A Little bit of German, A Little bit of French - Colmar

Crime Scene in Bordeaux

After the Belgium beer run, we thought it was time to venture back into France. The country of wine, the huh huh huh laugh, and elite cuisine is one we have only briefly skimmed. Marseille, Perpignan, Bordeaux, Paris...most of our whirlwind through the country was spent chasing a friend.

Despite this inauspicious start - we loved France. We were prepared for the worst, but the people and place gave us their best. Some of my favorite pictures and most bizarre stories (there was either a murder or suicide in the hotel room across the hall) have happened here.

So we were excited to make it back to the country. However, it was just going to be a baby toe in as we had to start making our way back to Berlin. Los!

We chose Colmar. A mini-Strasbourg, it is a town to fawn over the adorable finishes and the combination of German & French.

From the esteemed resource, Wikipedia:

Colmar was founded in the 9th century. This was the location where Charles the Fat held a diet in 884. Colmar was granted the status of a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire in 1226. In 1575, the city adopted the Protestant Reformation, long after the northern neighbors of Strasbourg and Sélestat. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the armies of Sweden in 1632, who held it for two years. The city was conquered by France under Louis XIV in 1673.

In 1679 (Treaties of Nijmegen) Colmar was ceded to France. With the rest of Alsace, Colmar was annexed by the newly formed German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War. It returned to France after World War I, was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, and then reverted to French control after the battle of the "Colmar Pocket" in 1945. Colmar has been continuously governed by conservative parties since 1947, the Popular Republican Movement (1947–1977), the Union for French Democracy (1977–1995) and the Union for a Popular Movement (since 1995), and has had only three mayors during that time.

The Colmar Treasure, hidden during the Black Death, was discovered here in 1863.

In short, it has had a tumultuous history of a border town. Luckily, the combo of the two cultures has created a beautiful atmosphere.

Our cheap, adorable, but noisy hotel

Loved the open-air wine bar in the center of "Little Venice". 1 euro glasses of delicious wine.

These shutters were decorated with pretzels and heart cut outs. That is charming.

So yeah, a lot of gorgeousness. I detest the word cute BUT, this town is C-U-T-E.

Hübsch.

Mignon.

It was a beautiful place and we so enjoyed living in a fairytale for just one night.

Begging tactics

One thing that wasn't quite fairytale: the guy in the white leisure suit. He would "help" you pay for your parking...for a few coins. We actually saw his camp out spot with a portable radio and bottle and bottles of the cheapest wine.

We might have taken a trunkful of beer home from Belgium, but we also had a little prize to take away from France. A quiche Lorraine. It lasted 10 minutes into Germany.