Monday 21 May : hired bikes and rode to various sights around Strassbourg

House  (a Palace) that Napolean built for Marie Antionette

European Parliament

International Court for Human Rights

Embassies
Germany

United Kingdom

Vegetable gardens in front of each of the embassies with basil, tomatoes, lettuce and pumpkins

Then we hired a car and drove the wine route from south of Strasbourg to Colmar. We visited the villages of Obernai and Colmar and passed throught lots of other smaller villages. The prettiest village was probably Itterswiller. One village seems to run into the next with only a sign distinquishing the next one. finishes and another starts

Obernai was settled around 780 . It had a memorial to the wine growers who were killed during World War II. Around the memorial was signs about the character of each type of grape that was grown on the top of the hill behind the memorial.

View of town from the memorial

View of town from the memorial to the mountains



Drove up the mountain to see Mont Sainte Odile - a monastry built in the 1100's on top of a cliff with wonderful views  towards Strasbourg.

A small wing for the nuns

The cliff and the view from near the chapel - the area is hazy due to the mountains trapping the air between them.

The chapel - ceiling, altar and upper third of walls all tiled in very small mosaic tiles

Close up of the mosaic tile work

Colmar has a small Statue of Liberty at its entrance and is called "Little Venice" as it has narrow canals.

Beautiful window boxes:

Storks are famous in the Alsace Region - they were almost extinct and there has been a program to ensure their survival



Easter display

Church - similar style to Cathedral in Strasbourg on a smaller scale but built of red sandstone rather than yellow sandstone and beautiful tiled roof

Buildings in Colmar were more intricate and decorative than Strasbourg

Travelling along the road there is the flat ground where crops are grown and then on the slopes are the vine yards. On the very high steep mountains especially near Mont Sainte Odile there was pine forests. Only saw 3 lots of cattle about 10 to 20 in each lot in the 230 kms travelled.