feels so good to be back in France. After an 8-hour flight with Corsair, (memorable for the zero degree wind howling down my neck and the fact that the legroom was too short for a tray table), it was a real pleasure to land. We were welcomed to Europe with a noticeable lack of red tape and no immigration lines, just a cursory check of our passports. All nationalities were through the formalities in minutes compared to the hours we are used to in the USA. There were no security guards, no machine guns, no threatening atmosphere, no grim faces, no glass cubicles - just a big relaxed welcome to Europe.
We have clearly been away too long. We spent our time in the airport staring wide-eyed at the fashions. Presented with a set of clothes the typical Parisian is wearing, I would have no clue how to put on all those layers in the right order (indeed, do they?) Males and females alike seem to wear layers of assorted underwear, wind several scarves around their neck and manage to look très chic. And the hairstyles…! We felt like underdressed country bumpkins.
We picked up our hire car ($12 per day all-in for the next 4 months), a Renault Clio diesel, and headed out of the city. We were soon enjoying the cozy familiarity of graffiti-covered overpasses, grey clouds and more lorries than cars on the narrow jam-packed autoroute.
Enough of Paris, Orly. We chose to take the N4 southeast to Strasbourg, Alsace to see the countryside and avoid the tolls, but so too did all the lorries. The car seems comfortable and spacious enough for the task in hand, and the diesel will prove economical. Lesson one in French came soon enough when we realized that new cars have a lot more new-fangled gadgets than we are used to. I thumbed the pages of the car manual in French, trying to fathom out what a + and – button were on the steering wheel and why the car was reluctant to accelerate when overtaking a long line of lorries. It can be unnerving when the gap between the approaching juggernaut and us is decreasing at a combined speed of 220km/hr and the car refuses to respond to the accelerator. Finally disabled the SPEED LIMITOR and instantly felt our odds of survival were a trillion times better. Phew!
After that, we could relax and enjoy the flat fields passing by along with the red-tile roofs of farm buildings, the odd church spire, huge storks’ nests and conical topped towers peeking over the trees. Typical French countryside is so timeless and beautiful. The fields had a variety of crops with no marked boundaries between them as they flowed from lines of sweet corn, cereals and potatoes to asparagus, strawberries and other unidentified crops. The poppies along the edges were stunning, as were the fields of blue cornflowers and lavender. Every village had its auberge or relais (roadhouse), a throwback of the times when early motoring required a bed and a mechanic at every stopping place. Incidentally, this was the humble origin of the first Michelin Guide, now hijacked as a marque for outstanding restaurants.
Travelled through the Champagne region with rows of grapes and eventually we reached the Haut-Marne where the scenery was hilly and wooded. Stopped at a Cora supermarket and headed inside, drooling with anticipatory pleasure. It did not disappoint. A lot may have changed in Europe since we were last here, but you can still get a wedge of ripened brie oozing from its crust for €0.91, baguettes with insides as light as candy floss for €0.55, tasty coarse pate, the sweetest cherry tomatoes and some very quaffable red wines at less per litre than petrol (€2.10 compared to €3.30 for diesel). If only the car would run on it!
So spent a happy evening enjoying the last of the sunshine as we arrived at the Roi Soleil in Holzheim, a stone’s throw from Strasbourg.