La Route du Vin - Colmar, Kaysersberg, & Ribeauvillé

Tuesday 10 June

Mom had a great idea last night while trying to fall asleep, that we should drive south to Colmar, then work our way north up the wine road back towards home. Yay for game plans. 

Philippe lent us his GPS, which we promptly named Celeste, which means we got Colmar fairly easily. We lucked out and found free parking near the city center and were immediately charmed by the most adorable city we've ever seen. 

Lady Liberty welcomed us into Colmar. 

There are signs in every village pointing to tourism offices, so we got a map and followed the waking tour. 

La Petite Venise

Eventually we realize it's after 3 and we've spent the whole day ogling the cuteness. We get on the Wine Road and head north towards Kayersberg. 

Lunchtime: note the bretzels and cheese

A storm is looming but we ignore it and decide, after a quick peek inside the city, to climb 10 minutes up to a ruined castle. 

Next on the cute village tour is Ribeauvillé. The storm was still threatening, but it wasn't raining yet so we walked the main streets until is started to sprinkle. 

We wanted to hike up to this castle but, because of the rain, the lady in the tour guide office wouldn't let us. She was very concerned for our safety so we had to promise we wouldn't go. It was very sweet. 

Storks are the bird of Alsace, and they're trying to bring them back to the region by preserving their nests. 

After another long and HOT day, we drive back. We took the wine road for a bit then via the highway which was a mistake because we got stuck in traffic. 

My view for most of the trip. Navigation is stressful too!

When we arrived back home, we started telling Philippe and Carole about our trip, and mentioned the Eaux-de-Vie we saw in some store. We then had to try the one that Philippe made himself at his friends distillery out of an Alsacian style glass. Loved it.