Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Colmar, France

Eventually we got back on a main highway and headed northwest into France. Our destination was Colmar, which is only about 20 minutes from the German border in the region of Alsace. We had originally planned to spend a few nights in Strasbourg, but nearly all the hotels seemed to be booked up for some reason, so I picked Colmar as our base for a day trip to Strasbourg. (Then we ended up ditching the day trip to Strasbourg! But we hope to stop by later in the trip.)

Colmar is a pretty town of quaint streets lined with half-timbered houses, most of which are painted in bright colors instead of the usual white. Small canals run through the town, which once were used by tanners. One area is called "Little Venice" because of the canals and the little bridges that cross them. There is nothing about the town that is super spectacular and David especially wasn't impressed, but it is very pretty and pleasant.

IMG_3719
xti_8874
IMG_3669
xti_8765
xti_8749

Colmar also has a cathedral, which is impressive in size and has some interesting medieval sculptures and stained glass windows. It's made of red and yellow stone, which we never think looks that good. It didn't blow our socks off, but it was the first time we'd taken pictures of a cathedral in awhile!

IMG_3694 xti_8826
IMG_3678
xti_8840
xti_8862

We had a cheap but tasty meal at a fast-food place called Mezzo di Pasta that makes fresh pasta with your choice of sauce, dished into a paper box like Chinese food. Seems like a great idea! This being France, freshly-made crepes were also available.

xti_8804

After dinner we wandered into a huge grocery store called Monoprix. As always, we had a fantastic time checking out all the local products. We are going to enjoy grocery shopping in France!

xti_8816
Not surprisingly, the soft cheese section was especially impressive.

The only downside to Colmar was our hotel, the Mercure Colmar Champ de Mars. It was ugly, run-down and dumpy, and our room smelled really funky. But it was clean and the bed was comfortable, so we might have stayed had it not been for the high price they charged. We had reserved a room for three nights there, but fortunately we were able to cancel the last two. We found a nicer hotel for a cheaper price in the German city we'd been planning to make a day trip to anyway, Freiburg im Breisgau, and moved on in the morning.

No comments: