We’d set the alarm although didn’t need it & had our bed tea & coffee just after 6am. We left the apartment at 8.10am & our run of nice weather looks like it has come to an end. I walked to the tram stop with my umbrella up & it was up all morning except whilst in the minibus.
We’d booked a “pearls of Alsace” tour leaving from the tourist office at 9am. We caught the tram two stops (which is further than it sounds) & walked to the Cathedral square, just before 9 am our tour guide Simon arrived with the minibus, there was six of us altogether, we headed down the freeway to Colmar, one hour south, our train had stopped at Colmar. On a roundabout on the way in we passed a miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty, Simon explained that the sculpture Frederic Bartholdi was born in Colmar & that he made a number of these which were sold to raise the money to pay for the statue in New York & that the French people & not the government had paid for the statue, he also said that Gustavo Eiffel had made the metal frame that’s inside the statue. We parked & Simon took us on a walking tour explaining the history. Although the area had been destroyed during the 2nd world war the centre of the town had escaped unharmed, we walked around little Venice (part of the same river system in Strasbourg, river Ill & further into the town centre to a covered market, customs house, past the museum of Bartholdi. Simon explained the history of Alsace including that the region had been German, then became French, then went back to German & after the last world war again became French.

When it went back to German the 2 nd time people were forced to change their French sounding surnames to something more German, French wasn’t allowed to be spoken, French books were burnt, along with books written by a French author, imagine having to change your nationality & name & language. There had been a generation who had changed nationalities four times.
Lots of lovely half timbered houses & it would have looked so pretty in the sunshine. Whilst Simon collected the minivan, I had a coffee, I was so cold, Richard had a wander & 20 mins later we are back on the bus heading to Eguisheim in the foothills of the Des Ballons Des Vosges which a long time ago were part of the Black Forest just the other side of the Rhine in Germany. Lots of lovely houses, many shops still with Easter decorations. The church had a lovely glazed tile roof & there was a statue of Joan of Arc, lots of storks nesting. We then drove along the Alsace wine route towards Riquewihr which is surrounded by ramparts & again survived destruction. We walked up the Main Street & found a restaurant for lunch, I had a roesti potato with creamed leek & German sausage, Richard had Chou Croute sauerkraut with bacon & sausages, we had a small jug of local Pinot Noir, it was very nice. I then headed into the Christmas shop, I resisted the urge to add to my collection, on the way to the bus we purchased two individual Kugelhopf which we’ve seen in many boulangeries in Strasbourg. We then re-boarded the minivan to travel further along the wine route the main wines produced in Alsace are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris & Muscat.
Our last stop was Haut-Kœnigsbourg castle which was built in the 12 century & occupied a strategic position controlling the wine & wheat routes to the north & salt route from the east. The castle was occupied until the 30 year war & then abandoned until it was gifted to the German Kaiser Wilhelm II who re-built it from 1900 - 1908. The interior decoration was never finished due to the 2nd world war, the castle is also furnished.
The ramparts provided a lovely view although it wasn’t clear enough to see the Black Forest due to the clouds, the castle had been hidden from us most of the day due to the low clouds. A Sherlock Holmes book had been written using the name of the castle & Wilhelm II as one of the characters.
We returned to the bus & travelled the one hour back to Strasbourg arriving just after 6pm. We caught the tram home & enjoyed our Kugelhopf for tea, we think one was cheese & walnut & the other was currant.