Saturday, October 05, 2019

A visit to the historic town of Colmar

We took a taxi downtown as we guessed that parking might be a problem on a Saturday and with the amount of German cars there confirmed we made the correct decision. En-route to the old town in the centre of a traffic island is a miniature Statue of Liberty which was made by a Frenchman who lived-in Colmar and was very famous for his architectural designs.In fact there are many buidlings as a result of his wortk in this town
The old historic town is much larger than we throught it would be and having had a good walk round looking at some of the very old buildings and after a nice cup of tea overlooking the Cathedral we then found the ‘Petit Train’ and took advantage of the 35 minute tour of the town. By this time it was close to 15.00 and much to our surprise many of the restaurants had closed for serving lunch and so we ended up in a not so good Bistro with poor food and high tourist prices which we will not repeat.
The town was very busy with tourists, mostly German it would appear, and considering the time of year we wondererd what it would be like in mid-summer, quite dreadfull with think. 
The following information about Colmar is from their tourist website

Colmar, the most Alsatian city of Alsace!
Nestled among vineyards, its traditional houses, canals, floral displays, amazing cuisine, famous wines and charming accommodation make Colmar an outstanding microcosm of Alsace – showcasing its lifestyle, conviviality and hospitality – the key features of its unique, exceptional welcome.
The capital of the Alsacian wines, situated near Germany and Switzerland between the Vosges and the Rhine, Strasbourg and Mulhouse, offers visitors an exciting glimpse of 1000 years of European history.
Besides, with its 67,000 inhabitants, Colmar retains a 'country town' atmosphere which contributes so much to its charm. Wonderfully preserved from the ravages of time, its homogenous
historical centre is classed as a 'protected area' and has benefited from careful restoration and ongoing improvements for more than 20 years.Every season, it offers a richly diverse range of cultural, sporting, nature, relaxation, and culinary enjoyments.You will be easily tempted by this enchanting "country town".

Colmar will also delight you with the quality of its shops and boutiques that will allow you bring a small part of Alsace back with you in your luggage! In every street of the historic centre you will find shops upon shops offering "made in Alsace" products: food, table accents, textiles, déco, accessories, soft furnishings…

We have taken lots of photos and video during our walk around but due to slow internet in the Hotel  will wait untill we get home to save lots of time uploading.
We have also decided that due to the inclement weather which has turned a bit cold, wet and cloudy to head home tomorrow and so we will drive and stay the night in Boulogne Sur Mer and then catch a mid morning ferry back to the UK.
In the evening we watched some stuff on Netflix and also You Tube berfore hitting the sack.