Today we were able to leave Dijon early, though the weather was a little dreary, with overcast skies, and a light drizzle. We were once again to go towards a huge bucket list area we hadn’t seen…..the Alsace region of France. This is one of the best naturally beautiful landscapes of the country if not Europe. The architecture in this area had a vivid resemblance to the German architecture less than 50 miles from where we would be, as this is very close to the German border.
The first stop along the route to Eguisheim, was a small bakery called Boulangerie Du Moulin Sarl in the town of Lux. This was just opening as the sun hadn’t even broke ground on the horizon. We were fortunately able to get fresh coffee (americano too), and a wonderful twisted pastry to split as a small breakfast. We were able to get on the road and continue with this successful early start.
Though the weather was dreary, the landscape turned from rolling hills into farmland with more mountainous terrain. We approached our first town of Equisheim after about 2 hours of driving. I was excited to see one of the most unique looking towns in all of France, and cross a huge bucket list place off my list. The small historic town, is what Disney’s Beauty and The Beast original animation film was based on, and it was my first real hand experience of an authentic small french town, with all its magic and charm.
We had to pay $3 for parking, and spend about an hour walking this small town, exploring the shops, and the buildings. We came across many small unique shops for wine, and novelties. As you can see by the picture below, just walking these small cobblestone streets brings you back in time to a simpler lifestyle, where people were proud of their house, and maintained exquisite decorations and culture. The town is very small so we were able to be in and out of the town within an hour walking the entire peripheral of the town. The two favorite spots we enjoyed here was the Cathedral (Château de Saint-Léon-Pfalz), and the famed picture of a split cobblestone street, around a charming villa (Eguisheim APEE). We were ready to leave after seeing the entire town. The next stop was Riquewihr, which is Eguisheims twin brother located about 30 minutes north of here.
PROTIP– How To Walk Eguisheim– This city is small, and easily accessible. At the beginning, there is a walking map to guide you around the best parts of the town. Here is a picture of that walking route, and it is the perfect way to see this town in short time and maximize your time here! BONUS The Three Castles of Eguisheim is a great hike that we unfortunately did not have time to do. If you are in this area, I highly recommend checking this short hike to the top of the mountain behind Eguisheim!
The Alsace area is also known for its wine, and with that in mind, vast fields of wineries that were surrounding us. This was evident going between the cities, since many of the farms had wineries. Though we would’ve loved to done a few tastings that day, we decided to head to the next stop without delay, the town of Riquewihr.
We had to pay again for parking so we could stay closer to the city. Upon utilizing the payment machine, a hummingbird tried sit on our hands. At first I thought it was a large flying insect, but to my pleasant surprise it was a bird I had never seen. This was a cool experience walking into the city.
I was surprised to realize that I enjoyed this city more than Eguisheim. This town was slightly larger, but also more colorful with the French charm of their little cottages and villas within its walls. From the parking area, there was a little tourist tram to get around. The main street featured many restaurants and bars, as most European cities are known for, but this one in particular had rainbow’s of color in each building. It was almost psychedelic with the differing colors of this quaint town. We decided to walk the main drag of the city, and then return to the car. Since this wasn’t a big bucket list place to see, and since we needed to get to Colmar and Frieburg before days end, we just ended up exploring. It was here we discovered a popular Christmas store called Feerie De Noel. This was a surprise to find a chain of Christmas stores in France in the middle of summer. We actually bought a nice novelty to send home as well. From this point we headed back to the car, and drove to Colmar, which is known as the Petite Venice (little Venice) of France.
