Colmar Offers Beauty and History

 Condos along the canal  (Little Venice area)



There are many parks and playgrounds



Phil missed Rotary by one day

 

  







There are many outside restaurants in the old center, many buildings dating back to 1600's

 






Maison des Tetes (house of heads) a Renaissance building decorated with faces, one of the oldest in C.olmar

   

Playing Jazz and all types of American music

Colmar is a city in Alsace, France, first mentioned as a domain in 823.  It gives you a glimpse of 1,000 years of European history.  The cathedral offers an example of Gothic architecture, with religious architecture from 13th century (Dominican and Franciscan).  It was the last town in France to be freed after the second World War. Colmar's old town is the main attraction.  It is stunningly beautiful and well preserved with the buildings protected.  For a medieval city, it is surprisingly big (population 67,000), but you can get around on foot with no difficulity.  We choose this town mainly (as an accident of geography) as we had to change trains here for St Raphael.  We loved the history.  Wandering about Colmar's old streets is the best way to explore it.  Alsace is known for its pastries.  We tried the Alsatian equivalent of the pizza, though extremely different.  It is made with a thin layer of dough, covered with creme fraiche,cheese, onions and bacon.  It is baked very fast in a hot oven so it gets crispy. They are also well known for the quiche Lorraine and  famous for their Bretzels (pretzels).  Alsace is a traditional area of wine production and its wine is esteemed in France and outside it.  Alsatian wine is unique and similar to some German wines, Geurwertraminer (very dry). Although Colmar was French for most of it's modern history ( as all of Alsace and Lorraine), its population used to be predominantly German.  Alsace changed nationalities many times in the course of history between France and Germany. Almost everyone speaks, French and German.  English is not widely spoken but if you address someone politely, they will make a strong effort to help you.  A young man at the train station ticket counter spoke excellent English and went out of his way to help us with the best route and a senior discount.  We also had help from a young french man with his family seeing his Mother on to the train.  He heard us asking for directions and said, "if you wait until I see my Mother on the train, I will take you to the place you need to be."   We found the same friendly and helpful attitude with the people in the Bristol Best Western.  They allowed us a late check out and time in the lobby lounge because of our train schedule.  Colmar is truly a story book setting and I think easy to live there.  We very much enjoyed the time there and I could have stayed longer.  I am writing this from Villa Beau Site and have St. Petersburg and Helsinki in draft to send soon.  June 2