Day one of my recent trip to Alsace was spent in Colmar, an adorable little town full of narrow cobblestone streets and half-timbered houses painted in vivid colors. It’s just a 2-hour train ride from Zurich, changing trains in Basel (I’m being nice in this post, so I’m biting my tongue about the cleanliness and punctuality of that second train).
After dropping our bags off at the hotel and wandering around a bit, we headed for lunch at Le temps des delices (23, rue d’Alspach), a tiny Italian restaurant recommended by Ali’s guidebook. It offered up some of the best food I’ve ever had in France, and the waitress was friendly and charming. And it was non-smoking, so one could actually taste the food. Great place!
With our bellies satisfied, we headed towards the Musee d’Unterlinden. This museum is touted for its fabulous altarpiece by some guy I had never heard of. I went in a skeptic and came out a convert – it was a pretty fabulous altarpiece, and the rest of the collection contained some real gems, too. A very good art museum for such a small town, that’s for sure.
Then it was off for some more wandering. We roughly followed the walking route recommended by the friendly guy at the Tourist Information Office. (Pretty much everyone we encountered in Colmar was friendly – can you imagine? Way to bust down those stereotypes about snotty rude Frenchies, Colmar.)
One particularly charming neighborhood of Colmar is referred to as ‘Petit Venise’ due to its muddy, dirty canals. One could imagine the patios lining the streets and canals full of tourists on a day only slightly warmer than the one we had; it must be packed in the summer, but we had it mostly to ourselves.
We stayed at a gorgeous, recently-renovated hotel in the middle of town called La Maison des Têtes (um, the head house?). It was a little too newly-renovated, actually – you could still smell the fresh paint. Their breakfast was decent but cost 14 euros extra; next time I’d skip it in favor of finding my own at one of the gazillions of pastry shops around. Seriously, how do the French eat all those pastries and stay so thin?
Overall Colmar was a big hit, and I’d really like to return. Next time I’ll go by car so I can explore all the wineries in the surrounding area – Alsace, like many other regions of France, is full of charming wineries. Who knew France could be so much fun?
**sighs**
I love those buildings. I’m always taking photos of structures and houses when I visit places. 🙂
Looks very cute! I’ve only been to Strasbourg but I liked it too. Maybe one of these days I’ll give Paris a try.
There’s a resort by the name of “Colmar Tropicale” here in Malaysia. It looks more or less the same as that Colmar 😉
Beautiful photos. They reminded me of our trip from last summer to the Route de Vin. Definately go back with the car. Last summer we found some interesting small villages encompassed by vineyards. I want to return during the harvest one year.
If you go by car, be sure to stop in Eguisheim, not far from Colmar. Touristy, but not as much as places like Riquewihr, and so quaint it’s almost Disney-esque. It was one of the must-sees when we had visitors and got rave reviews.