Alsace
Just before our family arrived in town, we squeezed an overnight in at our favorite Alsace town, Eguisheim. I love everything about Alsace. The food, the scenery, the people, and especially the architecture. The mixture of German and French culture makes it even more interesting. Which is why I chose it for our Christmas card location. Yes, we were that family everyone was talking about who had their children dressed in German traditional outfits in the middle of town. And it wasn’t even Oktoberfest, gasp!! We got a lot of smiles, laughs, and I’m sure many wise cracks. But in the end, I got a good pic of the kids, and the last Cummings Christmas card in Europe was a success.
Here are some pics from my favorite Alsace town, Eguisheim…
Sunrise in Eguisheim
Front of our Christmas card
back of the card
driving on the Rue du Vin
Kaysersberg, France
Alsace grapes ready for harvest!
Black Forest and Rue du Vin
We took a short overnight trip while Nancy and Rachel were in town. We love, love Alsace. It’s got such character and is so well taken care of. Plus, we can speak German there since almost everyone is bilingual.
The town we love most is Eguisheim. Our hotel this time was great!
Auberge Alsacienne
Eguisheim, Alsace, France
The Black Forest is a nice area in Germany with picturesque scenery, fun festivals, and famous cake. This trip we visited Freiburg, and Staufen. Both were great, and we happened to come on a fest day. The Musik and Wein fest was a treat for our guests. Any time you can experience festivals with the Germans, it’s a great experience!
Prost!
Ribeauville
Getting hooked up by friendly Jean, the linen man in Ribeauville. Even Addy scored!
Rue du Vin
May flowers and storks, so pretty!
Eguisheim
one of the many wine caves in Alsace
Staufen, Germany
Staufen
Adelaide accompanying the orchestra.
Grandma buying strawberries in the Black Forest.
Freiburg, Germany
Cathedral (Münster) in Freiburg. We got to hear the choir practicing for their evening performance.
Original 13th century stained glass windows that were protected during the WWII. Our kids had fun picking out the different townsmen's symbols. The town baker donated this window.
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, the local speciality. Yummy.
Freiburg
Black Forest
Rue du Vin
Rue du Vin is a small region in Alsace, France. Strasbourg, the northern town on the route, is only 1 hour from Stuttgart. The route is covered with small, adorable towns, castles, vineyards, and great architecture. We stayed in Colmar for 3 nights and used it as a base to explore 4 different towns. Our favorites were Equisheim, Riquewihr, Ribeauville, and Colmar. We also got to visit the Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, which our kids loved.
We wine tasted in a few really unique caves along the rode in several towns. We came home with some tasty white wines from the region.
We went in January, and it was COLD! I would recommend visiting in the Spring, or Fall for small crowds, and pretty scenery. You can even take a drive up to several castles from Eguisheim.
Happy travels!
Wine tasting caves in each little town.
Colmar, France