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 over the region: Christmas markets, concerts, story telling and nativity scenes. Some of them are daily and…
As snow is now announced here are some pictures taken in Autumn: late September, October and November. Autumn in the upper Rhine valley is actually 3 seasons in one. End of September is still very similar to Summer. Then comes the golden leaves period in October. And right now, almost end of November, some leaves…
Freiburg is a very interesting city only an hour drive away from our holiday apartments in Riquewihr. A day out not to be missed. Saturday is a good choice since in the morning there is a beautiful market taking place near the cathedral. Freiburg im Breisgau, a green city Freiburg is a German city with…
Every year, from end of September to mid of November, Alsace and the upper Rhine valley is wearing its golden dress. This is also a very popular season for holiday makers from all over the world. Winemakers and grape pickers are dancing their ballet on the natural stage of green and soon golden vineyards and…
The Restaurant “Au Trotthus” in Riquewihr is only a 2 minutes walk away from any of our holiday apartments in Riquewihr. It is secluded in the narrow street (rue des Juifs) leading to the Tour des Voleurs and like all hidden gems it is worth the trouble finding one’s way. Housed in an old winemaker’s…
One of the pleasures of a holiday in Alsace, in any season, is to visit a weekly market to buy fresh local produce. So grab your basket and let’s go! Week after week, year after year: markets are an old tradition Local markets were created in the Middle Ages by the princes. They were frequently…
End of May 2013 the Alsace Wine Route will celebrate its 60th anniversary. Between Alsace and wine, it is a very old love story. The beginnings of viticulture in Alsace are dated back to the Roman period. On May 30, 1953, the Alsace Wine Route was officially launched by the tourist office on the occasion…
Have you ever seen that fast-running, long-eared mammal that resembles a large rabbit, having long hind legs and living typically in grassland or open woodland? It is the hare. De Oschtahaas. In the local Alsatian dialect of my village, this is how the Easter Hare was called. The “Easter Bunny” indeed is a hare, not…
This is the first time I’ve been at the famous Morgenstreich of the Basel Carnival. You have to earn it! Every year, a special train chartered by the SNCF (the French railways company) takes the Alsatian participants to what is the most famous carnival in the region. The train leaves Strasbourg at 1:15 am, stops…
An old tradition in the valley of the Upper Rhine, southern Germany and Switzerland, 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. By the end of winter, each year around January…
An old tradition in the valley of the Upper Rhine, southern Germany and Switzerland, Fasnacht (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 of the…
In the valley of the Rhine, and since the Middle Ages, the time of the Carnival is a highlight in the heart of winter. To hunt the demons of winter to celebrate the lengthening days and before the fasting period of Lent that follows, people were feasting (and formerly this allowed to finish the victuals…
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