A Close-up of Riquewihr



On the road to Riquewihr


On the road into town, it was apparent that this was "wine country".  Within the confines of the fence posts that line the highway, you can see multitudes of posts that support grape vines.  This was even more apparent as we got into town and looked up into the hills:



This was our view looking up the hill from where we parked our car.



Moreover, these were very common sights in town: 

Sorry this is a little out of focus (guess I shouldn't have kept walking when I took it)---but you get the idea.



In fact, they were having some big kind of wine tasting event in the area that weekend or the next---can't remember now.  So because we're non-drinkers, a lot of things to do in Riquewihr were eliminated right off the bat.  Because DJ hasn't changed and still hates to shop, a lot more things were eliminated quite speedily, too.  But I never tire of the step back in time that we take every day that we come to one of these tiny villages.  I only wish our photography skills could capture what we see!  Perhaps the neatest thing there was one of the original gates going into the city.  We got a few shots.  One of the most amazing items was that within the watchtower/arch, you could actually see the inverted pickets of an actual gate that could be lowered to block passage into the city!  Take a look: 

The city gate from a distance.



Notice the 1400's below the crest---that's when this baby was built



A closer view.  See the timbers above that can be raised and lowered?  Notice the gate within the tower?  Loved seeing all of this.

A close-up of a clock tower.


Here are just a few random pictures of some of the village:

 



The back walls of these building formed a sort of wall enclosing the village on one side.



This was our way into the village---can you say narrow!

 

Can you say, this place is old, really old!







The top of a fountain



Never figured out the significance of this taxidermied fox---good place for your soda!  It was just sitting on a barrel between two buildings in the middle of town.  I'm thinking there's a story behind it.



This looked to be the nicest (newest) hotel in town.  Love how they just built it over the road and put an archway through.







All in all we had a fun afternoon in Riquewihr. It's so much fun to experience a different part of the world and really experience a different era of the world at the same time.