Wanderlust Traveler: Alsace: the land of half-timbered cuteness overload (Colmar, Strasbourg, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Hunawihr, & Ribeauville)

Day 27 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)

I left sunny Beaune, and began the two and a half hour drive towards Alsace, where I would stay for two nights in the town of Colmar.

Prior to going out and exploring the city, I wanted to stop by the hotel to park the car and check into my room at Hotel Turenne. Although I had a spot reserved for my car in the garage, I was not able to park it inside until I received instructions from the hotel staff. As a result, I left the car in front of the hotel, with the caution lights on. It was partially parked in the street, but only slightly, which is not an uncommon sight in cities in France.

Exterior of Hotel Turenne.

I grabbed all of my bags and then brought them into the lobby. I saw a woman standing at the front desk, and proceeded to say to her “j’ai une reservation” (I have a reservation). She then responds “pardon” as though she cannot comprehend what I’m saying and becomes quite irritated with me. So, although I have spoken perfectly clear French (I know, my accent obviously isn’t perfect, but COME ON!) I proceed to tell her in English that I have a reservation, and then she quickly responds while pointing outside “you can’t leave the car there!!” Well, DUH, lady. Can’t you hear the very loud engine running and see the hazard lights blinking (it was about 15 feet away from me)? It would be fairly obvious to most that the car is only parked there temporarily until I receive instructions from your unhelpful self on how I am able to get into the locked garage. Instead of helping me, she huffs off and finds someone else to help me. I soon realize that she is one of the cleaning staff, thus why she wasn’t willing or able to help me (but why in the hell then was she standing at the front desk???).

Anyway, the second woman explains how to enter the garage so I then proceed to drop off all of my bags in the lobby and the leave for a few minutes to move the car. As soon as I return to check in, the lady informs me that my room isn’t ready yet. Of course, she couldn’t have mentioned this to me before I left to move the car, while the luggage sat in the lobby? No, because that would have been too easy. So, I then had to lug everything back into the garage, which was quite irritating. Even more annoying, I was asked to come back several hours later that afternoon to check in. I had plans to spend a little bit of time in Colmar, and then drive over to Strasbourg for the rest of the evening. Instead, I would have to waste more time coming back later to grab my luggage, complete the check-in process, and then bring everything upstairs. It might not seem like too big of a hassle, but when you are already behind schedule, have a tightly-packed day of sight-seeing, and when you have just dealt with the most unhelpful hotel staff, it certainly doesn’t make one very happy.

After that ordeal, I headed into Colmar, where I began a walking tour of the town listed in Rick Steves France guidebook. Colmar is a mid-sized town with approximately 70,000 residents and is a great place to base oneself while sightseeing within Alsace. The city was lucky enough to be sparred of wartime damage during World War II as both the Americans and British took special note of Colmar and made sure not to bomb the city. Colmar, like much of Alsace, has been thrown back and forth between France and Germany over the last few hundred years. In 1679, the city was ceded to France, and stayed within the boundaries of France until 1871, when the Franco-Prussian War caused Colmar to be annexed by the German Empire. It was then returned back to France after World War I, to only be annexed again, this time by Nazi Germany, in 1940. Finally, Colmar reverted back to French control in 1945. As a result of the multiple changes in boundaries, Colmar has a wonderful mixture of both German and French influences which can be found its food, architecture, and even language.

Instantly, I fell in love with the beautiful and ridiculously charming town. Everywhere I looked, there were brightly half-timbered colored houses and buildings which had the most charming Germanic flair to their design. Almost every single building was in immaculate condition; in fact, I can’t actually remember seeing a building that appeared to be in any need of help. Another interesting aspect that I discovered about Colmar was that the historic town core went on and on and on. It was the largest area of historically preserved buildings I could ever remember seeing anywhere; very impressive, especially for a town of less than 70,000 people.

Colmar

Cute window shutters in Colmar.

Colmar

Church in Colmar.

Along my walk, I stopped in at the Unterlinden Museum. This museum is housed in a 13th century Dominican religious convent and features a wide range of art, from the famous Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald to a large collection of religious art to 18th and 19th century furniture to modern art; something to please almost everyone. The entrance fee to the museum also included the use of a very informative and interesting audio guide, which was very helpful. Audio guides tend to assist with bringing art to life for me, so I usually appreciate them immensely. I was able to tour the museum within an hour, although I obviously could have spent much more time if I had looked at every single piece of art. However, an hour was good to me and the museum is one that I would actually recommend to most visitors due to its unique and wide range of art collections.

