Colmar, France
For our anniversary we wanted to stay in Colmar, France. We visited Strasbourg last year and loved our time exploring Alsace.
We booked a two-night stay at Camping de L'ill, which is conveniently located just 2 kilometers from the center of Colmar. It was important for us that the campsite had a pool for the kids, especially after our experience last year when we were caught in an unexpected heatwave. The site is next to the river for paddling, and features a small splash pool as well as a larger swimming pool, both set within a decked area. Similar to other sites there is a small shop, and fresh bread and pastries can be ordered the night before to arrive the following morning.
We arrived in the afternoon so spent the rest of our day lounging by the pool. Sam jumped straight in with his goggles on and continued to practise his diving techniques by belly flopping into the pool. Esme splashed around the toddler pool then wanted to join her brother in the big pool.
There is a restaurant on site selling some local dishes aswell as snacks and ice- creams. To Sam’s disappointment we cooked sausages at the van ‘AGAIN.’
The next morning we cycled into Colmar centre. It was a bit daunting as the cycle path took us along some roads but Sam did great and Esme sat like a princess on the back of Steve’s bike. We locked up the bikes and reassured Sam his bike would be fine. We had made a small to do list and made our way to see some of the main tourist attractions including La Maison des Têtes, La collegiate Saint-Martin, La Maison Pfister, Le March Couvert and La Petite Venise (where we promised the kids an ice cream). It is worth picking up a city or guide map which gives a background on each building. The architecture takes you on a journey through history and many monuments dating from the Middle Ages to Renaissance are on the historical monuments list.
After dragging the kids around to explore some sites and into the odd little shop, we eventually walked into a little preserves shop. Inside, we found a wonderful array of jars filled with jam and chutney to take home as tasty souvenirs. They also had an impressive selection of preserved meats, cheeses, truffles, and terrine. While we could have easily bought most of the enticing items in the shop, we remembered that we had to cycle back and didn’t want to overload ourselves just yet. We also remembered to buy Kougelhopf, stuffed with fruits, from one of the many bakeries.
When we reached La Petite Venise, Sam chose melon ice cream and Esme could not be persuaded to try anything other than strawberry…
Sam started to slow down and groan, and this usually means that he is in need of something to eat! We wandered out of La Petite Venise since the restaurants were quite busy, and typically you end up paying more for the location. After some searching, we discovered Le Fer Rouge, an half-timbered building from the 15th century, filled with various pieces of art. We chose to sit outside for our meal, but all of us went in search of the toilets, which provided a perfect excuse to explore the historic old building that had so much character! For our meal, we ordered Choucroute du Chef, which included Alsacian sausages, smoked bacon, salted bacon, and pork, along with Tart Flambee to share between us, while the kids had Poulet et Spätzles. We left our plates clean and Sam was quite happy with his chicken, but Esme found herself picking between the sausages and the bread. As soon as we made our way back to the van, she asked for pasta!
Our afternoon was spent lying by the pool and enjoying the sunshine. The kids are starting to enjoy games after dinner so every night of this trip has been games night! We toasted our anniversary with a glass of Alsace Crémant, bought on the campsite!
