Alsace, France Travel Pictures

I had high epectations and was not to be disappointed. We traveled by car from Zurich to Mulhouse, Thann, Guebwiller, Colmar, Ribeauville and Riquewihr along the Route du Vin d'Alsace. Due to bad weather, we skipped the mountainous road leading to the Grand Ballon. The highlights were the beautiful villages with their restored streets and buildings, flowers everywhere, good food, strange mixture of Swiss, German and French culture with a sprinkle of French arrogance (at times). We visited just at the end of wine fair time, remnants of which could still be seen. This trip was from 20 to 22 September 2002.

Chef in Mulhouse storefront	The town hall
Individuals propagating untruths got this heavy stone hung around their neck and were paraded around town to the enjoyment and ridicule of the onlookers	Two musicians of a trio playing local folk music during vine fair festivities
Mulhouse used to belong to Switzerland and there are remnants of this legacy everywhere. Street names are also written in German, a lot of people understand German and here's the Son of Tell on a house Facade	Colorful Mulhouse Facades
You can catch the lift to the top of the round rotating restaurant on the top of Tour de l'Europe for some nice views of Mulhouse	View over Mulhouse from Tour de l'Europe restaurant
Mulhouse from above	There was a miniature rainbow to be seen in the spray of this wonderful fountain at Tour de l'Europe
This is a rather flat building in Mulhouse	Mulhouse restaurant bill
The beautiful collegiate Church of Saint Thiñbaut at Thann	The amazing entrance door of the Collegiate Church in Thann is composed of 150 scenes and 500 characters. Here's a small part of it showing the detail
Doorframes in the middle of La Thur river in Thann	The Witches Tower dating from 1411 with gun loopholes and it's onion dome from 1628
This Thann dog was inspecting everything passing by	Multicolored Thann houses by the riverside
Curious Thann cat	Relaxing in Colmar sun
Very nice 'Jugendstil' house in Colmar	Colmar Pharmacy dragon
Martin Schñngauer's triptych of the Virgin in the Rose Bush inside the gothic ñglise des Dominicains	Colmar facades
Window of 'Jean Chocolatier Glacier'	Stained glass entrance of posh restaurant 'La Maison des Tetes' in Colmar
Look at all these pointy roofs in Colmar	In Colmar
Colmar house	The Alsace region have a lot of these signs with a humorous note
Musicians in the old city of Colmar	An old Colmar alleyway
Villa in Colmar	In Colmar's 'Petit Venise'
Eghuisheim is a circular town with concentric streets. You'll land up where you started if you follow one of them for a wonderful walk along the picturesque restored facades of it's old, rather small, houses	Eguisheim postbox
Eguisheim restaurant sign. It proved to be rather difficult to get just a drink during meal hours in Eguisheim..	Storks are everywhere in Alsace, either live in their nests, high above street level, or in signs and souveniers of the region
Renaissance fountain in the centre of Eguisheim just below a medieval church dating from the 8th century	Storewindow in Eguisheim
Eguisheim facade	Even the bank has an appealing facade in Eguisheim
The Alsatians are flower crazy. Look at this nice facade in Ribeauvillñ	Traditional facade in Ribeauvillñ
Playful Ribeauvillñ architecture	Fountain at Ribeauvillñ
Vineyard just outside Ribeauvillñ	Ribeauvillñ facade
Doorway near Riquewihr town gate	Unmistakable sign at Riquewihr
There are a few parts of Riquewihr which are unrestored and look like this	Cat outside Riquewihr bakery
Riquewihr bakery selling delicious sweets and cakes. The most famous are the round Kugelhupfs, which you can see in the glass box at the center of the picture	Plaque above the house of a wealthy businessman in Riquewihr
Tarte Flambñe's are good and popular in Alsace	Riquewihr staircase
Riquewihr facade	Vineyards outside Riquewihr