Alsace Wine Villages, France

Alsace Wine Villages (Route du Vin D’Alsace), France (6/12-14/2011) – Cute, cute, and then more cute! (Pat says cuter than cute.) Do view all the extra photos. The Alsatian Vineyard Route is primarily a rural route that includes 67 medieval towns and wine producing villages situated on the slopes of the Massif des Vosges (foothills). Mostly perfectly preserved, each village with its red tile roofs, abundant flowers and geraniums, medieval half-timbered architecture, and a pretty church rising up out of the middle is compressed within tiny defined boundaries surrounded by fields of crops, mostly vineyards. They have names such as Obernai, Riquewihr, and Colmar (our favorites) and Ribeauville, Kaysersberg, Barr, Dambach-la-Ville, and Bergheim. Each village is surrounded by wineries (caves) that offer free wine tasting and are famous for their Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir wines. We stopped in for several tastings. We particularly liked the Alsace Pinot Gris. The French Alsace wines are specifically designed to pair with the foods of the Alsace area. Alsace is also home to some of the best beers in the world like Kronenbourg, Kanterbrau, and Fischer. Alsace is the smallest region in France but possesses the largest number of five-star chefs per inhabitant. And we continued our French food fest. One interesting dish is the tarte flambee, the Alsatian equivalent of pizza but much different. Traditionally, it is made of a thin layer of dough, covered with creme fraiche (light fresh cheese), cheese, onions, and bacon and then baked very quickly in an extremely hot oven so that it gets crispy. We also loved the macaroons! We had no difficulty finding places to stay the night without reservations. One night we stayed in a maison (a house surrounded by a vineyard) where we could see a small castle on the hill and we had breakfast overlooking the vineyards and the wine village - more romantic points for Wayne. We visited the 12^th century castle Chateau du Haut Koenigsbourg and the Le Mont-Ste-Odile convent in the mountains. We enjoyed the ride through the pine forests on the way. We ended our Alsace stay with a day visit to Colmar, a large town. We loved our boat ride through the canals of Petite Venice, wandering more beautiful streets, and having the police escort us to our hostel because the streets were difficult to navigate. Alsace is bordered on the east by the Rhine River (also forming the natural border between France and Germany). Through its history it has changed hands between Germany and France on several occasions. The local culture is distinct. Alsatians have a very deep attachment to France even if the French Government has not always reciprocated. During WWI, all Alsatian men were sent by the Germans to the Russian front. Some boys managed to escape before being sent there and went to Paris to enroll in the French army. This came at a dire price as the family of those "malgre nous" would often be killed or sent to concentration camps. Next stop… Chablis, Dijon, & Vezelay - Burgundy, France. See many more photos of our worldwide travel adventures click on our travel photo file: www.flickr.com/photos/unhooknow/sets (note: on Flickr, select any set of photos and then click “Slideshow” to easily view all the photos -- many more sets can be viewed by clicking “next” at the bottom). YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CAN FOLLOW OUR JOURNEYS ON OUR TRAVEL BLOG… www.UnhookNow.com. Look for our upcoming book (“Plan Your Escape, Secrets of Traveling the World for Less Than It Costs to Live at Home”) coming out in October 2011 on how you, too, can travel the world!