Alsace - Strasbourg

On Sunday we drove up to Strasbourg, which is only a little North of Colmar.

We had done very little research (which is unusual especially for Linda), and were late getting started because we'd both been sick leading up to the trip and had nevertheless had big working weeks. As a result we arrived in Strasbourg around lunch time and plonked ourselves down in the nearest decent looking restaurant for lunch.

I had a Choucroute, which is the Alsacian version of a Sauerkraut. As you can imagine this is quite a heavy dish and I didn't manage to finish this, or the triple-decker chocolate mouse I ordered for desert. Both were delicious, if rich, although I have to say I'm definitely more a fan of the French-style cooking than German.

After washing this down with a digestive espresso, we headed into Petite France (I'm not sure how they claim to have distilled all of France into a neighbourhood), which has many fine examples of the timber-framed houses that the Alsace is famous for.

Next we walked further along the river into the old town, with its obvious centre of the cathedral with its enormous tower (a planned second tower was never completed). We bought some delicious nougat at a sweets shop - vanilla, caramel and mocha flavours.

Since it was hot, we stopped for a sorbet before wandering back through the town, via a different route, towards our car.

Despite our poor research, we did manage to inform ourselves about the wine route that runs to the West of Strasbourg and Colmar, and we drove out that way to follow it at least part of the distance back towards Colmar.

We didn't really stop - you never feel like stopping when you're on the home stretch - but we passed through many really pretty towns and vineyards and I can imagine it would be easy to spend a week travelling along the route. Something for the future perhaps..