While I was going through an endless pile of flowery photos from our day-trip to Alsace, it occurred to me to take you on a walk through a little town near Colmar that I especially liked. In my last post, I wrote about a couple of good days spent in the Black Forest, and since the French region of Alsace is its first neighbor, we took the opportunity to make a couple of day-trips to Alsace. Eguisheim was the first town we visited on the Alsace wine route, and if it wasn’t for my mom’s message that came on the eve of our day trip with a recommendation for a lovely little town she found on the Internet, we wouldn’t have ended up there- which would be a shame. Now let’s take a walk, shall we?
We came to Eguisheim sometime before ten- not too early for us, but early enough to be there before the tour groups arrive, and the streets were pleasantly calm. We left the car in a charming, flowery street outside the town center and took a walk.
A couple of minutes later, we found ourselves on Saint-Leon square, surrounded by cascades of geraniums pouring out of the windows of the picturebook houses.
The cascades in red, white and green, overflowing the stone walls, the facades, the fountain.
We were soon lured into a shop that had biscuits, macarons, and kougelhopfs neatly stacked in the shop window. Later we found out that it was a chain, Maison Alsacienne de Biscuiterie- nevertheless, the biscuits were soft and fragrant, we ate them later in the evening in our hotel room, and bought them again when we visited Strasbourg.
Mr Sweet-Tooth confirms that they’re good, and eats them straight out of the bag, on the square.
Crooked, half-timbered houses, narrow lanes covered with pink and red flowers and exuberance of leaves, a moss clad roof tile here, a shape of a heart carved into a window blind there- Eguisheim is a real-life place from Brother’s Grimm tales as well as a living and breathing little town.
Wrought iron signs like this dignified pretzel hang above every shop, restaurant, winery, and hotel.
I suppose that it’s not official, but it seems like the geraniums are statutory.
A facade adorned with kougelhopf molds- kougelhopf is, after all, a national Alsatian sweet! I wonder about the story of this house. Was it a bakery once? Did the owner make the best cakes in the region, known all the way to Colmar and beyond?
Photo opportunities on every corner.
Another one! Who could resist these blue doors?
Peach-colored roses, peach-colored facades, carefully overgrown doors, to make it all look like a setting for Sleeping Beauty.
The storks, emblems of Alsace, are taking part in this fairy tale atmosphere by nesting on the roofs of Saint Peter and Paul church.
Unfortunately, generic offers of contemporary tourism have penetrated Eguisheim as well- let’s hope that those are a passing trend and that the towns with their traditional handicrafts remain.
We haven’t tried these “vins fins”, nor any other wines in Eguisheim, because as always, we arrived on a day when everything’s closed. In Eguisheim, that’s Wednesday.
But that didn’t interfere in our plan to walk down every side street and take photos of every flowery facade.
If there aren’t geraniums, then there’s cardinal-red ivy.
Or flower-painted window blinds and vintage signs.
It was hard to single out the best photos from Eguisheim, so I made an editorial decision to publish most of them.
A couple of scenes as if captured in the Republic of Zubrowka.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, an unexpected street opens up.
Another lovely fountain (my only concern is that it’s missing the ever-present geraniums?), and a row of wooden barrels on a gallery of the winery in the back. I presume the town is quite different when everything’s open.
A house, a hotel or inn, definitely worthy of Republic of Zubrowka (Wes Anderson’s fans nod compassionately here).
And we’re off to Colmar. If you liked this post, next time, I’m taking you on a walk around Colmar.
And if you want to support this blog, there’s a nice way to do it by either sharing it on social media or treating me to a coffee on the Ko-fi platform. I appreciate it either way.
Anja
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Colmar was etched in my memory not only for its canals and pastel-colored houses but also for its good food and gourmand atmosphere, so let’s make a little tour around its bakeries, cafes, delis, and restaurants.