Strasbourg - Musée Alsacien, the Notre-Dame and Duck Gizzards

This has always been one of Europe's great historic cities, best known for arguably the world's greatest Gothic cathedral as well as a picturesque medieval quarter. It's also somewhat underrated as a tourist destination, due partly to its distance from Paris and partly to its awkwardness as a traditionally German-speaking city within France. Strasbourg is, after all, Straße-Bourg -- the town of many roads.



In fact this was where the nations of France and Germany were born, some 1200 years ago when the Oaths of Strasbourg split Charlemagne's empire along the Rhine. Sitting on the French side of the Rhine directly opposite the mystical Black Forest on German soil, Strasbourg has achieved over the millennium a brilliant amalgamation of cultural heritage, architecture and culinary traditions. Think French mastery of culinary techniques combined with hearty German portions.



But it's also been the frontline of conflicts -- over the past 150 years Strasbourg has changed hands 4 times between Germany and France. Somehow the city's historic core of Grande Île escaped miraculously undamaged, enough to become the first city centre in the world to be protected a UNESCO World Heritage Site in its entirety. That's a chapter that most tourists miss as they stroll amongst these adorably cartoonish medieval houses.



Today's Strasbourg is the European poster-child on international cooperation. The European Parliament meets here half the year (and jacks up hotel prices in the process), the European Court of Human Rights oversees issues such as religious freedom, and the University of Strasbourg has emerged as one of Europe's premier learning institutions. It's an international metropolis with great regional flair, as any visitor to the delightful Petite-France district can attest.



This is a district of 16th Century timber-frame houses, claustrophobically clumped together between cobblestone paths and cradled by a system of still-navigable old canals. At its centre is the Maison des Tanneurs and an amusing swing bridge that opens up every time a cruise boat passes through.



I must say that we were a little underwhelmed as we arrived at Petite-France -- while the scenic quarter does possess some charming street corners and pleasant canals, as a whole we simply found the medieval centre of Colmar, and the fortified rural villages of Riquewihr and Ribeauville, to be much more complete and aesthetically pleasing representations of traditional Alsatian communities. There are other landmarks that speak more uniquely of Strasbourg IMHO.



One such landmark is the Maison Kammerzell, an incredibly extravagant half-timber Gothic building that somehow survived centuries of fires, plagues and warfare since Year 1427. Beneath these intricate wooden carvings used to be a medieval shopping mall shared by multiple merchant families under the shadow of the great cathedral. Even today it's still prime real estate, charging upwards of 130 Euros per night as a 3-star hotel and restaurant. I would have been tempted to book here, if we didn't have to catch an early train the next morning.



Next to the Kammerzell is everyone's favorite sight in Strasbourg, the magnificent Cathédrale Notre-Dame with its skyscraping single spire and towering arches of pink sandstones. This was once the tallest building in the world, and even today remains the tallest building surviving from the Middle Ages.



Look at this brilliant grandeur of high Gothic architecture -- no wonder Goethe called it the most sublime and beautiful cathedral in the world! You simply can't stand in the midst of its colossal columns and soaring vaults and not feel awestruck.



To me it simply felt right -- the illusion of space created the tranquility of a temple of spiritual worship and sanctity, shielding from the relatively small groups of guided tourists armed with cameras and phones. Out of the many World-Heritage-listed cathedrals we visited on this 24-day journey -- Cologne, Aachen, Trier, Bruges and Strasbourg -- this was by far my favorite.



There are other captivating details such as a superbly preserved Romanesque crypt dating 1000 years back, a famous astronomical clock that calculates equinoxes and planetary positions, and our favorite of all, this exquisite organ case from the late Middle Ages. We considered climbing the 332 steps up the spire to the viewing platform, but decided to conserve our energy for our afternoon walks to the rest of the Grande Île.



We took a pleasant stroll on the southern edge of the city's historic core, enjoying the charming 18th Century cityscape along the banks of the Ill River. While people had told me that Strasbourg was small enough to be navigable on foot, I personally found the trusty trams to be a lifesaver for those trips between the sights around Grande Île and our hotel closer to the Gare. 4.1 Euros for a 24 hour pass was definitely an excellent deal.



