In and Around Colmar, France

Our last week with Ian's parents was spent in Colmar, a great place for our cycling day trips, however the heatwave did slow that down a bit with temperatures reaching 102 F!. Colmar is another heavily tourist traveled town and we quickly discovered why it is so popular. Gorgeous architecture, a winding peaceful canal, and the home of Auguste Bartholdi who designed the NY Statue of Liberty.

https://en.wikipediaAuguste_Bartholdi

We met up with a lovely couple whom Roger befriended while camping in Yosemite last year. It was a treat to meet Mayule from Mexico and Tillman from Germany. We really enjoyed getting to know them. Hopefully, our paths will cross again...somewhere in the world!

Poor, cute, hot dog in a heatwave! He was a drooler too, as you can see by his bibs.

A beautiful, 'quilted' barn door

Auguste Bartholdi, born in Colmar

View of the Haut-Koenisburg castle, the 3rd most visited site in France.

How's that for a town center view?

Just another picturesque little village along the ride

Strapped down with our handlebar bags...where we keep all our valuables!

Cooling canal trip

Lunch at the covered market in Colmar

Lots of decorative 'whimsy' everywhere

Young farmer, drinking wine...sculpture by Auguste Bartholdi

Some great entertainment in one of the town platz

Stag parties were common, but this get-up was a little extreme! The town clown added to this captured moment.

Haut-Koenisburg castle

That is some chandelier!

View of a town in the valley below the castle

Alvederzen, Tillman and Mayule...until we meet again!

Peg and Roger, enjoying a well-deserved down hill!

Many storks nesting in the nearby town of Munster. At feeding time you could hear a loud clicking sound from the parents' beaks as the 'delivered' lunch to the youngins.

This picnic spot had to do, but at least we looked upon some old ruins

Last night of our time with Ian's folks at the wine garden in Colmar...THANK YOU so much for the incredible time!

Self-Guided Bike Tour in Alsace, France

Those of you who know or have heard anything about Ian's parents, aka my in-laws, they are very active and energetic folks. They were planning on taking 'one last' bike tour this summer so we happily invited ourselves along. Since we were going to be in Europe at the same time, what better way to spend quality time together! That was the impetus of this one-month trip together in Belgium and France.

We did a 6-day bike tour through the Alsace region, characterized by a fusion of German French heritage was a unique part of France. The quaint villages changed from solely typical beige color stone houses intermixed with  half-timbered abodes, at times...totally half-timbered villages. Many of the towns were designated as 'Village Fluer' and/ or 'Commune Nature.' Obviously, these towns slowed up our biking pace due to the irrestistable photo opps! The backdrop of the Voges Mountains that border France and Germany, offered another reason for more photographing stops. Good thing Ian and Roger were patient with Peggy and my numerous, 'Stopping' shouts along the paths. We were lucky with very temperate weather with only a downpour on our last day 'back to the barn.'

Ian and Roger being very good sports!

Whimsical decor on a church tower

Roger making friends with a very muscular horse

Gorgeous clouds and temperate riding weather

Top of an uphill, ready to zip down!

Potable water fountains in some towns

Beautiful Town Hall building

Riding near the German border...popped over to a Beer Garden

Ian stops for hops in any form!

Perfect little table for our picnic lunch

Handy little green arrows posted along the way by the cycle tour company

Old salt storage building

Haguenau and Strasbourg...pre supported bike tour

We were able to spend a couple of days getting to know Strasbourg and Haguenau, France while we got ready for our supported bike tour in the nearby Alsace region. We were pleasantly surprised with how stunning Strasbourg is with its grand half timber houses and more modern French architecture. The huge cathedral of Notre Dame was an impressive Gothic style church with a working astronimical clock fashoned with many moving characters marking midday. A highlight was a lovely boat cruise along the extensive canals throughout the city, at one point connecting 3 main rivers. One day we rode from Haguenau to Strasbourg along more beautiful canals and bike paths. Some people have taken up living on converted river barges.

As travelers new to a country's train systems do, we managed to misread the return train schedule back to Haguenau. After enjoying a delicious evening Vietnamese meal, we leisurely made our way back to the train station thinking that we had plenty of trains to catch back to our hotel. Well...no more trains, only buses. No problem, right? The 9:25pm bus would not take all of our bikes underneath the storage area. Ok...now what? We considered biking the 30 km back, but night was falling upon us. With no lights to speak of, we all agreed to bag that idea. Peg and Maya went to check out budget hotel possibilities, while Ian and Roger were scheming a plan to wait until the 10:25 pm. By this time, the rain began to fall as we began to feel desperate. Good thing the we are all good natured (esp. Maya and Peg) and were willing to give the later bus a try. By happenstance, we found a super helpful, friendly transportation expert, who after hearing our situation of getting refused on an earlier bus, came out to the later bus with us to make sure that the driver would take our bikes. Karma was on our side...we landed in Haguenau - still raining, of course - to be able to ride the easy, but dark and wet 2 km back to our warm and cozy hotel. Our 11:30 pm arrival warranted the consumption of our last Belgian chocolate. What a day!

Lunch sandwich making ritual continues...even in our hotel room!

Gorgeous 1 meter tall storks - emblematic bird of Alsace

Houseboats along the canal

European Parliament Building

Astronomical Clock

Notre Dame Cathedral

Panoramic photo of dam in Strasbourg

Farah, the Great Dane at our hotel

Unforgettable 11:30pm arrival back to Haguenau