The Romance of Paris and Venice Combined - 3 Nights in Lovely Colmar

This may be the most underrated and yet beautiful city of our 24-day trip. Period.



For nearly a month we've visited some famously gorgeous places as we journeyed across 6 nations along the general direction of the Rhine. The medieval city of Bruges, the uniformly ochre castle ruin and bridges of Heidelberg and the UNESCO World Heritage of Strasbourg are all celebrated among European travelers. But our favorite city was a lesser-known, less crowded but exceptionally photogenic French commune known as Colmar.



Despite its relative anonymity compared to heavyweight Paris or even nearby Strasbourg, Colmar has its fan base among independent travelers and travel writers. Rick Steves for instance puts Colmar, rather than Strasbourg, on his suggested itinerary for France. Even those who distrust guidebooks would be impressed by Colmar's excellent pedigree: half-German, half-French, impossibly medieval, and all romantic.



You'll most appreciate Colmar if you're a photographer in search of inspiration, or newlyweds in search of a romantic escape. Or ideally both. This place is an absolute goldmine of colorful half-timber houses built alongside lovely little canals, under the backdrop of soaring Gothic church spires and cobblestone squares.



If you love Venice, wander over to the old Fishmonger's Quarter for a leisurely cruise on its medieval canals and waterways. Or if you prefer Paris, you can enjoy your street side brasserie in an amorous French accent and finish with some Pinot Gris and Foie Gras. Better yet, you'll pay half of Parisian (or Venetian) prices for food and drinks!



So where exactly is this magical little city?

If you open a map and just hover above where Germany, France and Switzerland meet, you're not far from Colmar. Strategically located in one of the most fought-over regions in modern European history, Colmar is on the French side of the Rhine about 45 minutes away from the Swiss city of Basel, or about the same from Freiburg in the German Black Forest. In fact the closest international airport is the so-called "EuroAirport" of Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg. This ease of access is certainly great for travelers like us, but it's not always so desirable especially at wartimes.



Just the German-sounding name of Colmar betrays its storied past as the frontier between two of Europe's great powers -- established as part of the Holy Roman Empire, captured for France by Louis XIV, retaken by Otto von Bismarck two centuries later, reclaimed by France at the end of WWI, conquered again by Hitler during WWII, then returned yet again to France in 1945.



Today Colmar still displays its street signs in French as well as in its local German dialect. The elderly still speak in the endangered native tongue of Alsatian German, and the current mayor Gilbert Meyer, like many of his fellow citizens, bear a French first name along with a surname of German lineage.



We first realized this convergence of cultures when our hostess in Gutach im Schwarzwald, merely an hour's drive to the east in the German Black Forest, pronounced "Frankreich" (France in the German language) with what sounded almost identical to a French "R". And when we arrived in Colmar every eatery in the Old Town featured our familiar Flammkuchen/Flammekueche, though sometimes renamed Tarte Flambée for the sake of the non-local French speakers.



Our previous 4 nights were spent in small towns and a farmhouse in the Black Forest on the German side of the Rhine, and we were surprised to find a deceivingly large medieval town that would easily take a day or two to fully explore. We decided on 3 nights -- one to unwind, one to fully immerse, and one reserved for one of our most anticipated hikes (see latter article on Hiking the Alsatian Wine Route).



The old town is just immaculately preserved with a wealth of heritage architecture dating as far back as the 1300's. Miyazaki Hayao fans would immediately recognize the multicolored timberframe houses and the cute Gothic rooftop of the Maison Pfister featured in Howl's Moving Castle.



Among the main sights were two of the town's wealth of 13th Century Gothic churches, the towering Église Saint-Martin and the nearby Église des Dominicains, both dominating presences at the centre of the Old Town. Given its grandeur one would easily mistake the Saint-Martin as a cathedral, but the nearest cathedral is actually in the predominantly protestant city of Freiburg on German soil.



The one unmissable sight in town, according to an Alsatian couple we met two days earlier in Gengenbach, is a 13th Century Gothic convent later reborn as the Unterlinden Museum. There is one world class exhibit that every visitor comes for.



The 500-year-old masterpiece of Gothic painting known as the Isenheim Altarpiece. And if you don't fancy 16th Century iconography, there's even a Picasso and a whole plethora of antique Alsatian furniture and clothing. Though ... as an exhibit of Alsatian culture I preferred the Musée Alsacien in Strasbourg much better.



