Spring in Alsace is not an easy season for the photographer … The vegetation is exploding: it is a festival of flowers and leaves everywhere! The asparagus tips show their nose. The activities also start again: flower festival, flea markets and local products … The terraces are taken by storm when the sun shines ….
Category: Seasons
Castle Haut-Koenigsbourg plays 50 shades of Green …
Trees and vines were ready. Ready for this little whiff of spring heat that would release the first leaves … In three days, the landscape has awakened! Suddenly, one, the mountains are draped in a light green dress that captures the slightest ray of light. Around the villages, cherry light up and magnolias emphasize that…
Spring in Alsace and the real history of the Easter Bunny
Once more, Spring is here! Actually the past 15 days were pretty mild and sunny already. The music and noises made by Carnival succeeded in chasing away the cold spirits of the Winter. Nature is awaking: in the vineyards and landscapes … All over Alsace and the upper Rhine valley but also in the Vosges…
The beautiful and real story of the Christmas tree
The fir has long been the symbol of Christmas in Christian homes. A well-established tradition in Alsace for over 5 centuries, the Christmas tree would have crossed the blue line of the Vosges mountains to conquer French families only after the 1870s. At the heart of Alsace and the Rhine valley, the beautiful town of…
Meisenthal glass factory, craddle of the Christmas bauble
Further north of the Vosges mountains, at the edge of Alsace and Lorraine, there are several villages (St-Louis, Lemberg, Goetzenbruck, Soucht and Meisenthal) which had long specialized in producing glass and crystal ware. The village of Meisenthal is famous for its Centre International d’Art Verrier (CIAV; international center for studio glass). Glass has been produced…
My favorite Christmas markets in Alsace, nearby Germany and Switzerland
For accurate information / dates click here and check the following page we are updating every year. The Christmas period in the upper Rhine valley starts every year with the first weekend and Sunday of Advent, more or less one month before Christmas. A lot – a big lot of Christmas events are organized all…
Autumn and its golden landscapes along the Alsace Wine Route and the Kaiserstuhl
Autumn is definitely a wonderful and spectacular season in Alsace and the upper Rhine valley: late September, October and beginning of November. Autumn in the upper Rhine valley is actually 3 seasons in one. End of September is often very similar to Summer. Then comes the golden leaves period in October … Here are some…
Flying with the eagles at Kintzheim castle
From north to south of Alsace, the number of ruins of castles is impressive. Created and constructed in the Middle Ages by the lords of the Holy Roman Empire, these castles are still dozens to have survived the centuries to highlight the hills and mountains of Alsace their mysterious and romantic silhouette. I know particularly…
Strasbourg – an evening at the cathedral for its first millennium
The cathedral of Strasbourg in its colorful dress. Every night until AUG 31, 2014 and again in 2015 From September 2014 to September 2015, the Notre Dame Cathedral of Strasbourg is celebrating. The venerable building, which was once the tallest in the world, celebrates the millennium of its foundation. This summer already, and until August…
Christmas market magic in Riquewihr – 2014 update
You may probably find it a bit strange to see a post about Christmas be published in the middle of the Summer? Actually we are just a little more than 100 days away from the earliest Christmas markets in Alsace (Colmar is starting on Nov 21, 2014). And waiting for a last minute opportunity for…
Early Spring and Easter in Riquewihr and Upper Rhine
Good news: Spring will be here before the end of this week. Actually the past 15 days were pretty mild and sunny already. The music and noises made by Carnival succeeded in chasing away the cold spirits of the Winter. Nature is awaking: in the vineyards and landscapes … All over Alsace and the upper…
Fastnacht in the Upper Rhine valley
An old tradition in the valley of the Upper Rhine, southern Germany and Switzerland, Fasnacht or Fastnacht (carnival) is the time of the year when the reign of bad spirits of the cold and grim winter period is over and these spirits are symbolically being hunted down and expelled. Carnival – Fasnacht in the valley…
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