Strasbourg also hosts one of my favorite small museums anywhere in Europe -- the Musée Alsacien.



What really impressed me wasn't so much the exhibits, but how the museum preserved several historic houses and integrated them with a maze of wooden balustrades and hidden passages. The result is an atmospheric quadrangle of overgrown vine around a cobblestone courtyard, complete with exposed medieval timberframes for that rustic Alsatian flair. This was by far my favorite photospot for portrait shoots, and the best part was, visitors were so few that we had the place mostly to ourselves for the majority of our visit.



And then there's the fascinating collection, mostly objects of folk art, furniture and artifacts of folk religious practices in rural Alsace. It took us more than an hour just to quickly breeze through the winding route of four storeys, and we could have taken much longer if we didn't want to return to our hotel for the luxury of an afternoon nap in the middle of our sightseeing. But before we headed back to the hotel, we made sure to drop by our choice of restaurant to reserve a table for dinner.



I've been waiting to write this review -- this was our favorite dinner over our 24 day journey through 6 countries. The food was exemplary, prices were reasonable, the servers were friendly, and it's centrally located in an 18th Century cobblestone square just 200m from the Cathedral. This was our best discovery in Strasbourg, a little informal restaurant called La Table du Gayot.



I knew we've found the right place when my wife's eyes lit up at all the "de Canard" dishes on the menu ... foie gras, terrines, gizzards and breasts. On this night she would indulge on an exclusive feast of nothing but ducks, starting with this heavenly rich foie gras. This was just as excellent as the foie gras we had a few days earlier at L'un des Sens in Colmar, with as generous a portion, for 2/3 of the price. And this was only the start.



The next appetizer would get even better ... a confit of duck gizzards that was at once succulent, flavorsome, soft to the bite and yet retaining that characteristic chewiness of gizzards. The healthy heap pictured above was only an appetizer portion for a measly 8.5 Euros. If you're as into ducks as my wife, consider ordering the main dish portion for around 13 Euros.



Main dish for my wife was this perfectly sauteed duck breast served with pearl onions and ratatouille. According to her this was the best duck breast she's ever had ... and this is coming from someone who orders duck at restaurants any chance she gets. Enough said.



In my opinion though an even better dish was my pork cheek confit in red wine with the regional variation of Spätzle. The pork cheeks were just impossibly tender ... enough to disintegrate in the mouth with even the softest bite. Still I'm not sure if this was my favorite dish -- everything was so perfectly prepared that I probably had three favorite dishes.

Bill for Two Persons

Foie Gras	10 Euros
Duck Gizzards	8.5 Euros
Magret de Canard	18 Euros
Joues de Porc	15 Euros
Pinot Gris 1/4 Litre	9 Euros
Carola Bleu 1/2 Litre	3 Euros
TOTAL before tips	63.5 Euros (CAD$88.9)

This meal was certainly worth every Euro Cent. And since the restaurant was practically steps from the Cathedral, on our way back we had another chance to stop for some spectacular night scenery. This would be our only evening in Strasbourg, and we took our sweet time to savor it all.



This was also our last night in Alsace and in France, as the next morning we would take the 06:47 train to Metz en route to our day trip in Luxembourg. Tomorrow would be the start of the next segment of our journey, a slow tour of Germany's Mosel Valley.

Hiking the Alsatian Wine Route - Part 2: Hunawihr to Ribeauville

This is the 2nd half of our day hike along the Alsatian Wine Route, from Riquewihr to Hunawihr to Ribeauville. After spending a morning at the spectacular Riquewihr followed by a short 30 minute walk in the midst of centuries-old winery estates and endless rows of lovingly manicured grapevines, we arrived at the second medieval village of our hike.



Cluttered around a 14th Century fortified church was the quaint little village of Hunawihr, yet another enclave of historic half-timber houses set among the lush rolling hills of the Alsatian countryside. Arriving from the so-called Sentier Viticole from the south we entered into a world of pastel-colored cottages, many dating from the late Middle Ages and meticulously preserved by generations of local vintners.



