If you have ever been on Pinterest, you have seen a picture of Colmar, France.
I am not exaggerating. Pinteresters LOVE this colorful town full of half-timbered houses.
Heck, I may not have even known about this gorgeous place without Pinterest.
But I’m so glad that I did see pictures and decide to go there!
This was in the middle of October, so about a month late, but I’ll catch this blog up shortly.
I PROMISE!!
I was in Freiburg, Germany for the weekend, but I wanted to take a day trip to Colmar, as it was only about an hour or two away by public transportation.
Easier said than done.
What I’ve come to learn is that train work is done in the fall like you wouldn’t believe here in Europe, so there are a lot of “replacement buses.”
However, it isn’t always clear that a certain line is closed.
The departure board at the train station in Freiburg told me that this train would take me to Breisach, where I would catch a bus to Colmar.
So, I get on this train headed for Breisach (right on the border of France and Germany). So far, so good, right?
Well, we get to this town called Gottenheim which was the stop before Breisach.
And EVERYONE in my train car gets out.
I’m thinking, must be a big/interesting town? Maybe I’ll stop there on my way back this evening (?).
Then new people come in.
Maybe I’m supposed to switch trains here?
But the train schedule labeled this one to go to Breisach.
Well, a lot of university-aged people, so I think, must be a university town or something?
Please keep going in the same direction… Please tell me I’m on the right train…
Nope.
The train goes backwards.
Back to Freiburg.
This is only something that would happen to me…
If only I spoke German!! Maybe they said something over the loud speaker?
THANKFULLY, it’s not like the train is long. (20 minutes back)
I then find the information desk and the nicest older man tells me exactly what to do. I was supposed to get off in Gottenheim (because of work on the tracks) where I would take this one bus to Breisach where I would then take another bus to Colmar.
Okay, now that I have the right bus numbers, it’ll be easy.
Except that it left me with only 4 hours in Colmar to make it back on the last bus of the night…
So, I FINALLY make it to Colmar and it is just as picture-perfect as Pinterest makes it out to be.
And it’s not like it’s just the one “famous” row of houses that’s gorgeous.
EVERYWHERE you look in the city center (which is actually fairly large for such a small town) was stunning.
The famous Colmar shot is in their Petit Venice region, where a canal runs through (yes, they had little boat rides going through, but no gondolas and no singing!). The houses running along the canal are particularly colorful, making it all the more picturesque.
Colmar is such a small town with few “attractions,” but that didn’t stop me from EASILY filling my short time there. What you really just want to do there is stroll through all the side streets and try to get lost (which is quite difficult because it’s so small).
I was also really excited to try some of the Alsatian foods, but particularly Tarte Flambée and Kugelhopf.
Even though my Tarte Flambée was very heavy on the flambée (hence no photo), it was still tastey! It’s like an extra crispy pizza crust topped with a cream sauce, onions, and pork (and whatever other variations that you can find, but that’s the traditional way).
And another unfortunate fact, I could not find anything other than a huge Kugelhopf (looks something like a bundt cake) for the life of me, so I will just have to keep on looking for it when I return to the Alsatian region (I’m hoping to visit Strasbourg one of these weekends once the Christmas markets start!!)
I really could have spent another few hours just wandering around the old town, maybe taking a look at their replica of the Statue of Liberty, and popping into their museum, about which I’ve heard great things.
But, I still loved the time that I spent there and would highly recommend it to ANYONE in the region. Just maybe longer than 4 hours!
Into Uncertainty 