A taste of French Wine Country: Alsace

Come the middle of July we realized that not only was it our sixth wedding anniversary, but we also had a completely free weekend! So what did we do? Booked a last minute trip somewhere of course! I know, shocking you say. It didn't take long for us to agree on the Alsace region of France, which is one of the country's many wine growing regions. It is located in eastern France, not far from the German border, which made it only a two hour drive for us and the perfect weekend getaway. There is unique blend of French and German cultures in this region that is famous for its white wines, especially its dry Rieslings and sweet Gewurztraminers.

Despite the fact that this region experienced severe destruction from centuries of war in the area, many of the villages maintain a picturesque look with beautiful old buildings (and some new built to look old). We rented a car from Zurich and made the easy drive to the south end of the valley on Saturday morning so that we could spend the day exploring the town of Colmar. It was a quaint town with a lot of shopping and restaurants to be visited as well as many winstubs, which are the region's version of a pub. These laid back restaurants or "wine lounges" are popular to be able to taste many of the area's best wines in one stop.

Beautiful streets of Colmar

Another view around Colmar

We spent the better part of the afternoon just meandering and enjoying the town's food and wine. With no real agenda or plan we eventually made our way to our hotel later in the afternoon. It was a unique guesthouse on the edge of a small village. We had a nice little apartment to enjoy that opened out to a beautiful garden area with a pool. It seemed we had found the perfect weekend getaway for both parents and child as Emma loved all of the outdoor space to run around, we enjoyed the complimentary bottle of wine, and of course the pool was popular with all of us in the 90 degree heat!

First thing Emma saw once we parked the car in Colmar was a carousel and seeing how she had now been walking for a few weeks there was no slowing her down to get to it!

So cute to look back on this video as she was just starting to walk and compare it to how good she is now! This was just the start of her quickly growing independence!



Emma's first real carousel ride!

Love this girl!

So after enjoying a relaxing Saturday evening we were fortunate to be able to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning as well. First on our agenda was to hit the pool again before we set out to see visit more wine villages. We headed out to drive through some of the most scenic areas of the Route du Vin and stop at some of the most picturesque villages - Riquewihr, Ribeauville, Turckheim and Kaysersberg. Although they all seemed nice and had beautiful architecture, Riquewihr, definitely won the award from us (and it seemed like a lot of other people) for being the best Alsatian wine village. The medieval walled village was certainly a tourist haven but we still enjoyed it and had a great lunch outside on a quiet little back street. There was also a wine and food festival going on in Ribeauville, but unfortunately we arrived too late in the day and missed out on most of the festivities. Lucky for us we had already sampled several different types of wine throughout the day!

These cranes seem to be the Alsatian mascot and were very common!

Just touring the streets of Riquewihr



Stroller rides were short lived with all the cobblestone

You might call that a bad hair day!

Steve had Monday off so we were able to extend the weekend a bit and take our time getting back to Zurich. We took full advantage to go back and spend some more time in our favorite spot, Riquewihr, and enjoy a relaxing lunch. We also drove up the valley a little ways for some better views of the region. As we did we stumbled upon an American flag flying at a quiet spot in the countryside where we found a monument dedicated to American troops of World War II.

More views around our favorite village of Riquewihr

Loved all the fresh flowers on every window!

Telling us how old she is!

Unfortunately our time in this now very peaceful and relaxing area of France quickly came to an end. However, it was definitely a great last minute weekend away and a fun time celebrating our anniversary as a family!

Beautiful sunflower fields!