Eguisheim and Colmar

We had a coffee and croissant breakfast from the boulangerie in the Chattillon-sur-Challaron village in the old market place hall.

We then got back to the van and got driving to Besancon for lunch on our way to Eguisheim.

We met up with our friend Frédérique from Besancon who we met in the Jura earlier in our trip.

We had a lovely catch up over mussels, fish and fries. Frédérique - if you are reading this - we owe you 2 lunches!!!

We then drove the rest of the way to Eguisheim after enjoying the scenery of the Jura again.

We were lucky to get into the very busy Chateau campsite - the same price as the aire downtown which is a packed carpark. The campsite is great - heated and hot showers and 5 minutes walk from town.

Next morning we first did some laundry. It’s now getting colder so I washed some clothes for warmer weather for the last time.

We then got on our bikes and went into Eguisheim. It’s a beautiful old circular town as it used to have city walls. The streets on the edge go round the town - not straight up and down. The houses are wood framed in the Tudor style.

It is thought there have been people living here since Neanderthal times. There was then a Gaul tribe which was conquered by the Romans- who introduced wine. There are now wineries everywhere in town and grapevines all around.

We enjoyed wandering around checking out the shops. There was a church - from the 12th century as usual.

We grabbed a coffee and bretzel - a large soft pretzel. We are in the Alsace so there’s lots of German influence. The town has been both French and German and most recently had been French for only 80 years.

We bought some Jura Comte cheese and local Tomme cheese.

We got back on our bikes and cycled along a cycle path to Colmar.

We saw thousands of starlings making murmurations in the sky. Unfortunately one of them left me a present of a dropping on my white jumper! I wasn’t happy!

We soon arrived in Colmar at the Petit Venice area - with canals and small barges for tourists trips.

There were thousands of padlocks on the barriers - as you see in so called romantic places all over the world these days. It must be weighing down the bridges!

Many houses were similar to Eguisheim having the wooden framing.

We stopped in a vegetarian cafe for some healthy food. We had thai mushroom soup and smoked salmon wraps - very good and nice for lunch.

We then checked out more of the town. We liked this naughty statue.

The sculptor of the Statue of Liberty lived in Colmar. This was one of his statues.

He also did this winemakers statue on top of the House of Heads.

The cathedral was very impressive .

On the way back to the bicycles we passed the canal area again. There were many tourists getting on and off the little barges - liking a bit unstable in the water.

As the sun was going down we cycled back to the campsite through the lovely vineyards above Eguisheim.

After a rest Glenn wanted to check out the starlings murmurations again so we walked down through the town. Unfortunately we were too late - they had already gone to roost.

Back at the campsite we made dinner - another thai dish for the day - red curry chicken. We then tried the kuggelhof cake that we bought earlier in Eguisheim - very similar to Italian Pannetone.

We watched the movie Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice which was really good fun. Lots of 80s music - probably because the director Tim Burton grew up in the 80s. Lots of Hollywood stars. It’s worth a watch.