Wednesday 5/1/19 – Oh My God… I had one of my best travel days ever today. I originally planned to do a morning tour to visit several little villages outside of Colmar and enjoyed it so much and enjoyed the tour guides so much I booked their afternoon tour and saw 4 more towns and did a wine tasting! The tour guides (a husband and wife team named Anna and Rick with Alsace Safari) were really great people and had both left their corporate jobs a year ago and started this business. Based on their great customer service skills, I know they’ll be successful. And the weather was perfect which was sunny and 70 so that helped too!
But of course, let me start with a little history. The region I’m in right now called the Alsace region is one of the largest wine areas in France. They call it the “Route des Vins” (Road of Wines) and is over 100 miles long and has over 4,200 wine growers! The wines in this region are named for their grapes, unlike in Burgundy or Provence where wines are named after villages or in Bordeaux where wines are often named after chateaux. We visited one winery in the afternoon tour and got to meet Ann, the winemaker from Justin Boxler wines in the tiny town of Niedermorschwihr (population 500). Her family has been in the wine business for 11 generations! We sampled all 7 of the traditional wines from the area which were Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc. I’m not a wine connoisseur but they were all tasty! I included a pic of me with my new friend Russ from Australia, who was on the tour, and our tour guide Anna at the tasting.
So in the morning tour, we visited 3 small villages. There was only two other people on the tour and they were from Lancashire in England. Believe it or not, the only place they had been to in the USA was Davidson near Charlotte. Their neighbors moved there for a few years and they came to visit. Small world!
The first village we visited was Hunawihr (Pop 500). It was so cute and no tourists there at all. I included a pic of me on the path to the church and another looking out over the vineyards toward the three castles in the hills beyond. Funny thing about that church is that it’s both Catholic and Protestant but the Catholics are buried next to the church and the Protestants are buried outside the church wall. Go figure!
Second village was Riquewihr (Pop 1,200). While very cute, it had a lot more tourist (saw several River Cruise groups there). I included a pic of me on the main drag. Check out the bright neon color on the house next to me.
Third village was Eguisheim (Pop 1,400). In 2013, it was named France’s favorite town. I included two pics. One of me in front of the Pope Leo fountain just below the castle and church. By the way, does it look like Pope Leo is giving me the Evil eye?? I wonder why? Lol. Also, Pope Leo was born here thus the fountain. The other pic is me on the cobbled stone street by the half timbered homes. One last thing, this whole area has these large storks making nests all over. In the pic near Pope Leo, there are two nests above the church and castle.
In the afternoon tour we went to 3 more villages other than the wine tasting in the town of Niedermorschwihr.
The first village we visited was Turckheim (Pop 3,700). It gained town status in 1312, became a member of the Decapolis league of cities in 1354, and was devastated in the Thirty Years’ War. In the 18th century it was rebuilt, thanks to the energy of Swiss immigrants. I included a pic of the main gate into the town which is called the France gate which in the past was where all commerce had to pass thru. Notice the stork nest on top.
The next village was Kientzheim (Pop 1,600). Again another quaint village. It seemed like each one was cuter than the last one. I included a pic of me outside the main town gate.
The last village was Kaysersberg (Pop 4,600) which means Emperor’s Mountain. It has been the domain of Germanic princes for much of its history thanks to its location guarding the important route over the Vosges Mountains that link Colmar with the rest of France. It is also the home of philosopher-physician Dr Albert Schweitzer. It was the largest of all the towns we saw today but still felt small and quaint. Everywhere you look it’s like a post card. I included a pic of a stream and small waterfall next to the half timbered homes.
Well today was my last day in Colmar and tomorrow I travel to Beaune. I really enjoyed Colmar and the entire region and would definitely come back. Hope everyone is doing well.
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 