Colmar: Between French and German

I visited the Alsace region of France on my first trip to Europe back in 2002. The Alsace, located along the German border in the Rhineland, is a special place in France that's not quite French and not quite German. The differences between this region and the rest of France are obvious. Paris and even other cities in France are so fashion forward, and G and I are so not that we never fit in while in those places.

Old Town Colmar

Old Town Colmar

However, Colmar is not a center of fashion. We fit in just fine here.  In the rest of France, women wear high heel shoes all the time, even to the weekly farmers' market. Here, socks and sandals are prevalent. Other than checking out the fashion or lack thereof, we explored Little Venice (characterized by a canal), l'Ancienne Douane (the ancient customs house), the Maison Pfister (Pfister house), and the rest of the old town area.

Pfister House

Murals painted on the Pfister House

Probably my favorite activity was eating at a restaurant with outdoor seating, Dussourd, next to the Dominican church in Place des Dominicains. Impressively, the waiter switched from English to German to French seamlessly and flawlessly. I had a pasta dish featuring a mix of tortellini and ravioli. G had a fish dish and escargot. He had never eaten snails before. I was a little disgusted, but he seemed to like them well enough. However, he had no idea how he was supposed to eat them. I am almost certain he committed a number of faux pas trying to get those things from the plate to his mouth.  I'm not in the habit of photographing my meals, but I regret not taking a photo of G's escargot.

Moulin Rouge!

Last night, we went to the Moulin Rouge to see the show. I had heard from a friend who went several years ago that it was a great experience not to be missed.

Having been warned that the dress code was formal, G and I dressed in the best clothes we brought with us, jeans and a button-up shirt for G and green khakis with a button up for me. I was worried we would have trouble getting in; we weren't very formal looking.

We walked from our hotel to the École Militaire metro stop. We rode the metro to the Blanche stop. We could easily see the Moulin Rouge as we exited the underground. We crossed the street and handed the man at the entrance our tickets.

Although we weren't the worst dressed people there, we would have won no awards. The man who took our tickets handed them to another man in a well-pressed suit. He took us to a desk where we were checked in. Then, the gentleman led us through the seated audience and up the stairs at the back of the venue to a balcony. We were seated at a very small table. From our vantage point, we could see the audience below us. Many of them had arrived a couple of hours earlier for the dinner. Because the dinner was rather expensive, we chose to attend the show only (which was also rather expensive). We also had a pretty good view of the stage.

At 9 PM, the show began. G and I both really enjoyed watching Féerie, a revue-style show. The show was a bit cheesy and over the top, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. We listened to the music, watched the dancing, marveled at the costumes, and wondered what the Moulin Rouge would have looked like a hundred years ago.

The show let out around 11 PM, and we walked back to the metro station to take the train back to our hotel. The day was quite long, but I know that G and I are both glad we had the opportunity to see Féerie at the famous Moulin Rouge.

Paris, ooh la la la la!

While in Paris, we did it all. We took the orange elevator up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. We visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. We strolled down the Champs-Élysées and popped into a few shops. We even braved the catacombs underneath the city. This time, I will let the photos tell the story.

In Paris!

We arrived in Paris today!

I have been to Paris several times before, but I was still excited about this trip. I have some wonderful memories from past trips.

G and I rode the bus from Orly Airport to the city. We got off the bus at the stop next to the Opéra de Paris. We walked around to the front of the building with our bags where the metro stop was. I was already annoyed by the weight of my bags and just wanted to be at the hotel. I was exhausted; I hadn't slept on the plane. G, despite his own exhaustion, was amazed by the opera building.
We finally found our way to the hotel. We stayed at Rick Steves' favorite Parisian hotel, Grand Hôtel Leveque, on the quaint Rue Cler. Rue Cler is primarily a pedestrian street. The Sunday market on Rue Cler is quite the event. Today happens to have been Sunday. As we turned onto the street, we squeezed past sellers and shoppers, displays of ripe produce, and tables of antiques. We continued about two blocks down the street to discover our hotel.

Although quite expensive, the hotel is walking distance to the Eiffel Tower and the Hôtel des Invalides. The room is small, and the beds are a bit run down, but the space is clean and we have a lovely street view.

The view from our hotel window.

Feeling grimy from the plane, I showered and then rested some. Finally, after a long nap, we forced ourselves to get up and find the Eiffel Tower.

I make fun of him for it mercilessly, but G has a bit of a map addiction. No matter where we go, the first thing he wants to do is get his hands on a map. Paris, of course, was no exception.

G orienting himself with the map of Paris.

G and I differ in our traveling philosophy. While I tend to walk around exploring streets and choosing the most interesting for my path, G likes to know where he is at all times and where he is in relation to the major sights.

Since the weather was wonderful and today is Sunday, the line to visit the Eiffel Tower was incredibly long. We had planned to ride in one of those orange elevators to the second level, but we were put off by the line. Instead, we bought crepes from the stand next to the merry-go-round, sat on a blanket, and gazed at the tower. Of course, I had seen the tower a number of times before, but the sight never gets old or loses its greatness.

A visit to see the Eiffel Tower was the best way we could have begun our European journey.

Flying to Paris

Today, we are flying to Paris. Our flight leaves San Francisco at 10.50AM. We will fly to Chicago and make our connection through to Charles de Gaulle airport. We should arrive tomorrow at about 9 AM.

G looks excited, doesn't he? He's never been to Paris before, so I get to show him around the city!  We're going to have such a great time on this trip.

Traveling Again

Map of Paris

G and I are going to embark on our next international adventure in a few days. On September 7th, we will be flying to Paris. Join us as we share our adventures through this blog.
-e