On Wednesday, March 30 we had until mid-afternoon in Strasbourg. We started the day with a very nice breakfast at our hotel, then we stored our bags there. We decided to do a boat tour with a company called Batorama. For an hour we were taken on the waterways through Petite France and to the area where the European Parliament meets 12 times per year. I wasn’t able to get good pictures on the boat because of the glare from the windows. Throughout the boat ride we listened to commentary about the history of Strasbourg and the things we were seeing. I had known that the Alsace region had gone back and forth between being French and German, but hearing the details was very interesting, especially pertaining to World War II. At that time when Germany had taken over the area they renamed all the French streets to German names. The street signs now show the French name, with the German name below it. We seen more of that throughout the region. Of course there was a lot more going on than that.

We later took the train to Colmar, where we will spend 4 nights. We picked up a rental car at the train station. I haven’t driven a stick shift since 2014. I was pleasantly surprised when it came right back to me, like riding a bike. We met our Airbnb host at the apartment we will be staying in. Étienne was very nice and thankfully his English is better than my French. He showed us around the apartment and explained everything before walking us around the neighborhood to point out restaurants he recommended and other things of interest. He lives in one of the smaller villages and suggested we go to a winery (Cave) there to do some tasting. After he left we went to dinner at one of his recommendations and had flammkuchen, a regional specialty. It’s a bit like a flat bread pizza without tomato sauce. I neglected to take a picture, so we may have to go back again. Then it was back to the apartment to do some laundry and go to bed.