This morning we woke up from a good nights sleep, got ready, and had le petit dejuner. I had croissants, cheese, and hot chocolate. Scott had fun tasting all of the different breads available. We then headed out to the first little town on the route de vin on our agenda, Eguisheim. I loved this little village. We picked up a little guided and follwed a suggested path through the village streets. The buildings were almost all wattle and daub and were painted pretty pastel colors with wood timbers. Most of the buildings were dated from the early 1200s. The city was built in a curcular pattern with the houses on the outside forming the outer walls and houses on the inside forming concentric rings. Some of the houses had phrases painted above and below the windows that were prayers for God's protection, names and dates, and even one house telling nosey people to pass on! This is the town where the Alsace region's only pope was born, so there is a chateau and chapel in his honor. We noticed the chateau had a large nest of large long beaked birds on the top of the spires. We learned later that they were storks, the bird of the region.
The next town was Kayersberg. This ancient town sits next to a hill with a castle ruin. We walked around, got a couple of pretzels, and after unsuccessfully making it to the castle ruin, we left for the next town.
Next was Riquewiher, a very popular tourist destination. This town was also cute and full of waddle and daub houses. We had lunch at a restaurant called La Grenouil (the frog) and ate outside. Scott had chicken and spatzel (since we are so close to Germany, the territory has gone back and forth for centuries. The food is heavily influenced by both cultures.) I had spazel avec fromage et salade. It was delicious!
More cuteness.
After walking around and exploring some more, we left to go see Chateau Haut-Koenigsburg. This castle had been around since at least 800 and was renovated several times. By the early 1900s, it was a castle ruin. But at the time, Germany owned this area, so the King Wilhiem commissioned an architect to rebuild the castle. So they spent about 8 years researching and rebuilding it as authentically as possible. It was really well done. The castle sits on top of a mountain in the Black Forest overlooking the valley of the route de vin. We really enjoyed exploring this castle.
By the way, the countryside here is a patchwork of beautiful yellows, golds, oranges, and greens. There are vinyards on every square inch of open land. The valley is so flat you can see for miles and it seems like there are tiny villages every couple of miles.
After the castle, we drove to Strasbourg and saw the cathedral. We were too late to climb up into the spire (I wasn't too sad about that) and also missed the last boat tour on the Ill river. So we had dinner at an Alsacian restaurant. Scott had escargot, sourkraut and sausages, and rhubarb tart for dessert. I had a salad, onion tart, chicken leg and spatzel, and gingerbread flavored creme brulee. I thought I was going to pop! Apparently tarts and quiches are the thing to eat here!
We drove back to Colmar, tired and full of great memories of the day.
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