Alsace

Day 2- Various sites in Alsace, and a Castle in the Schwarzwald

Day two of our trip took us to the Alsace region of France. Just over the border, Alsace is beautiful- the landscape is dotted with half-timbered villages, vineyards, and castles on the western hills.

Riquewihr

The town that inspired Disney's setting for Beauty and the Beast! I couldn't keep the song out of my head ("there goes the baker with his tray like always . . ."). Riquewihr reminded me of Rothenburg- a quaint walled well-preserved town. This one, though, is surrounded by vineyards, full of vibrant colors, and featured- to the kids' delight- macaroons. It's a wonderful hour stroll (or two, if you want to really soak it all int).

Ribeauville

Very close to Riquewihr, Ribeauville is another charming town, with three(!) castle ruins overlooking it. After a picnic lunch in our car, we wandered down (what we thought was) the entire main street, but then found, driving through other parts, that the beauty extended much further (no photos of those other parts, sadly- I can't drive and snap). We wanted to drive up to the ruins, but found that you must park in town and hike up (40 minutes one way). The lot was full, the day was hot, the kids weren't up for it . . . so on we drove. If I could return, I'd explore more of the town and hike up to those ruins.

Chateau Haut de Koenigsbourg

This looked like a nice castle- took forever to reach it, on the winding hilly roads- but it was closed by the time we arrived. Even if it hadn't been, you need to reserve tickets in advance (online only). Oh well. We enjoyed the views nevertheless, and also were smitten by the nice villages we drove through on the way up (Bergheim) and back (Kintzheim)- no photos, but I could have seen stopping in either of them, too.

Another Castle

So ended our day trip in France. Crossing back into Germany, we had one more adventure- a castle ruin hike- but I'll cover that tomorrow.  Alsace is amazing and well worth more exploration.