On any given street in town you may encounter the Alsace's unofficial mascot with its graceful long neck and flowing plumage. Alsatians love their storks and the associated legends of fertility and fidelity, and some even go to the length of building nesting platforms for these majestic birds on their rooftops. Many storks are said to return to the same nest for their whole lives, so I can see the return-on-investment for bird lovers.



For nature lovers there's actually a stork refuge in the nearby countryside at the town of Hunawihr, providing a nesting haven to the birds when they return from their 6000 km winter migration from South Africa. While we did pass by Hunawihr during our hike, we never came across any storks in Alsace ... the nesting pair we did see was at a rooftop in Gengenbach on the German side of the Rhine.


HOTEL REVIEW


This is one of France's prettiest medieval city cores after all, and we wanted an authentic local accommodation, in the midst of the romantic townscape, at a reasonable price. Ideally we're looking for the equivalence of a Machiya Townhouse in Kyoto or a Courtyard House in Beijing. And I think we found it, in the form of a centuries-old half-timber house just a few minutes' walk from the Unterlinden.



Maison Martin Jund isn't your typical Chambre d'hôte -- it's a family-owned organic winery which also operates a B&B at the heart of Colmar. Our vaulted room on the upper floor was clean, small but well-equipped with TV, fridge and a small private shower room. But the most amazing part, aside from the beautiful medieval timber frame, was the unbelievably cheap price of less than 40 Euros a night.



The Chambre d'hôte is situated in an adorable neighborhood of 16th Century timberframe houses. There's also the convenience factor -- a coin laundry 3 minutes' walk away on Rue Ruest, a bus stop within 5 minutes' walk for buses to the train station, and a Monoprix supermarket next to the Unterlinden Museum. This is quite a recommendable B&B for anyone looking for a characterful stay in Colmar at near rock bottom prices.



And once settled in, Colmar is just the perfect base for exploring the charming Alsatian villages in the countryside. We did a day-hike through lovely vineyards from Riquewihr to Hunawihr to Ribeauville, all accessible by local buses. With a couple additional days we could have visited Eguisheim or Kaysersberg with its ruined castle, or perhaps a day trip to the enormous château of Haut-Koenigsbourg overlooking the Alsatian plains. We probably could have stayed in Colmar for a week without running out of sightseeing options.



And lastly, you really can't complain about the French cuisine here with a local Alsatian flair. After all Alsace is best known for some of France's best white wine, as well as its delectable locally produced Foie Gras. But I'll have to leave the restaurant reviews to the next article ...

Crossroad of 3 Nations - Blitzing Thru Basel, Switzerland

Having unlimited free transportation within the Black Forest for staying overnight in spectacular Gengenbach, we took a scenic detour en route to our next destination of Colmar, through one of the Europe's famously tri-national cities. Located at the junction of Switzerland, France and Germany is the metropolis of Basel, the farthest point in our 1000 km voyage along the general direction of the Rhine.



With its city core in Switzerland and suburbs in French Alsace and the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Basel is probably better known as a venue for international conferences than as a tourist draw. Think the Basel Convention in the United Nations or the Basel III accord in international banking. I wouldn't have thought of Basel as a destination either, but I couldn't resist the thought of entering Switzerland for a day trip, especially when the train ticket was free.



True to its own unique international character, Basel actually has 3 train stations -- the Swiss and the French stations sharing one hub (Basel SBB) near the city centre, and the German station (Basel Bad Bahnhof) on the opposite side of the Rhine. Our Regionalbahn train arrived shortly after 11:00 at the German station, where we transferred to a local S-Bahn train (still for free) to the Swiss station to deposit our luggage in a locker for the day. Later in the afternoon we would hop on yet another regional train, this time at the French station, to the Alsacian city of Colmar.



The minor inconvenience about visiting Basel is that we're now leaving the Eurozone, and re-entering the 1990's when every major European nation had its own currency. So we drew 100 Swiss Francs from the ATM (there's no way that I'd pay the 4 Euros commission at the Money Exchange), paid for the luggage deposit and grabbed a take-out lunch of seafood salad and an excellent rotisserie chicken leg from the Migros supermarket inside the station. The chicken leg was so well-seasoned, juicy and fall-off-the-bones tender that it really deserved much better than a supermarket food counter. And besides, 13 Francs (CAD$15) for a take-out lunch for two was about as frugal as it could get in expensive Switzerland.



