Colmar Old Town
While I was discovering Colmar on foot, I was really mesmerised by the stunning architecture and the well-looked-after picture-perfect environment. Oh wow, it felt like France and Germany just collided in front of me! Are my eyes and ears playing tricks on me? I am seeing German half-timbered framed houses but hearing French spoken on the streets. Help, where am I really? Haha.
This feeling of displacement you know was present the whole time during the extended weekend trip in Alsace last April, not just in Colmar.
As for the food here, they are a lovely mix of both French and German cuisine, as well as the wine. It’s fantastic. Some of Alsace’s dishes and pastries are named in German with some tweaking a bit in the spelling to make it French-friendly. They are not that obsessive enough to translate everything here to French. An example is the typical bundt cake of the region called ‘Kougelhopf’. While some of the local fares served and advertised at restaurants are actually German dishes as well but translated into French, such as the ‘Choucroute’ (that’s sauerkraut sounding haute cuisine).
It’s one of those few places in France where you feel you are not really in France.
Colmar Trivias
So I have a few Colmar trivia items to share!
Trivia 1: Did you know that the Carolingian Emperor Charles the Fat held a diet here in Colmar in 884?
OK, before you start laughing, a diet is actually a political assembly, but I have no idea why he is called Charles the Fat, perhaps he is indeed fat. History lesson aside, I just thought this is so funny!
Trivia 2: Did you know that there is a treasure hidden and buried by the Jews in Colmar during the Black Death epidemic in Europe (circa 14th century)? The treasure was only discovered in 1863.
The Black Death was estimated to have caused about 30%-60% of deaths in Europe. It took a century and a half for the continent to recover its lost population. The treasure was called Colmar Treasure or Colmar Hoard. The treasure includes silver and gold coins, silver furniture and silver and gold jewellery.
Trivia 3: Did you know that Pierre Herme of the lip-smacking Pierre Herme pastries (especially his famous macarons), was born here?
Trivia 4: Did you know that Colmar has 3 Michelin-starred restaurants?
For such a small town, they have 3! Well done. All 3 restaurants have 1-star Michelin. They are JY’S, L’atelier du Peintre and Le Rendez-vous de Chasse where I had dinner on my first night.
So that’s it for Colmar folks! Bisous =)
Previous Colmar entries:
Hotel tales and the Statue of Liberty in Colmar
Colmar's picturesque 'Litte Venice' (aka Petit Venise)
Arriving in Colmar and dining at starred restaurant 'Le Rendez-vous de Chasse'
Overview and map of Alsace Wine Route Villages
The other thing I've noticed is that I still tend to want to cling to the traditional while the rest of the family is like...not so much. They want to keep our holidays more in kind to our whole lives and feel no need to continue doing the same things we used to on those days. And really, I understand the logic in that thinking. Because it makes more sense to overall live the life you want than to strive for that a few certain days out of the year. But the emotional side of me is having a temper tantrum because I still want some days that are really different than the rest. I like special sometimes, even when I'm not sure how to make that happen. Our desires have clashed in some pretty ugly ways because of it. It has me feeling a bit like this:
I don't think I really hit my groove with the whole thing though until I came across these fine creatures.
I was pretty captivated by them. They were somewhat intrigued by me. Mostly, we just stared at each other. Ok, I confess that they were probably staring at me because I was in a noisy dually truck. Standing on the hood to get better shots. In a skirt. I stared at them because it's been a long time since I realized how awesome cows are.
And somehow, that was enough for me for the moment. Just being outside, alive and aware of the life around me seemed special enough. I'm a woman in my forties, so it remains to be seen if that will be enough next time. But it was good for today and today is all that matters, right?
I've decided that I will definitely be going to theDeerfield Dirt-Road Randonnée (D2R2) this year - a scenic ride along New England dirt roads that will take place in August. The 40 mile route is said to be tame in comparison to the longer options, but I still need to get used to riding on dirt roads if I am going to do it. So we began by exploring some of the ones close to our usual cycling routes: the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail that runs fromBedford to Billerica,and the Battle Road Trail that runs from Lexington to Concord. Both of these are pretty short (3 miles and 5 miles), but they are the only dirt roads I know of around here that aren't too technical. We incorporated them into our regular 40 mile ride, setting off on bikes with wide tires.
650B x 42mm Grand Bois Hetre tires on my Rivendell, and 700C x 50mm Schwalbe Fat Frank tires on his Surly. I know that some prefer to ride mountain bikes and be more upright on trails, but I really like the feeling of a roadish bike with dropbars on this terrain: My weight feels well-distributed and the speed and maneuverability seem to work in my favour when going either over or around tricky patches.
I am fairly certain that I would not enjoy a trail so technical as to require a dedicated mountain bike.Even this offshoot of the main path was too much.
When there are rocks and roots jutting out every which way, navigating around them is stressful - while going over them feels like riding a pogo stick. I don't think this kind of surface is for me.
But the surface of the main paths looked like this most of the time: Mainly packed dirt with some gravel, and occasional stretches of sand. These things I am more or less okay with.
We maintained a speed of about 12-13 mph most of the time on this surface, and I was fairly comfortable. When gravel is loose, it can feel like it's slipping out from under your tires - but the main thing is to get used to that sensation and just keep going. Easier said than done of course - especially when cycling down a winding incline. Even a gentle incline and a subtle turn can incite panic if it feels like your tire is slipping sideways. But braking is a bad idea and trying to put a foot down is a bad idea - pretty much just trusting in the bike's momentum and continuing seems to be the way to deal with this.
I did have a minor incident when we went over a stretch of deep sand. I was fine through most of it, but toward the end the mere awareness that I was cycling through sand just got too much and I lost my nerve. The bike started to topple and I sort of half-fell forwardin slow motion (crotch onto toptube - ouch!), while desperately clutching the handlebars so that the bike itself wouldn't fall. Given that this hardly even qualifies as a fall, I am glad it happened: Now I understand how the bike behaves if I slow down in sand.
After this dirt road excursion, I am still not not sure how I feel about cycling off-road. Riding in the woods was nice and I do appreciate the fresh air and the quiet of being away from busy roads. But the slower speed felt limiting and I was very glad to be back on pavement and cycling at 20mph once we were done with the trails. The technical aspect - developing skills to transcend difficult terrain on a bicycle - is just not exciting to me at all in of itself. The aspect I do like is the feeling of exploring, and I hope to find some other trails that are longer and lead somewhere more interesting next time. What appeals to me about the D2R2 is the vastness and diversity of terrain it promises, with beautiful riverside views. It's a legendary ride, and I hope to be comfortable enough on dirt roads to complete it in August. Any advice for local routes to practice on most welcome!
to look under the hood
for something?
At one point, all five of them were looking. They crack me up!
