Colmar, Alsace, and The Vosges Mts.

 From Basel we moved to a nice hotel in Colmar, France.  Colmar is a scenic, mid-sized city in the Alsace valley, a major wine-growing region.  This region was part of Germany from 1871 until the end of World War I, 1914-1918, and still shows a German influence.  To the west the Vosges mountains rise to 3,000-4,000 heights and were the scene of heavy fighting during that war.  Even today, portions of trenches, bunkers, and shell craters can be found in the thick forest that now cover its ridgeline.

If you enlarge this picture, you will see a cross atop the far hill.  Walking the path to that cross, you will see trenches, shell craters, and bunkers preserved from that long go war.  All the trees you see have grown up since 1918. this area was a barren wasteland when the fighting ended.

A bunker (the barred entry is to protect tourists from potential accidents) whose roof was formed by railroad rails then covered with rocks and dirt.

The area is attractive to tourists not only for its premium wines, but also for its scenic villages which retain the architecture of the medieval period in their central “Altstadt” areas.  Today those old buildings are well maintained with many shops and restaurants, although you may have to park on the edge of town.  I would love to better understand the craftsmanship involved 500+ years ago when this was all being built.

Dawn and I spend our days visiting various Altstadt sites, plus a war memorial, castle ruins, and a nature trail.  In the early evenings, we wander the cobblestone streets of Colmar itself.  We have been to Colmar previously, but we then were recovering from COVID and had limited time.  Strasbourg, to the north is very scenic and much larger, but even more ‘touristy’.  Now we are back to explore in a more relaxed schedule.

We visited almost every small scenic village in the Alsace valley; so many so that in my memory they have all blended together.  Names like: Keyersburg, Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Rouffach, and Guberschwihr.  Although it was now October, plenty of tourists were still present.

This Sherman tank is a memorial to the Us soldiers who drove out the last German troops at the end of WWII.

These boats are called punts.  Instead of being rowed, in this shallow river they are propelled using a pole.

When this street was laid down, there was no thought of the modern automobile.