A quick hop on Tram #2 kicked off our self-guided tour on the opposite bank, crossing the most famous bend on the Rhine where the river makes its dramatic turn from East-West to South-North, just 2 kilometers upstream from the spot where the Swiss, French and Germany borders meet at the centre of the river. We're here for a quintessential Basler experience ...



Surviving to this date is an archaic system of tiny ferry boats crossing the mighty Rhine, secured by nothing but a long, flimsy-looking wire attached to an even longer wire stretching across opposite banks of the river. To make the crossing, the skilled boatsman simply tips the boat in the direction of the opposite bank and let the current push the boat across. This is REALLY cool ... no engines, no oars, just 100% green energy.



Adding to the coolness factor, some random guy showed up with a telescoping, collapsible carbon-fiber alphorn and put on an impromptu show for the audience on the boat! At first I thought this was a well-staged program by the local tourism office ... until the guy unscrewed and folded up his alphorn, got off the boat and walked home! We felt so lucky to be at the right place at the right time ... how much more Swiss can it possibly get?



That Alphorn guy alone had made our stop at Basel worthwhile, and everything else would just be the cherry on top. Getting off the boat we hiked up to visit one of Switzerland's great historic churches. The twin Gothic spires and patterned roof tiles of the Basler Münster have defined the city's skyline since the Middle Ages, but my own favorite part was the minimalist interior, a direct result of the Reformation, and the its solemn Romanesque crypt dating 1000 years back.



A short walk to the west brought us to the bustling Barfüsserplatz with its lively open-air market and streetside cafés. This was also the starting point of our self-guided tour roughly following the tourism office's booklet of 5 Walks across the Old Town of Basel as a guide.



But instead of sticking with just one of the recommended walks, we took a long rambling route crisscrossing from one walk to another to yet another. You can't really go wrong whichever one you pick, or simply wander off on your own without a map. There are plenty of these charming nooks and crannies in this hilly old town to be discovered.



From Barfüsserplatz we took the Leonhardsberg up to the historic prison of Lohnhof, then walked through some lovely 18th Century townscape on Heuberg and Spalenberg. Everywhere we turned were picturesque little lanes with these pastel color rowhouses with French mansard roofs, in an officially German-speaking city, where the inhabitants actually speak yet another mother tongue (Baseldytsch).



Along the way we came across this anonymous but lovely little fountain at the intersection of Gemsberg and Unterer Heuberg. While the Old Town of Basel isn't quite as world-famous as nearby Strasbourg's Petite France or even Bern's Altstadt, there is something inexplicably charismatic in how these narrow medieval streets wind their way up seemingly incredible slopes.



The Haus zum Wolf on Spalenberg was just one of the many fascinating locales we came across. From here we walked uphill on Spalenberg, turned right on Petersgraben towards the Peterskirche, then meandered in the general direction of the Rathaus. By this point we had already walked sections of the Jacob Burckhardt walk, the Paracelsus walk and the Thomas Platter walk.




As the endpoint of our self-guided tour we chose the unmissable Rathaus, a flamboyant palace on Marktplatz dating from the age of Renaissance. We returned to the Basel SBB station almost an hour earlier than planned, retrieved our luggage and moved over to the French side of the station. SNCF's regional TER train would then take us to one of our most anticipated destinations, the medieval city of Colmar, for the next 3 nights.

Our Favorite Town in the Black Forest - Gengenbach

Visiting the Black Forest turned out to be the best idea -- we had some of the most memorable times of our 24-day journey in this fairytale landscape of idyllic small towns, colossal farmhouses and an endless ocean of shadowy dark woods. After visiting the raucous medieval festival at Gernsbach, a traditional working dairy farm at Gutach and the photogenic Schiltach, we saved the best for our last night in Germany's remote southwest corner.



Introducing Gengenbach. I don't say this lightly but it was our favorite town in the Black Forest. We're talking about beautiful 18th Century townscapes crowned with towering medieval spires, a bustling farmer's market in a cobblestone town square, a little chapel on a hill overlooking the town and surrounded with lush vineyards, and most amazingly ... a pair of giant white storks nesting on the chimney across from our hotel room! That's a potent combination difficult for any town to beat.



The largest of the small towns on our Black Forest itinerary, Gengenbach is arguably the most popular stop in the region among independent travelers. Part of this has to do with accessibility -- it's a major station on the Black Forest Railway -- but mostly visitors are coming for a historic town widely reputed as one of the most picturesque in the entire Baden-Wurttemberg.



