Blogs from Alsace, France, Europe - page 3

July 25th Strasbourg and Colmar Several years ago Tom and I went to Normandy to see the beaches on which D-Day was fought. I remember seeing Omaha Beach, Pont du Hoc and the American Cemetery and was duly thankful for all who participated in this incredibly well orchestrated invasion. This was the year I began to really see what it took for the world to come together to defeat Hitler. A few years later when planning a return trip to France Tom wanted to include Strasbourg as one of our stops because he knew that his Father had walked the streets of Strasbourg as the 3rd Division continued to push the German army back over the Rhine to Germany. We walked the streets of Strasbourg knowing we were stepping where he stepped and thought that was ... read more

Tuesday 25th June Well summer has definitely arrived. It started on Saturday, and as soon as the seasons clicked over, the heat came on. Yesterday was 35 degrees here, today 36, tomorrow 37. I am heading to Lindau on Lake Constanz in Germany tomorrow, via Zurich, but the forecast is only a little cooler. The heat is forecast to continue until the beginning of next week. At least this hotel has air conditioning, though it was faulty for the first two nights here and sat on 26.5 degrees all the time. They must have finally fixed it today. No more air conditioned hotels from here on. At least when I'm up in the mountains on the weekend it should cool off at night. Mulhouse is a fair-sized city of about 100,000 or so, and features several ... read more

After leaving picturesque Grindelwald and heading back to France we passed by Thunnet See, one of the huge lakes surrounding Interlaken. From there it was pretty much non-descript highways. The big difference we observed driving during this trip is the great condition of all the roads and bridges. Everything looks new and all are free from litter. Our first stop today was Colmar, France. The old town of Colmar is called "Le Petite Venice". It was a gorgeous district crammed with camera ready buildings decked with flowers. The houses wander down the calm canal that wind through the area. We stopped for lunch at a small Brasserie which sold our favorite baquette sandwiches. Leaving Colmar, we arrived at our destination, Strasbourg, mid afternoon, and checked into the hotel. The front desk said they were upgrading our ... read more

There is a lot more to Strasbourg than the Notre Dame Cathedral and Petite France, and clearly a lot more than we discovered. We found it to be an interesting city that deserved a post. Overall, Strasbourg is a modern, easy city with an excellent bike-way system and a tram system that seems highly efficient. We found it pleasant and safe to walk around, although you should try to avoid walking on the bike paths. The first thing we did in Strasbourg was find a walking tour. There are a number in the usual places on the internet. Happy Tours seemed to receive good reviews and had a few different tours in English so we decided to give them a try. Unfortunatey, it was a damp day and turned into a full blown rainy day as ... read more

Lovely day scootering round the Alsace. Turckheim, as well as having its own lovely town to explore, is also very well located for visits to other Alsace towns. Equisheim is one I wanted to see as we almost did last time we were here. Colmar is also only a few miles away so have Kisbee, will travel. Didn’t rush to get off on our sightseeing as we are on holiday after all. Also it was cloudy and wanted to wait until the sun broke through. Equisheim first on the list and it is absolutely charming. Buildings dating from the 1500s, beautifully restored but with lots of interesting features to attract the eye in every direction we went. Of course the buildings would have looked nothing like this in the 1500s. 2018 style they are painted in ... read more