Finally, the Easter holidays were approaching and we decided to visit one of France picturesque quaint towns called Colmar. Visiting Colmar was a whim and not a definitive decision. It was Easter Monday and the last sunny day of our trip. I am glad we decided to visit Colmar.
Colmar is a beautiful charming town of the Alsace region, nestled among the vineyards of the Alsatian Wine Route between Germany and Switzerland. Previously I had seen stunning pictures of Colmar but the actual beauty was walking down the narrow cobbled street and getting lost in the 14th-century history it has to offers.
This small medieval town is like a fairytale painting with old traditional half-timbered and wooden framed houses of vibrant colours, big fountains, monuments and running canals with small boats all through the town. There is something magical about this town.
It was more than an hour’s drive from the Black Forest region. The drive was beautiful. One can see the poignant difference between the German and the French landscape. We drove from snow-capped peaks to the rolling meadows of the French border crossing Strasbourg, another extraordinary French town.
It was hard to find a proper parking since it was a national holiday. After a lot of stress, we found a large parking behind the children’s park. We didn’t even have to pay since it was easter. After parking our car we strolled along the narrow uneven streets of Colmar. It was so charming! There were beautiful gift shops, bakeries, boutiques and restaurants lined next to the canal. Easter decoration was everywhere.
I fell in love with this “Little Venice”. It was quaint and mesmerizing. There was something dreamy in the air of that square that you adore the place immediately. Small petite, full of vibrant flowers, cute cafes and colourful closed shutters houses. Photographers absolute favourite. The wooden bridge(St. Peter’s Bridge) overlooking the tiny canal surrounded by eateries was my favourite spot.
From there we walked down to the fishmonger’s district(Quai de la Poissonnerie) and then towards the Saint Martin Church. This gothic looking church is the pastel shade of yellow, grey and red built more than a 1000 years ago and has been restored several times since then. There were great eating joints surrounding the church area. A further walk lead us to the Pfister house that was built in 1537. It was quite an eye-catching building. Then we found this sweet shop where we bought a bagful of candies that my husband loved(and I hated them). The next stop was Schwendi fountain designed by Auguste Bartholdi in 1898. By this time we were ravenous. We could already smell the freshly baked quiche far away.
After having a nice short lunch we started walking towards the Dominican Church. It was around that area where we had this soft Nutella crepe. Simply delicious! I still wonder how the lazy afternoon came to an end and it was time to return home. We didn’t get to spend the evening in Colmar since we had to go back to Aachen( a lot of km)
Colmar is a perfect day trip and a must visit especially when you are in that region of Germany. We also brought back a little part of the Alsace with us from the souvenir shops of Colmar.
To know more about Colmar visit: https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en/#/gallery/recent
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