After a wasted day travelling on Friday, we didn’t achieve much sightseeing on Saturday either. We spent the morning getting some grocery supplies, visiting the tourist office and doing our overdue washing. After lunch we relaxed for a while and then went to catch the train to Sélestat and then the shuttle bus to Château Haut-Kœnigsbourg. Vicki wasn’t feeling well so she stayed back at the apartment to try and recuperate.
A lovely helpful railway station worker assisted us in buying a group ticket for €39 that covered all transport in the Alsace region for the whole day for up to 5 people. By the time we arrived at Sélestat it was after 2pm and we had to wait a short while for the shuttle. When it arrived, he told us the last return shuttle was at 3.35pm and that would leave us around 40 minutes to look around the castle. The later shuttle stops running in early November. We decided to take the shuttle regardless because it only runs on weekends and we had other plans for the next day. At least we would have a chance to see the castle from the outside. The 30 minute bus ride passed through Kintzheim, a small town with narrow streets and medieval buildings lining the roads. We continued on a meandering road up to the château which sits high up on a small mountain with magnificent views of the land below in all directions. Within a few hundred metres of the castle we noticed many cars parked on the side of the road, an indication that there were quite a few visitors here already. Unfortunately, as the weather was overcast, we didn't get much of a view while we were there. The château is made of reddish brown stone and is enormous. There are several turrets and towers and from outside we could see some people walking around high up in one of the towers. It was originally built in the 12th century but has been badly damaged on many occasions and was finally burnt to the ground in 1633. It was abandoned for 200 years. Restoration plans were drawn up in the 1800’s but work never started. Finally in 1900 work began and was completed by 1908. A large section of the building is currently covered in scaffolding and more restoration is taking place.
After returning to Colmar, we hurried down to La Petite Venise, an area of Colmar that runs beside the canal. Children’s choirs were due to sing from boats in the canal at 5pm. Vicki was feeling a little better so she joined us. As we came closer to the old town and canal area the crowds grew thicker. Our landlord had warned us that it would be very crowded in town on Saturday and he wasn’t wrong. We squirmed our way through the throng and ended up in a good position right beside the canal at exactly the spot where the boats stopped for the children’s performance. We listened for a while and the singing was lovely but then we moved aside to let others have the chance of a better view. Afterwards we wandered around the streets for a while and made our way back to the apartment along less crowded streets. What we saw of the Christmas decorations looked lovely and we plan to go back in for a night time viewing on Monday or Tuesday when it will, hopefully, be less busy.
For Sunday we planned to catch the Christmas shuttles from Colmar to Kaysersburg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, three nearby villages. We had originally planned to do that on the Saturday and hoped to get tickets at the tourist office but they told us that you have to book them online and tickets were already sold out for Saturday by the time we got back to the apartment and went online. We were hoping to get the first shuttle at 9.45am but Cheryl had been up since 6am with a gastric upset. She had some medication and was feeling a little better so we finally got under way in time to catch the 11.30am shuttle. Vicki was still under the weather so stayed back in our temporary home. Our first stop, Kaysersburg, was beautiful. We had to walk about 300 metres to the start of the main street and then it was Christmas overload. The medieval buildings were of mix of half-timbered and stucco. Most of them had very elaborate Xmas decorations and there were a couple of animated displays as well. The main street seemed to go on for ever. It must have taken them at least a week to put it all together. The Xmas markets in these towns only run from Friday to Sunday so consequently the streets were very crowded. There’s so much to see it’s hard to know where to look. Most of the Xmas stalls were selling food or drinks but we didn’t even look at the other stalls or the shops selling other goods because we were too busy taking it all in. After walking through the main section of the village we crossed the bridge to the other side of the river. From the bridge you get great views of the ancient half-timbered houses lining the rocky river bank. It was less crowded on that side so we decided to walk back to the bus stop from there. It took us a while to get our bearings as we exited the village but eventually found our way back to the bus stop.
Just before 1pm we headed back to the bus stop ready for the next village. We were on our way to Riquewihr but unfortunately Cheryl was starting to feel very unwell. We decided to stay on the bus all the way back to Colmar so that she could go back to the apartment and lie down. After we dropped her off and got her settled Lyn and I headed out again
We arrived in Ribeauvillé around 3.30pm and had about a 5 minute walk to the main street of the old town. The traffic just outside the village centre was chaotic and the main roundabout featured tall white wooden Xmas tree decorations. Once we were in the main street we were surrounded by crowds of people once again. Christmas music was playing on speakers throughout the town. It was just a gentle background noise and not annoying like it is in shopping centres back home. At one stage it was Michael Bublé’s Xmas album they were playing. As we approached the village we could see two castles on the hillside above. In the main street you can see one of the castles above the town but the other castle wasn’t visible from that angle. We walked up a couple of steep backstreets trying to get a glimpse but the second castle eluded us. Part way along the main street there is a tall brick clocktower with an archway beneath for traffic to pass through. The buildings and decorations were similar to Kaysersburg but this was a more interactive market. There were demonstrations by blacksmiths, a petting zoo, an old water mill that people, including children, were making turn like a hamsters on a wheel. I don’t know if they got to pay for the privilege or if they could do it for free. There were also several people on stilts dressed up as Krampus, a horned creature who accompanies St Nicholas on the night of the 5th December , the day before the feast of St Nicholas. On this night St Nicholas rewards good children with small presents and Krampus punishes bad ones with a birch rod. We slowly made our way through the town, sometimes involuntarily dragged along with the crowd around us. As we were walking, we heard a horn blowing and a man shouting. The crowds ahead of us parted and a goatherd leading some goats was walking down the street followed by a man covered from head to toe in a goatskin coat. In one of the squares there was an ancient fountain with metal heads positioned around the base. The heads had long tongues in the shape of eels from which water poured into the reservoir below. Some people were filling their water bottles from the tongues but I doubt that it would have tasted very nice. We spent about an hour in Ribeauvillé but there was so much happening it seemed as though we were there much longer.
In all of the Xmas markets we have visited many people had their dogs with them. It must feel very overwhelming for them in a crush of bodies when all they can see is legs. The same goes for small children stuck in prams or walking beside their parents. I’m sure it would take some of the excitement out of it for them.
We decided to skip Riquewihr as it was already dark and we’d had a long day. The bus home was decked out in fairy lights and the driver was quite a character. She joked around every time she stopped to let people on or off. One of her jokes was to make sure you left nothing behind or it would end up in her pocket.
Our two invalids had marginally improved by the time we got home but nobody felt like eating much so I just had a sandwich and a piece of fruit for dinner. I realised later that all I had eaten that day was some porridge, a nut bar, a sandwich and a couple of pieces of fruit. I’m sure I have enough fat stored up from all the eating on the cruise to keep me going for a while.
This featured blog entry was written by caties55 from the blog Winter Wonderland.
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