Alsace Wine Route

Yesterday, Thursday, was another outstanding day.  After leaving the "hotel" in the morning I was on my way to France......which is only about a 20 minute ride from where I was staying.  Along the way, before reaching France, I had driven into some vineyards to take some photos and explore the area.  As I do so often, I just drove down some small roads and there I was in the middle of some vineyard.  There were all varieties of grapes waiting to be picked, from yellow to various shades of red, pink and black.  Of course I  had to have a taste......they were not bad, but these were the variety for making wine, not eating.  I took a lot of photos and enjoyed the scenery.  There were people with tractors and barrels, picking, loading and moving the grapes to various wineries.  Very interesting for me..........  Next I was on my way to France.  After crossing the Rhine River, I was in France.  To my surprise, there was absolutely not customs or control at the German / French border;  a lot different than many years ago.  As soon as I crossed the Rhine, there was a large sign:  FRANCE.I now drove along what is known as the Alsace Wine Route.  My first stop was in the city of Colmar, where I walked around a bit and took many photos.  Prior to reaching Colmar, I stopped into a supermarket and picked up a baguette, cheese, and some prosciutto to have for lunch.  After leaving Colmar, the terrain was just covered with fields and hills covered with grape vineyards.  This went on for miles and miles.  My next stop was in Kaysersberg, a rather medieval town, which is the birthplace of Dr. Albert Schweitzer.  Kaysersberg was rather touristy, but very interesting with many wine stube. I did not try any wine yet, since I was driving.  Next along my journey up the wine route was the medieval town of Riquewihr.  This was my favorite stop of the day.  This town seemed to still be in the middle 1400s.  All the roads, the buildings, seemed untouched from hundreds of years ago.  Here I sat down for some superb Riesling wine, which the area is known for.  I relaxed for awhile at a wine stube, drinking the Riesling and eating a crepe.  It was now getting toward dusk and I had a lot more I wanted to see along the route, but unfortunately, I only made one more stop in Ribeauville for some more Riesling and a plate of salad and quiche before heading back south to my "hotel".  Perhaps on my next trip with Gail, after her retirement, we will make it back here and I can go the places I missed further north on the way toward Strasbourg.  I arrived back at my room by 9:00 PM, checked up on some emails, made a few Skype phone calls and went to bed.

Click here to see:  Slide show from todays Alsace Wine Route

It is now 9:45 AM and I am on my way to Freudenstadt, in the middle of the Black Forest.  I have planned out a rather interesting route for the day, with a stop in Triberg, the famous cuckoo clock town, to try some of the schwarzwaler kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake).

Until next time............