Half-Timbered Houses and Alsace Wines

We were in Germany, in the Black Forest, on a do-it-yourself trip from 25 April to 1 May 2008 that introduced us to the beautiful homeland of cuckoo clocks, and not only those; but to be a stone's throw from France and not visit part of neighbouring Alsace, which in some ways reminds me of the drawings in the fairy tales I read as a child, would have turned into an unforgivable regret, because we would have missed the chance to see with our own eyes the enchanting Eguisheim, Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, towns just a few km from our lodgings at the Gästehaus Pension Faller in the German Buchenbach, towns that, besides their characteristic architecture made of half-timbered houses that look like little gift boxes, also let us travel through the world of the great wines of Alsace.

It was all done on 27 April, with Eguisheim as the first destination, a truly fairy-tale village, with its half-timbered houses, its colours, its small narrow alleys that wind concentrically around what are still today the centre of the village, its square, its fountain, the church, the little cafés, and so on. Then Colmar, with its historic centre and its Little Venice, with the colourful half-timbered houses reflected in the canal, now travelled by boats full of tourists looking up to admire the magical surroundings.

Going up, always close to the Franco-German border, we also visited Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, three towns a few km from one another, less fairy-tale than Eguisheim but just as worthy of a visit, whether for the corners you discover, for the storks' nests on the roofs, for the typical sweets or for the ever-present Alsace wines, all good reasons to leave us with a wonderful memory of strolling through their alleys, where the atmosphere is made magical also by the absence of... cars, or almost, but always few.

For anyone who decides to visit this area of France, long disputed between Germany and France but today belonging to the latter even though the German influence is strongly present, absolutely not to be missed is the town of Eguisheim and then the larger Colmar, where however I suggest concentrating on the historic centre, in particular strolling along the Lauch in the stretch of Rue de la Poissonnerie and also in the areas between Rue de Turenne and Place de 2 Février, and so on. Everywhere, following the gentle ups and downs of this hilly area, we find vineyards, vineyards and more vineyards, those vines that give the good Alsace wine, to be tasted in one of the many beautiful cellars of the area, where it's also easy to find a counter in their courtyard to rest in front of a good glass of a classic Pinot or a fresh Gewurztraminer or... water for teetotallers. Have a good trip.

Wanda & Giancarlo