Unterlinden Museum in Colmar.

After walking through town for about 2.5 hours, I headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, I was greeted on my second arrival by a much more friendly and helpful woman at the front desk. After being assigned a room, I took the elevator to my room. Unfortunately, as soon as I swung open the door to the room, all I could smell was an awful smoke odor. Sure enough, the room was a “smoking” one. This obviously wasn't going to work for me. I immediately went downstairs to have them rectify the situation. After asking if they had any non-smoking rooms, the woman replied “does the room smell?” I then said “it does enough” and then she stated “not a problem”. Thank God, otherwise I would have been out looking for a different hotel.Why in the hell they would put me in a smoking room without asking me is beyond me, especially since smoking rooms are no longer common in Europe.

My room at Hotel Turenne in Colmar.

From the hotel, I got back into the car and began what should have been a 45 minute drive to Strasbourg. Unfortunately, due to traffic (first time I had experienced that in France) it ended up taking nearly one hour and 15 minutes until I finally reached the parking garage near the train station.

Strasbourg is the largest city within Alsace, with a population of about 275,000 within the city proper, and about 638,670 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. The city is home to thousands of university students and people from all over Europe. Due to the peace that had been brokered between France and Germany, Strasbourg was chosen as the home to the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the European Ombudsman of the European Union, and the European Court of Human Rights. In 1988, Strasbourg was the first large city to have its historic city center (the Grande Île "Grand Island") designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

From the train station, it was about a 15 minute walk into the historic core, where the Strasbourg Cathedral was located. Construction of the cathedral began in 1176 and was not finished until 1429. Part of the cathedral is of the Romanesque style, but the majority of the building is of Gothic style. I learned that the massively tall church held the title of world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874. Currently, it is the sixth tallest church in the world, quite amazing for a church of its age. The exterior of the cathedral was absolutely exquisite, but led to a big disappointment, in terms of its interior, which was rather dull when compared to its exciting shell.

Strasbourg Cathedral.

After touring the church, I purchased some very expensive but delicious gelato from a store located across from the church (4 Euros per person!) and then meandered my way through the town, enjoying the many half-timbered buildings.

Unfortunately, I had arrived in the city just a tad bit too late in order to take advantage of the sun, which was quickly setting. As a result, I was not able to get as many photos as I had hoped for. In terms of comparisons between Colmar and Strasbourg, there are some similarities, the most obvious being the similar style of architecture. However, Strasbourg is a much bigger and thus livelier city and would be best for visitors who require more restaurant options and better nightlife opportunities. Out of the two, I preferred Colmar more simply due to the fact that it had many more historical and charming buildings than did Strasbourg. Although they are both beautiful cities, Colmar is definitely more photogenic so photographers and those who appreciate quaint cities will want to overnight there instead of Strasbourg.

Strasbourg

I eventually left Strasbourg and drove back to Colmar. By the time I arrived, it was just past 20:00, so I decided to quickly find something to eat, preference being that it was cheap and fast. Per the recommendation in a guide book, I decided to eat at a place called La Krutenau due to its listing for tarte flambée, which is a traditional Alsatian dish that is similar to a thin-crust pizza covered with crème fraîche, onions and small pieces of bacon. I ordered tarte flambée; although there wasn’t many options; just two. The food arrived quickly enough and was rather tasty, although quite thin. I considered it to be more of a snack than an actual meal. If you like cream, bacon, cheese, and onions, then you will love this simple but delicious dish!

Tarte Flambee at La Krutenau.

Day 28 (Thursday, September 24, 2009)

My second day in the Alsace region was to be spent visiting the nearby Route du Vin region. Surprisingly, this area receives less rain than many parts of southern France, making its dry climate a great place to grow grapes. Many different types of wine are produced in this area, but the most common are Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Crémant d'Alsace, as 90% of the wine produced in Alsace is white. Although one could probably spend days touring this region, I decided to visit several of the villages, including Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Hunawihr, Ribeauville, and also Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.