Hunawihr was a haven of tranquility compared with the relative commercialization of Riquewihr. Missing were the Gothic towers and stalwart townwalls to entice the casual tourist, instead we found the quiet charm of a traditional French village still untouched by mass tourism.



This little hamlet of 600 featured no bustling tourist restaurants, zero souvenir shops and, thankfully, next to no tourists at all. On this gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon we came across less than 5 visitors, all congregating at the solemn fortified church on the hilltop. The village streets were otherwise empty, and the two of us had the entire town, including this 400-year-old stone fountain, all to ourselves.



We spent the rest of our visit admiring the village's medieval folk architecture and old winery estates. We could have taken a short walk to the nearby stork breeding centre for a close encounter with the majestic birds, but decided to continue with our hike and have more time to spend at our final destination of Ribeauville.



This has to be one of the easiest and yet most rewarding hikes I've ever taken, anywhere in the world. The entire 5 km is fully paved, relatively flat, and cuts between the timeless vineyards with stunning panoramic views of the Alsatian plains. On top of that the hiker also gets two of Alsace's famously photogenic villages, Riquewihr and Ribeauville, as the starting and finishing points of the hike.



Looming large above the town of Ribeauville is a trinity of medieval castles from which the powerful lords of Ribeaupierre used to rule over the surrounding towns and their wealth of vineyards, before their abandonment in the 15th Century. The elevation gain of 500m past the Châteaux of Saint-Ulrich and Girsberg to Haut-Ribeaupierre at the top would be a fascinating hike I'd love to undertake someday with more time to rummage around the surrounding countryside.



At last we entered the old towngates into medieval Ribeauville, probably my favorite locale within Alsace and one of the most picturesque towns of our 24-day journey. Along with Riquewihr it's one of the so-called Plus Beaux Villages de France, a claim that's difficult for any photographer, or even anyone with a phone camera, to refute.



Wherever you point your camera it's just impossible not to get a few beautiful pictures, even on a busy Saturday afternoon with crowds of day-trippers in the way. It gave me goosebumps just imagining what kind of magical ambiance would develop when these cobblestone alleys and townsquares become all deserted after sundown.



As a traveler this was one of those moments when I really wished we had just one more night in our itinerary -- just one night inside this enchanting village and watch the townscape slip 500 years back in time, perhaps with a bottle of the local Gewurztraminer in hand. In retrospect I would even trade our night in world-famous Strasbourg for one here in Ribeauville, though that's just logistically impossible given our itinerary this time. If we ever revisit Alsace though, this is where I'd love to stay.



With a vibrant resident population and enough independent Gîtes and Chambres d'hôtes to accommodate the more curious travelers, Ribeauville seemed much better equipped than Hunawihr or even Riquewihr as a base for exploring the nearby villages and sampling the local vintage. There's also the allure of the three castles, which always seem to beckon visitors on the town's main thoroughfare.



While there is a commercialized side to the town -- streets full of cafés, souvenir shops and local vintners -- there are also quiet alleys just a block away from the bustling Grand Rue, especially along the northern edges of the town around the crumbling remparts. With a little more time I would have loved to hike up the small hill with the humorously solitary tree among a sea of grapevines. The possibilities for short hikes around the town is just endless.



There's only one minor inconvenience: Buses 106 and 109, Ribeauville's connection to Colmar and thus the rest of the French national train network, runs only from Mondays to Saturdays. But as long as Sundays are avoided, buses between Ribeauville and Colmar and even between Ribeauville and Hunawihr and Riquewihr are relatively frequent. We even saw a fellow couple taking the morning bus with us from Colmar to Riquewihr, boarding another bus later presumably towards Ribeauville, after which we saw them again waiting at Ribeauville for a bus back to Colmar. In other words our hike from Riquewihr to Hunawihr to Ribeauville could alternatively be accomplished by public buses, just in case the weather becomes unsafe for hiking.



