Alsace - Colmar

On the weekend we headed up to the Alsace area of France. We started in Colmar which is around an hour closer to where we live than Strasbourg, and is meant to be a very pretty town in its own right.

We drove up on Friday night to make the most of weekend, and managed to arrive just before dark and in time for dinner.

The region is a really interesting part of France, being so close to the German border, and actually being part of Germany for a few periods around various wars. Although French is the official language, it has a Germanic dialect and its food has a distinctly Germanic side.

We spent Saturday wandering the streets of Colmar, visiting its various neighbourhoods, including the Petite Venice neighbourhood, which has the most attractive and characteristic houses.

We also visited the Unterlinden museum, which houses an impressive collection of medieval religious artwork, but most importantly the Isenheim Altarpiece, which originally folded out in several stages but now has been separated into a number of separate pieces for display. This piece really is very impressive, for its size, colours and imagery.

Of course we also ate well in Colmar. We ate local specialities of Tarte Flambée (a thin pizza like dish), and since Alsace is right next to Lorraine, we had to have a Quiche Lorraine.