IMHO the Black Forest remains quite underrated as a tourist destination, and while Gengenbach is purported to be relatively well-known, we arrived without encountering any tourist hordes or multi-national fleets of tour buses. Most visitors we met seemed to be independent travelers from within Germany or from the French region of Alsace, merely 20km away to the west. The Americans haven't yet discovered this place en masse, let alone the Russians or the Chinese. It's a good time to come.



We arrived on a drizzly Wednesday in mid September, late enough in the summer to avoid the crowds and early enough in the autumn for a warm afternoon hike among the vineyards. The town itself was a maze of cobblestone lanes lined with medieval half-timber houses, and a romantic place to get utterly lost amidst the blooming flowers and old earthen walls.



Portions of the town's old defensive walls remain intact to this date, though much has been absorbed into neighboring peasant houses over the past centuries. Still owned by the township are the medieval gates which continue to function as the main routes into town, as well as offering excellent vantage points for photos.



As a vestige of medieval city planning, the town's three main streets all converge at a main square known simply as the Markt. On the side stands the 18th Century town hall best known for hosting the world's largest Advent calendar, and at the heart of the square is the 16th Century fountain that has supplied residents with drinking water for centuries.



Everyone's favorite photospot in town is a famously curved back-alley known as Engelgasse, a neighborhood of old timberframe houses adorned with colorful hanging flower beds and whimsical ornaments. Hearing about its popularity I half-expected a whole street of tacky souvenir shops swarmed with tourists, and was surprised to find neither. Apparently this town is still under the radar of mass tourism for the most part.



Wednesday also happened to be the day for the weekly farmer's market when the town square was transformed into an open-air bazaar selling everything from local organic squashes to genuine smoked Black Forest Ham. Arrive early though, as most vendors start to dismantle their stalls by noon.



For a light lunch we visited the locally famous Bäckerei Dreher and ordered some soup and dessert, including this local interpretation of the famed Black Forest Cake, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. I must say that we were quite disappointed, as this was nowhere close to the magically delicious version we had the previous day at Schiltach's Kaffeebohne.

Bill for Two Persons

Black Forest Cake	2.6 Euros
Large Pea Soup	3.8 Euros
Kirschwasser	3.2 Euros
Fruit Juice	2.4 Euros
TOTAL before tips	12 Euros (CAD$16.8)

After days of overcast skies and enduring rain the sun decided to make a brief appearance, just in time for our early afternoon hike to the Jakobskapelle, a historic little chapel above the town. The 20 minute climb through local vineyards was rewarding enough, but even more breathtaking than the ascent itself was the gorgeous view at the top.



Stretching to the horizon is a magnificent landscape of Riesling vineyards, following the Kinzig Valley all the way to the French wine-producing region of Alsace. Alsace is of course world-famous for its Rieslings and Gewürztraminers, yet few know that you get a very similar terroir on this side of the German border, merely 30 km from the Alsacian capital of Strasbourg.



Here's the most reward part of the hike -- an unobstructed panorama of Gengenbach under the backdrop of the mystical Black Forest, surrounded by lush dairy pastures and frighteningly steep vineyards. Plus, we had this entire hilltop to ourselves during our visit! Apparently this hasn't become a popular attraction to most travelers yet, which was certainly fine with us.



Up here one also gains a better appreciation for the town's numerous medieval spires, perhaps not quite in the same league as Prague but at least approaching San Gimignano. Witnessing such stunning cultural landscapes, history and traditions, I fail to understand why these Black Forest towns aren't yet considered by UNESCO for World Heritage Site recognition.



It was only upon descending that we finally ran into other hikers. The unadorned chapel is actually a local stop on the German section of the Camino de Santiago, some 1500 km away from the ultimate destination of Santiago de Compostela. Though I really doubt that, in these modern times, pilgrims would walk all the way to Spain from here.



An equally solemn and much grander place of worship is housed inside Kloster Gengenbach, a Benedictine monastery established way back around the time of Charlemagne. Even after 1200 years the abbey still asserts influence on the everyday lives of the townspeople, on an hourly basis as the beloved bell tower rings its trusty chime through the valley.



Aside from the Jakobskapelle on the hilltop, another spot for excellent panoramas is the medieval tower of Niggelturm, located near the southwestern corner of the old defensive walls. It may take a bit of luck though, as it's currently operated as a museum and is open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays.



