While planning our trip to Alsace I knew I wanted to stop at Obernai, Soufflenheim, Riquewirh, Colmar and Eguisheim. I also came across some info on Wattwiller and I knew my husband (who is a huge history buff) would enjoy that stop on our trip. Also, Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey seemed like a great stop to enjoy the views of the vineyards from up above.
Hartmannswillerkopf, also know as Vieil Armand (in Wattwiller, France) was a battlefield on top of a mountain, with extremely steep sides all round, where the French and Germans fought for most of the Great War. I have read some amazing reviews on this memorial but was bummed to find out (the night before we left) that they were still on their winter schedule and wouldn't be open for a few more hours till after we were planning to arrive. So instead we planned on just heading out to Eguisheim before going to Colmar to spend the night.
We headed out towards Eguisheim right after breakfast and arrived there around lunch time. The drive was pretty easy and took just over 3 hours to get there. Eguisheim has a carpark very close to the centre, just off the main street (D14) turning left just before you see Wolfberger on your right. 2€ for 2 hours and 3€ for 4 hours.
Rand looking for an itsy bitsy spider.
After a delicious lunch at Restaurant Dagsbourg, we
did a lap around this charming little city. Eguisheim is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, meaning "the most beautiful villages of France." We enjoyed walking around this quintessential French/German city and admiring its beautiful half-timbered buildings and the old city walls.
Alsace has plenty of wine shops with signs outside that welcome you in for a dégustation, a free tasting of their vins d’Alsace before you buy: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris. We picked a random cellar and were able to taste some local wines and buy from the owners. Bakeries and pastry shops were plentiful and filled with colorful tasty treats. Alsace is known as the birthplace of the kugelhopf so we just had to get one to try.
Do you see those two huge nests onto of the orange and red buildings? Those are from the famous Alsace storks. We found these huge nests all around Alsace on chimneys and rooftops.
Our next stop was Colmar. I found this amazing apartment on AirBnB that not only was in a perfect location but the price was amazing and was just so cute! We were right near the indoor market, Little Venice and Koifhus.
Colmar was completely decked out for Easter. They had little pockets of Easter markets with vendors scattered throughout the city along with live animals like rabbits, chickens, baby chicks, goats and much more. Rand loved running up to the cage or fence and peeking in to see each fuzzy little animal.
They say Alsace is French with a German accent but I would say it is the other way around ;) Rob and I thought it favored more of Germany than France. Alsace is the Germanic region of France. It is a region lying on the west bank of the river Rhine, between the Rhine and the Vosges mountains. Colmar was founded in the 9th Century and was German between 1871–1918 and 1940–1945.
In the middle photo to the right you can see a beautiful mural painted house called the The Pfister house which was built in 1537. The mural paintings represent biblical and secular scenes.
Saint Martin’s church, also known as Cathédrale Saint-Martin (for its large dimensions, though it is not a cathedral). It was built in pink sandstone from the Vosges Mountain built between 1235 and 1365.
The second picture on the right is The fishmonger's district and is lined with beautiful cherry blossom trees that were in full bloom during our visit. Parallel to the trees were colorful half-timbered homes and just down the street from Little Venice (bottom right picture).