Eguisheim was my first stop of the day, which is conveniently located just a few miles south of Colmar. After parking the car for a few Euro in the pay lot, I walked around for a long time exploring all of the village's many nooks and crannies. The streets of Eguisheim seemed to go on forever with houses that looked as though they could have belonged in a fairytale. While in the village, I also did some wine tasting at Joseph Gruss et Fils, sampling a Gewürztraminer and Crémant d'Alsace, neither of which I had never heard of prior to my trip. The woman who assisted with my tasting was extremely friendly and patient, juggling multiple customers at one time with complete ease. I ended up purchasing a bottle of the Gewürztraminer as a gift for my mom.

Eguisheim

Wine tasting in Eguisheim.

Eguisheim

Pretty flower in Eguisheim.

School (ecole) in Eguisheim.

Eguisheim

My second stop was the small village of Kaysersberg. As with Eguisheim, I spent the majority of my time in the village just walking around, enjoying the gorgeous and colorful buildings and houses.

Kayersberg

Next, I traveled to Riquewihr, which is probably the most heavily-visited of all of all of the villages of the wine route. This walled village has more stone houses than any other place in Alsace because it was the most wealthy of all the villages hundreds of years ago. Once I passed through the city walls, my eyes diverted immediately to a Christmas store called Féerie de Noel. Being the huge Christmas freak that I am, a stop was absolutely mandatory. The store was massive, and had a wide range of decorations and ornaments, from the very traditional European ones to the more modern silver and white, which is my preference. In total, I walked out spending about 35 Euro on about ten ornaments; way too much money, especially since I can get them much cheaper in the US. However, the only items I usually buy for myself while traveling tends to be ornaments, so really, its more of a tradition than anything!

Riquewihr

Afterward, I headed to my fourth village of Hunawihr, which is far-less visited than the other villages along the Route du Vin. The most important site within the village is the 16th century church, which rises proudly above the village. I walked all the way up to the church. From the burial grounds of the church, I had an amazing view of the village and the surrounding vineyards.

Hunawihr

View from the church looking down at Hunawihr.

Hunawihr

View from Hunawihr.

Next, I headed to Ribeauville. By this point, I was becoming overwhelmed by the “cuteness factor” of the Route du Vin. The villages were all beginning to blend together and it was difficult to remember which ones were which. When I finally reached Ribeauville, I walked around for only five to ten minutes. It was a cute town and was larger than the others I had visited, but I just had absolutely no desire to explore it further. In hindsight, a maximum of three villages is all that I would recommend to most visitors to prevent overdose. Instead, visiting fewer villages would allow more time to complete wine tasting.

Ribeauville

Finally, my last planned stop of the day was Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg. After viewing the chateau from a distance, I decided to go ahead and drive up the hill in order to view it closer. Unfortunately, when I finally reached the parking lot of the chateau, I found that it was packed full of cars and tourists, which turned me off from the small amount of interest I might have had in the chateau. Instead, I just enjoyed the views of the surrounding valley from the top, which were quite beautiful.

View of Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.

View looking down from Chateau de Haut-Koenigsbourg.

In addition to the many villages I visited this day, I also saw grape harvesting in full action wherever I went. The villages reeked of fermented grapes and machinery and equipment could be seen everywhere. It seemed as though about half of the grapes had been picked, so I was able to get some great photos of grapes that were still waiting to be picked on the vine.

Vineyard in Alsace.

I eventually made my way back to my hotel in Colmar, where I decided that I wanted to find a place to eat for dinner. While in Eguisheim earlier that day, I had seen several promising restaurants. After driving back to Eguisheim and conferring with the menus posted outside the restaurants, I ended up going with a place called L'Aurberge Alsacienne due to its daily menu. For a starter, I requested the Salade Vigeronne, which ended up being a green salad topped with tomatoes, cheese, and some sort of meat, which tasted and resembled bologna. I did not care for the meat that came with my salad.

Salad Vigeronne at L'Aurberge Alsacienne.

For the main entree, I ordered the poulet au Riesling (chicken with Riesling cream sauce) which came with spätzle (small noodle-like dumplings). I had never tasted spätzle before, but it was love at first taste! I had ordered a Riesling with dinner to drink; throughout the trip, I was beginning to learn and appreciate that wine tastes much better when eaten with the proper food.

Poulet au Riesling at L'Aurberge Alsacienne.

I left the restaurant feeling very satisfied with my choice, and also looked forward to eventually reaching Paris the following night.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Alsace: the land of half-timbered cuteness overload (Colmar, Strasbourg, Eguisheim, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr, Hunawihr, & Ribeauville)

1 comment: