Riding to Munster and Equisheim

We hired a bike from Colmar for a couple of days and rode out to some lovely wine villages.

Here we go again, another Tour de France hill!! Actually we followed the bike path up a pretty valley to Munster. It was a steady climb the whole way, with a few little hills thrown in for good measure and it took quite a time to do the 25 or so kilometres to get there. Coming back to Colmar was a quick wiz.

Quite a bit of the riding was through forest, which was just as well considering the heat that day.

 

We spotted quite a few villages like this on the rolling hills along the way.

The storks of Alsace greeted us in Munster. Can you believe there were only 20 storks left in Alsace in the 1970s. Not too good, especially as they are the emblem of the area. A conservation program was set up and now they are everywhere again (a bit like crocodiles in the NT).

They always seem to make their nests on top of tall buildings, like churches.

 

Munster's Main Street.

Munster is famous for it's cheese (of course we had never heard of it) so we had to buy some. Turns out it is a soft cheese, liked by Bill but too smelly for Joy.

These musician statues were everywhere in town.

 

Next day our bike trip was to Eguisheim, chosen as one of the most beautiful villages in France. We took a roundabout way to avoid the traffic. A lot of the ride was by rivers and canals.

 

A cross in the wheat fields.

 

Eguisheim certainly lives up to it's reputation. It's beautiful. This is the Neo-Romantic style church.

 

The Chateau St Leon.

 

Bill by the fountain with the church and castle in the background.

 

Lots of flowers everywhere of course.

 

A long medieval street surrounds the village, built on the old ramparts of the castle.

 

This is a typical house owned by winemakers. The living part is at the top and the wooden doors at the bottom lead to the courtyard where the wine is processed. The doors are wide enough to let the carts in.