A walk in Colmar, Alsace
In my last post (and that was already four months ago), I took you for a walk in Eguisheim, a little town on the Alsatian wine route, that I first heard of during our trip to the Black Forest. Colmar, bigger, more famous, and more touristy, delighted us even if it did not fulfill my expectations regarding the number of the flowery canals in “Little Venice”.
Colmar was etched in my memory not only for its canals and pastel-colored houses but also for its good food and gourmand atmosphere, so let’s make a little tour around its bakeries, cafes, delis, and restaurants.
As soon as we entered the old center, we found ourselves in front of a butcher’s shop that had put tempting tartes and pates en croute at display in his shop window- across the street, rows of tall, soft kougelhopfs that I, like a child, immediately wanted to squeeze (and to eat, with a glass of cold milk). That was Maison Alsacienne, a chain, whose fragrant biscuits we nevertheless enjoyed in Eguisheim. We would be back for sweets and pates on our way back.
Rue des Marchands led us to the Art Nouveau facade of Au Croissant Dore, an iconic cafe whose shop window and entrance door framed by organic lines in dusty pink are hard to miss. An army of vintage kettles, jars filled with macarons and biscuits, and cakes under glass domes were luring us in- we would be back here after lunch. It was a rare occasion in which we haven’t planned lunch in advance, but we knew we wanted something simple, not too fancy, definitely not touristy, and definitely local. Given the fact that it was a day when most of the restaurants were closed (the usual fate of each of our day trips), we spent some time looking for a good enough place until settling on Sezanne, a deli and a restaurant mentioned in my guide book.
A deli on the ground floor is a sort of place where you would gladly try a little bit of everything- wine, olive oil, cheese, salami, prosciutto, pasta, pickled vegetables. Up the narrow wooden staircase and we found ourselves in a quiet dining room overlooking the street below, with burgundy wooden panels on the walls, and a paper lamp shape of a cloud. One other couple in the corner, discreetly sipping on their wine. We ordered two glasses of rosé and a plate of cold cuts, and had a wonderfully simple, quiet lunch- just what we wanted!
After lunch, we took a walk to Petite Venise (Little Venice), a neighborhood Colmar is known for, where inevitably pastel-colored houses reflect in the green waters of the canals. A lot of greenery grows around the houses and by the canals, with tall poplars in the background, riparian vegetation, that always takes me back to our river Kupa. Petite Venise has a theater or movie set atmosphere- houses in cornflower blue, yellow, soft pink, with half-timbered facades, window blinds in matching colors, murals, and wrought-iron signs. We briefly stopped at nearby Marche Couvert, and then walked back to the streets around the St Martin church, whose diamond pattern of rust and green roof tiles, with a stork nest on top, attracts like a lighthouse. I bought a French straw bag, an item I was longing for, for a long time, in a shop that was selling various sorts of sweets- and straw bags. On our way back I filled it with baguettes, cured cheese, and wine. It wouldn’t be a proper French day trip without it!
There was still cake and tea waiting on us at Au Croissant Dore, one of the most charming cafes I’ve ever been to, where the owner referred to Luka as “L’Americaine” (because he ordered in English), and the lady of the house served us a divine chocolate cake. Cake for him, tea for me, and the atmosphere drew us in: the owners chatting with the regulars, she, despite being hunched, wonderfully handy while navigating the tables, cakes under glass domes, laughter at the nearby table, posters and old clocks on the walls, mismatched lamps, and wooden shelves filled with vintage objects… I’m saving the memory of this place in my mental drawer of beautiful atmospheres.
In Rue des Boulangers (the butcher’s street), we stop at the butcher’s and buy two different pates en croute, goat cheese and wine at the organic food store, and two baguettes in a nearby bakery. In the evening in our hotel in Germany, we eat the pates directly off the wrapping paper, and spread goat cheese over the baguettes, with two glasses of red wine, candlelight, and fresh Black Forest air coming in through the window. We often remember that dinner.
What else to say about Colmar, where we spent too little time to share anything more than an impression? That the grey fall skies suit so well those medieval streets, those wines, those cured cheeses, and spicy biscuits. A glass of rosé, a fork in the creamy cake, burgundy wooden panels, strong, spicy smell of cheese, a bag full of baguettes and pates, a warm shawl, a day without rain, lady of the house navigating the tables with a tray in her gnarled hands. I didn’t expect anything less from a day trip in Alsace.
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