After checking out Eguisheim, we headed to the very top of the Alsace region to the city of Strasbourg. Strasbourg is a big city with distinctive Alsatian elements in the architecture, cuisine, and culture.
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| The historic, Petite France area of Strasbourg |
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| The grand, gothic cathedral in the center of Strasbourg. The colors of the stone were amazing. |
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| Alsatian food is quite heavy and full of creams and meats |
On Sunday morning, we drove through the "Route des Vins", a local 170 kilometer road that winds through vineyards and goes through one beautiful village after another. To get to the Route des Vins, we set our GPS to one of the towns on the route and then followed the signs for the "Route des Vins" from there.
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| A map of the Route des Vins |
Along the Route des Vins, we stopped for lunch in Riquewihr, a town surrounded by a perfectly preserved medieval wall. While beautiful, I would caution that Riquewihr is very full of tourists so it seems almost not real at points.
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| Standing outside of the medieval wall in Riquewihr |
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| The wall that surrounds Riquewihr |
By evening, we made our way to Kientzheim, the hometown village of one of my friends from Geneva. Pauline has shown me pictures of her wonderful village in the past and I was excited to finally see it. At her suggestion, we stayed in an old abbey that was converted into a hotel and we had dinner with her and her husband at a wonderful restaurant in Riquewhir. Eating at a 1 star Michelin restaurant in the middle of a medieval city was a uniquely French experience, with food that looked as pretty as it tasted!
On Monday we met Pauline and her father at their family vineyard tasting room. Pauline's family owns Domaine Paul Blanck and Fis which produces wines from Alsatian vineyards that are hundreds of years old. A little tid bit on Alsatian wine: the region is known for its Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and others. Wines from Alsace can be easily identified by their trademark long neck wine bottles.
Pauline's father Philippe gave us one of the most educational and inspirational wine tastings we have ever had. Not only did we get to taste their fantastic wines but we learned more about wine tasting from one hour with Philippe than we have from all other wine tastings put together.
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| Taking home some wine after our wine tasting with Philippe Blanck |
EAT: Fink Stuebel in Strasbourg and La Table du Gourmet in Riquewihr
STAY: Hotel D in Strasbourg and Hotel L'Abbaye d'Alspach in Keintzheim
PLAY: Route des Vins, Riquewhir, Kientzheim, Kayersberg, Domaine Paul Blanck and Fils
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