The museum itself is an intriguing exhibition of the elaborate costumes and masks used in Gengenbach's own version of Fasnacht, an annual springtime carnival amalgamating ancient pagan practices with Christian beliefs. A spiral staircase gradually scales multiple levels of the tower, until the top level where a heavy door with a caution sign leads to the exterior ...



Here it is, a splendid vista of town's 18th Century timberframe houses and their ochre rooftops, along with the Jakobskapelle and its lovingly cultivated vineyards. The picture at the top of the article is also taken from this same spot, just to illustrate the beauty of this town even on a rainy day.



For dinner we consulted local advice as usual, and picked an authentic neighborhood tavern under the shadow of Niggelturm tower, aptly named Zum Turm.



The Black Forest is much better known for its hearty peasant fare than haute cuisine, and that's exactly what's served at this informal little eatery/watering hole. The ambience harks back at least a few decades ... as does the substantial portions ... and the prices have remained affordable enough for all the neighbors. We're talking 1.2 Euros for a Kölsch on Mondays, 1.7 Euros a bottled beer on Thursdays and 2.4 Euros the rest of the week. That is cheap.



What keeps the regulars coming is a small repertoire of simple and mouth-watering comfort dishes, namely Bratkartoffeln and the regional favorite of Flammkuchen. We followed the neighboring tables in ordering this crispily skillet-fried Bratkartoffeln with Speck, large enough as a light meal or just for nibbling with a beer in hand, for the unbelievably cheap price of 3 Euros. Adding a heaping plate of Bauernwursts and potatoes for 6.9 Euros would serve the two of us adequately for dinner.



But the best and most popular dish here was the oven-fired Flammkuchen, or Tarte Flambée if you're from the opposite side of the Rhine. Italians may even mistake it as their own until they taste the sour cream in the savory version and, even more strangely, the classic dessert version with apples and Calvados.



The last Flammkuche we had was a savory one with Speck and onions, and this time we opted for a sweet one with raisins, pineapple and spiced with cinnamon. What an excellent combination of flavors ... and a scrumptious crust as well! Overall we've eaten very well the past several days in the Black Forest, and this Flammkuche served us the perfect finale.

Bill for Two Persons

Bratkartoffeln with Speck	3 Euros
Creme of Salmon Soup	2.7 Euros
Bauernwurst Sausages	6.9 Euros
Flammkuche with Raisins, Pineapple and Cinnamon	5.6 Euros
Alpirsbacher Export (Small Bottle)	2.4 Euros
Alpirsbacher Weissbier (Large Bottle)	3.2 Euros
TOTAL before tips	23.8 Euros (CAD$33.3)

Here's another advantage of visiting on Wednesdays or Saturdays, at least from May till October: the town offers a free tour led by a nightwatchman in full medieval regalia, making stops around the old town and teaching everyone a traditional nightwatch carol. Our tour started in front of the Rathaus at 21:00, and it wasn't until almost another hour when we finally retired to our hotel room.



We stumbled upon a great little hotel in town, a family-run gasthof that has served visitors for generations at the heart of the old town. This gasthof was so enjoyable that, if we ever return to Gengenbach, I would book this same hotel and ask for the exact same room. And here's why ...



There's hardly a better location in town than the historic Hotel Sonne, housed in an 18th Century character building right next to the town square. Our double room on the top floor already took the title of the most spacious room in our 24-day trip, but there's more to it outside the front window.



This has got to be one of the best views from any hotel room in town, overlooking the 16th Century fountain in the town square, the stately Rathaus, and the hallowed Jakobskapelle in the morning mist. But there's more ...



What is this ginormous nest right outside our window, at the top of the chimney across the street? I could hardly contain my excitement as I zoomed in with my camera lens ... this can't be ... a pair of the locally fabled white stocks!



This was my first time observing storks in their habitat, and I must have spent at least 15 minutes spying on these majestic birds, which were busy manicuring their velvety plumage and occasionally stretching their elegant wings. Then at the striking of the 07:00 church bells, the pair suddenly spread their gigantic wingspans, swooped across the air to the left of our window and disappeared in the direction of the wilderness. Just like watching National Geographic videos!

What a lovely little town Gengenbach is ... and what a fascinating region the Black Forest turned out to be! And did I mention that trains and buses within the entire Black Forest, all the way to the borders of France and Switzerland, are totally FREE for overnight guests (see KONUS Gästekarte)? As we checked out of Hotel Sonne in the morning, we would make good use of our free train ride to the Swiss city of Basel, to start the next segment of our long journey across 6 countries.