Someplace New

Speckled up and down the Alsace region are adorable little towns. Besides Strasbourg, Colmar is one of those towns we had been dying to see.

Colmar is popular for a reason. It is full of shops, restaurants, museums, and brightly colored tudor houses. After a quick 30 minute train ride, we began our day with a walk around ‘Petite Venice.’ This area is the absolute cutest, but very VERY small. Called ‘Petite Venice’ because of it’s canal system, you can walk under the cherry blossoms and watch the gondolas paddle by. The only thing that would make things better is waiting until later in the season to visit.. I have a feeling in late spring and early summer the streets would also be bursting with color from all the window boxes. Unfortunately, we were a little too early for all the flowers, but it was beautiful all the same!

We made our way to a huge covered market called Marche Couvert de Colmar next. This is a great place to see local vendors selling local specialties and try some fun snacks!

After our snack break, we headed to Old Town. Walking through this area, I had the same fairytale feeling I did in Strasbourg. These towns are so surreal, I have never seen anywhere like it in America. The streets are narrow and windy, the cobblestone is uneven since it was laid in the 1300s, and the homes are bright and cheerful and slightly slanted from age. Ready for photo overload? I can’t help it- it’s just too perfect.

 

Another big highlight for us in Colmar was the Bartholdi Museum. Auguste Bartholdi was a sculptor from Colmar that is most famous for designing and creating the Statue of Liberty. We happened to go on free-day, always a nice surprise, but we bought the English audio guide. It was two euros and worth every cent! The audio tour was so informative and interesting!

We were able to see works from Bartholdi about freeing women and children from Strasbourg with the help of Switzerland (during German oppression), as well as statues he created for Napoleon’s best general, General Rapp. We saw giant sculptures he made for town squares that were destroyed by Hilter but pieces were salvaged by townspeople. The museum was set up in Bartholdi’s old home in Colmar, so we were also to see many of his possessions and details of his life.

Bartholdi was so well-accomplished, but we aren’t going to lie, we really wanted to see the Statue of Liberty exhibit the most. The whole third floor is dedicated to Lady Liberty and you get to actually see clay versions of the statue in various stages. There is amazing documentation of how Bartholdi created the pieces, got them to the US, and re-assembled them with a large team of artists over 9 years! It was a great exhibit! They also have the scale model Bartholdi made (before making the real thing) out in the middle of town. We loved this museum and recommend it to anyone in the area!

Overall, we loved our day in Colmar and would love to go back! Next time when it is not so cold!

As always, I will leave you with pastry pictures. Eclairs and Breztels today! (Yes.. Breztels)