We arrived around 1pm in Colmar, and it was finally starting to rain after being just overcast all day. We parked about 500 yards from the city center, and once again paid for it. Walking in the drizzle was somewhat enjoyable, though we would prefer the sun, but being in this town under any situation is a magical experience. The walk into the main part of town crossed a few canals, which are decorated with flowers and various flora. One thing that I found interesting was thousands of little snails were littered among the streets. This walk eventually leads to the town square, where one is presented with a towering cathedral and many local restaurants. This was a great place to relax and have lunch, which we decided to do about an hour later, as we had more to see while we had time. We walked the famed flowered canals, and took pictures of the beautiful alcoves of houses and restaurants garnished with flowers. You can tell below how beautiful this place it, and how proud its citizens are of its city, and history. We decided to head back to the town square as we came across everything we wanted to see this day. We decided to have a beer at the Pâtisserie Salon deThé J-C Clergue and enjoyed the town square while people gathered. This was once again an amazing experience for this day. We were starting to get hungry and decided to continue walking towards the car and find a restaurant to eat at for lunch.
Though I don’t remember the name of this restaurant, it was a three storied building, where we were seated at the top, overlooking Colmar. It also was explicitly German, in a French town. This was located near the Roesselmann Fountain, which is a famous landmark to see while in Colmar. With that, Ashley had one of the best pork knuckles she ever had, and I concurred that it was spectacular. Among other items we split, we were able to fill up and close our check in rather quick time. It was now time to head to our final destination of the day (Freiburg), as the day was getting late, and we still had one more place to get to before we called it quits.
PROTIP– When exploring the Alsace region of France, The previously mentioned towns are amazing. In another trip, My 2019 Epic European Roadtrip, we explored a town of Kayserburg, which we missed during this vacation. I recommend adding this to your tour of Alsace, France, as this town was possibly even more enjoyable than the previous two.
From here we headed eastward, and entered into a completely new country for all of us….Freiburg Im Breisgau, Germany. This city was an incredible testament to German architecture, and was our first experience being in authentic German culture. Naturally, we paid for parking and had to walk about half a mile to get into the city, as parking was slim the deeper we went into the city center. This was because it was a metro area, which had limited parking. We wanted to explore the famous cathedral (Freiburg Munster), and a brewery (Feierling) which was world famous.
The Frieburg Munster was extremely Gothic, and its spire looks like a harry potter hat. During this time, the town was geared up for a festival starting the next day, and there was construction to setup the town square with vendors, and local business. This was on top of the fact the church was under improvement as well. Though it was partially under construction, we were able to go inside to an incredibly ornate interior, but were unable to get pictures. This was located in the towns square, where we decided to have a beer at a local german pub called Ganter Brauereiausschank. This excited me, as I ended up having a locally brewed beer in an authentic pub. This pub was cash only, so thank goodness we had a few Euro’s left. It was time to head to the main brewery that we came here for.
Feierling brewery is renown around the city of Freiburg, and inside features a huge copper brew vat. This was unique to see, and inquire about how they create their famous wheat beer. It was a wonderful beer, but this trip had no shortage of that, as our Germany tour, was to feature much beer and many pubs. When we had our dinner here, and finished we decided to do a scenic walk through the other sites of the city. We passed through many small churches, and historic alleys in the Old Town area of this city, and as it became dusk. We explored a few other places called the Schwarbentorplatz, the Place du Synagogue, and the Kanonplatz, which were all government building areas. It was time to head back into France to find our hotel.
This was actually located in Strasbourg, which was still a 30 minute drive. This was the perfect setup to be able to walk into the city in the morning. Our hotel was of course small, but was the perfect location for the next day. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and decided to spend the rest of the evening indoors. We went to the local gas station to get snacks and wine for the hotel. Tomorrow would be the last day with mom, before Me and Ashley started our train journey.
EXPENSES-
7.35 coffee
51.94 gas and wine
3 parking in eguisehm
3.19 macarons
4.60 parking in Colmar
45.80 rick lunch
12.60 beer
2 parking in frieburg
5 parking in Freiburg
15.90 Beer Freiburg
8.20 Beer Freiburg
Total- 159.58
HOTEL: Premiere Classe Strasbourg Ouest 2 nights (101.05)