Colmar is Magnificent!

Yesterday we rode the TGV (high speed train) from Paris to Colmar, Alsace, France. We left Paris at 12:24 and arrived in Colmar, on the border with Germany, at 3:15. Very cool train ride! The high speed is definitely the way to go! It is nothing like the train we took in the Czech Republic two years ago!! Wow, was it ever fast and smooth. We packed a picnic lunch of sausage, cured ham, cheeses and wine (plus a coke!) that we got on Rue Cler in Paris. Even the conductor was envious! It was very good and we all agreed that it was the epitome of a French train ride! Very romantic indeed. OOOH LA LA!! What fun. The French countryside is indeed very beautiful with small villages tucked into valleys and sitting on hilltops along with periodic castles topping the hills. I'm so glad we decided to take the train rather than rent a car. Our day to Normandy convinced us that the train was the way to go and we were definitely correct! We checked into Hotel Turenne here in Colmar and got busy sightseeing. It is a very quaint town with half-timber buildings dating to the 1400 - 1500's. People have been here since near the turn of the millenium (around 200 AD) or so. The buildings in the old town look like the Wacky Shack at AstroWorld - you know what I mean. If they didn't have other buildings connected to them, they would have fallen down centuries ago! Still very very cool! The people here are infinitely more friendly and the prices are infinitely more affordable than Paris. This is a bit of a destination for Europeans to come on vaca because of it's proximity to Alsacian wine making. We actually went to a winery today and had a bit of a tasting. The winemaker was friendly and the wine was good. Of course we bought a bottle or two! We plan to go back tomorrow. We really enjoyed the souvenir shopping. John wanted to buy everything in town, but we have to find a way to get it all home! HMMM. Oh well, where there is a will there is a way. We've eaten at the same restaurant both nights so far. It is so good! However, tomorrow we need to find a different one. Alsace is in a part of the world that has been a negotiating tool for centuries. Sometimes it is French and sometimes it is German. Thus you find places like La Roesselmann's and hear of people named Pierre Schmidt! It is now French, however, John's grandmother's family came from this area and at that time it was German. The food is equally bilingual and the well-known Alsacian dish is Alsacian sauerkraut! Go figure. Regardless, we love it here and have requested another night from the hotel. So, next we have to figure out our next stop and find a train ticket and a hotel as we work our way to Bamberg, then to Munich and finally to Erfurt. I've attached some pictures. I hope you enjoy them. - Melissa