Village Life: Kaysersberg, France

Could you not just eat this place up? Alsatian villages are the absolute cutest. As if Colmar didn't provide enough swooning for the day, we decide to make a pit stop at another vineyard-engulfed village before heading back to Riquewihr for the night. Kaysersberg, a village just 11 km north of Colmar, was equally as charming but on a smaller scale. There were maybe 15 streets total...but an abundance of overflowing flower boxes, colorful facades, and tiny shops filled with wine, cheese, and more French sweetness than one could ever handle. If you Google Earth this town, you'll see vineyards wrap around every square inch of it (same with all the little villages dotted throughout Alsace). A wine-lover's dream if there ever was one. There wasn't much to do here but wine and wander-it-up...but my camera sure was happy, and so was my heart. Joie de vivre at its finest. These tiny towns hidden among the grapes are what my traveling soul yearns for. Simple and quaint, yet unique as a snowflake...no two hold the same quirks as the next.

As the French say, "Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimes beaucoup!" 

Kasyersberg (and Alsace) in a nutshell. ♥

Alsace Dreaming: Colmar, France

Skipping around again...but I felt like taking a trip back to France (Alsace, to be precise) and sharing another part of our incredible 6th Anniversary weekend away to French wine country. If you remember from my post a little over a year ago (if you actually remember, 500 bonus points to you), D and I spent 3 days sweating our butts off during a European heatwave while simultaneously being totally enchanted by the villages of Riquewihr, Colmar, and Kaysersberg in the Alsace region. Today's photo montage is courtesy of Colmar...another insanely adorable town filled to the brim with fine wine, ultra stinky cheese, and oodles of French charm.

Our day started with breakfast at our sweet B&B in Riquewihr. Fitz the cat was my furry breakfast date along with 5 pains au chocolat and a frothy cafe au lait (D was there too, of course). After reveling our petit déjeuner, we hopped in the car and made the 20 minute journey through the vineyards to Colmar's city center. We really had no plan for the day...except for wandering the city, sipping Pinot Blanc, and making googly eyes at the colorful half-timbered homes lining the cobblestone streets. So many beautiful alleyways, so little time!

Colmar reminded me a lot of the little villages scattered about Germany...and rightly so, as Germany is just a hop, skip, & jump away from Alsace and influences the area greatly. Some people spoke French to us, others spoke German...so it was an interesting, yet familiar dynamic. We spent some time wandering through farmer's markets and watching tiny boats float down the canals in Petite Venice. It was all very sweet and French, just as you'd imagine it to be. The wine was equally lovely, although less sweet than the German Rieslings I'd been used to (which I enjoyed). The only thing we didn't love? The heat. Far from Colmar's fault, but we didn't stay in the city as long as we would have without the scorching temps. C'est la vie, as they say!

I really have no recommendations for particular shops or restaurants you should try here. I know, worst travel blogger ever. But we honestly popped in and out of random places just to get shade and, if we were lucky, a bit of A/C. I remember eating a tasty salad Niçoise and D had a super cheesy tarte flambée, but where exactly we dined, I have no recollection. What I do remember is that Colmar is picture perfect and we would love to go back and experience it again...minus all the sweat and humidity, of course. If you ever find yourself with a weekend to spare in France, make sure Colmar and the Alsatian wine country is a stop on your list.

Riquewihr, France: Alsace Wine Region

Doesn't this town look like the perfect place to celebrate an anniversary?! 6 year anniversary, to be exact! Last July, as the first of three heat waves made its way into Europe, D and I took a 3 hour drive from Wiesbaden to the beautiful village of Riquewihr, France. This too-cute-for-words cobblestoned town is part of the famed Alsatian Wine Route and is just about the epitome of French charm. Colorful houses, wine-filled shops, and flower boxes bursting at the seams with fresh blooms…if France ever had a storybook village, THIS WAS IT. One of my favorite things about living in Europe these last 3 years have been quaint towns like these, nestled in between vineyards and oozing picturesque scenery. The only other town that I could compare to this would be Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany…also one of my very favorites. Riquewihr, while also walled like Rothenburg, was much smaller and surrounded on all sides by lush, green vineyards. This place was practically begging me to stay there forever!

We stayed just inside the old walls of the town at the most adorable hotel with the most lovely views (Hotel à L'Oríel, in case you were wondering). Everyday we had a traditional European breakfast in the sitting room with the owner's friendly cat. Every night we dined al fresco with chilled wine, stinky cheese, and under the romantic ambiance of the French countryside. Sounds like a total dream, right? It was. Granted, it also reached 108°F one afternoon (no, seriously…I have photos of town thermometers), but with such sweet scenery surrounding us on our weekend of love, we almost didn't notice. Allllmost. 3 cold showers a day kept the heat tolerable, but I digress. We spent the morning of our first full day in Alsace wandering around the alleyways of Riquewihr, stopping in for wine tastings at various winery stores and shopping for French treats unique to the region. The rest of the afternoon was spent a short drive away in Colmar…the widely-known "capital of Alsatian wine". More French fun to come!