After leaving Strasbourg, we made a stop in the city of Colmar (the third largest in the Alsace region.) Colmar is such a gorgeous city, it's know as "The French Venice" because of it's series of canals winding throughout. They even offer gondola rides!
When we first began wandering around there was a man sitting on a bench playing the accordion. The music echoed through the narrow streets and off the old buildings and added a certain ambiance to our visit. I could have stayed there and listened for a while, but then I would have missed out on seeing how cute the city is!
Alsace is also know for it's storks. You know... the ones that bring the babies? I'm sure you've heard the story before, how a stork will deliver a baby to a family that wants one. Well, here are THOSE storks- The stories originated in this region. If you want a baby, all you have to do is leave a sugar cube on your windowsill and in 9 months one of these large birds will drop off a bouncing bundle of joy. Needless to say I was VERY careful of only putting sugar cubes into my coffee!
We saw them all over Alsace, not just in Colmar, but I just happened to be able to get a few pictures of them in this city. There were TONS perched on the cathedral, jabbering away at each other and taking off to soar through the air (to deliver babies no doubt.)
Ah yes, the pictures below definitely show why the city is known as the French Venice. So quant and picturesque. If we had the time I'm sure we would have taken a gondola ride. It's just so pretty!
After leaving Colmar and the Alsace region we headed for Burgundy and the city of Beaune where our amazing hotel was located! Hostellerie le Cedre was absolutely gorgeous. I don't know if I've ever stayed in a 5 star hotel before, but a girl could totally get used to that! We had double windows that opened and allowed a lovely breeze to permeate the room. Our room over looked the courtyard, which had a fountain and lanterns hanging in all the trees. I know I've been using the word a lot, but it really was, well, pretty.
After checking in at the hotel, we headed toward Fixin to visit the winery of Clos St. Louis. Philippe, the winemaker, took us through his vineyard and showed us how he makes some of his delicious wines- and they were delicious, we got to taste many! His wife even made fresh cheese puff/biscuits called Gougeres that she passed out during the tasting. They were amazing and still warm since they were fresh from the oven.
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