We were up, showered and breakfasted by 8:30 this morning. Dropped Mascha at the station for her lift to Essen and headed west across the French border (the Rhine (Rhein) River) to Colmar, a beautifully well preserved old town at the beginning of the Alsatian Wine Route.
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| Downtown Colmar |
We found a car park and had a wander around the streets. Lots of half-timbered houses again, some dating back to the 1300s.
From Colmar, we took a secondary road, initially through the Vallée de Munster (vineyards and then dairy farms) before entering a National Park (The Regional Natural Park of Ballons des Vosges) and heading towards Epinal.
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| Vallée de Munster |
Lots of cute little villages in the valleys as we drove up into the mountains (the Vosges Range). Quite a few sawmills along the way too, so timber is obviously a major industry in the area. Skiing is also a popular winter pastime considering the ski resorts we passed.
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| The Vogus Range |
We stopped at Epinal for lunch and from there it was back on the Motorway for the drive to Verdun where we had an Etap booked for the night. Went for a drive downtown for dinner and ended up at Buffalo Grill for a steak and chicken. Thought it was a bit amusing that it was quite American in its promotion but didn’t have an English menu.
Verdun has a very dark history as the site of the longest battle of WWI. During the last two years of the war, more than 800,000 soldiers lost their lives here. As you would expect there are quite a few war cemeteries in the area.
