An Afternoon in France - Colmar Style



This is a picture of a random building just because I loved the "tudor" style which I found to be very prevalent.  We parked our car on the outskirts of the older village and walked down the brick sidewalks and roads into the village center.  What a walk back in time; and yet, the insides of the shops looked much like any retail establishment of modern day.  We stopped for a lunch of calzones with chicken, onion, peppers, and mushrooms.  Incredible!  Even though it was an Italian dish, DJ's comment was that the French sure knew how to cook.  He said that we could have had the same thing in Switzerland, and it wouldn't have tasted so good.  Then we were off.  I could have wandered in and out of a lot of shops, but I am married to a man that learned at an early age that he hated to shop!  Some day if I get the courage to drive there alone, I'm going to do some serious browsing/shopping!

 



I'm not going to make commentary on every picture.  Just know that it was raining, and there are pictures
with rain drops in them.  Most pictures I took were just because I loved the flowers or the ironwork or the architecture.  I can't get enough of this old world charm!

 



The numbers, 1626, over the doorway of this building do not represent the address.  Nope, that is the year that this building was erected!





Loved the tile work on this roof.



Loved the roofline on this building.





One of many little roads (alleys) that just took off every which way----village definitely not laid out on a grid!






Looks like the cover of a jigsaw puzzle box----the kind of puzzle that drives you crazy because of the inverted reflection of an object in the water!





I took this close-up because all of the architectural detail is faux---that's right, painted.  It was remarkable.





If you look at this sign (even without a background in French), you can figure out that we were now in an area called Little Venice because of the canals that run through the village.





This is one of the tour "trains" that we will go on the next time we visit.  It looked as though people had headsets so they could get the information in whatever language they needed.





A shot of St. Martin's Collegiate Church.  The foundations of this cathedral go back to 1,000.  What we see today was finished in the 1,300's with some parts newer when they had to replace those burned in a fire of the 1,500's.  Remarkable detail as seen below:







But this is what intrigues many....

...a stork's nest!  Like the swallows at San Juan Capistrano and the swans linked to Neuschwanstein, Colmar has its storks.  Stork stuffies are a big souvenir item.  I told DJ we should buy one for the playroom home in Texas, but he just rolled his eyeballs---guess that was a no!



I had to take this one for "My Pal Val".  Valerie Murphy's husband's name is  Johnnie; and if I remember correctly they are of Irish descent.



On our way back through the village and  through the newer part of town to our car, we passed lots of French bakeries.  Well, this was the last one we came to before our parking spot, so we stopped...

...and, yes, even I indulged.  Can I just say that their pastry crusts are the lightest and flakiest ever, and I think their secret is just a hint of fruit, or a hint of chocolate, or a hint of sugar---nothing really strong or overpowering.  What a sweet way to end our day in Colmar.