There's another reason why we found Ribeauville so deliciously memorable ... here we stumbled across a little pâtisserie that turned out to be our favorite on our 24-day journey across Europe. Patisserie Gilg actually has three shops -- one in Munster, one in Colmar near Petite Venise (which we somehow didn't notice), and this one on Grand Rue in Ribeauville.



What attracted us in the first place was the dazzling array of mouthwatering Mararons. Living on Canada's Westcoast I must admit that I'd never, not even once, had a macaron that I found remotely pleasing -- it's typically too sweet, too firm, and most often too dry and crusty. To be honest, I don't really know what made me think this was gonna be any different.



But this was simply perfect. Perfectly soft on the first bite. Perfectly melting in the mouth. And perfectly light on the sweetness to accentuate the choice of flavor. My favorite was the probably the Cassis for its fragrance and slight acidity, but it hardly mattered. These were so heavenly scrumptious that I could have had a dozen without feeling too full.



And there's more ... my wife discovered this impossibly smooth piece of Succès, generously smothered with layers of crème chantilly, crushed candied almonds and a thunderously crunchy nougatine. This, along with a piece of Black Forest Cake we had at Schiltach, were by far the best dessert dishes we had on our entire trip.

Bill for Two Persons

Macaron x 3	3.5 Euros
Succès aux amandes, chantilly et nougatine	3.2 Euros
TOTAL before tips	6.7 Euros (CAD$9.4)

Had we stayed longer in Ribeauville we probably would have skipped dinner and splurged on the rest of the pâtissier's artistic creations. For the rest of our journey in France and Luxembourg we earnestly sampled other pâtisseries, but sadly never found one approaching this level of mastery.



Coming out of the pâtisserie we spotted this gigantic stork nest as part of the village's medieval skyline. Judging from the bird droppings the nest was probably still in use, perhaps by the population of resident storks from the breeding centre in Hunawihr. Alsatians have always reserved a special place for their majestic storks, and even today it's still forbidden to remove their nests from the roof.



We remained in Ribeauville until sunset, and would have stayed even longer if we didn't have to catch the last bus back to Colmar at 18:20. This was a most satisfying day-trip, and one that we would cherish for a long time.



Three charming medieval towns, two fantastic restaurants and pâtisseries, one lovely route winding through some of the most gorgeous vineyards in the French countryside ... all inside 5 km of easy hiking. That's why this is one of our favorite beginner hikes among all of our trips. For something more thrilling I'd prefer Huangshan's West Sea Canyon, but for a hike even my mom can reasonably tackle, it just doesn't get any better than this.

Hiking the Alsatian Wine Route - Part 1: Riquewihr to Hunawihr

This is one of my favorite beginner hikes anywhere in the world, at least on par with the Ancient Nakasendo Highway of Central Japan. It's an easy walk from one spectacular medieval village to the next, passing through lush vineyards under the shadow of enchanting ancient castles, and fueled by exceptional French food and wine at every stop.



The Alsatian Wine Route, or Route d'Vins d'Alsace, is a 170 km long road through some of the most beautiful landscape of vineyards, rolling plains and hilltop castles on the French side of the Upper Rhine. Most visitors arrive by car or bicycle, but as we discovered it's perfectly doable as day-hikes by public transportation. The section we chose combined three of the route's most famous and most picturesque villages -- Riquewihr, Hunawihr and Ribeauville.



We started with Riquewihr in the morning, taking Bus 106 from Colmar Station and arriving at Riquewihr Poste after a 30 minutes bus ride through timeless vineyards and hamlets of the Alsatian countryside. The bus dropped us off at the imposing fortified walls of the medieval village, and once we passed through the 13th Century tower gate, unfolding before our eyes was a townscape of fables.



Colorful half-timber houses sporting signage in an undecipherable dialect. Gothic towers and church spires that survived from the Middle Ages. An age-old village complete with medieval fortifications and walls, in turn surrounded by miles upon miles of Riesling vineyards. I was starting to regret not spending a couple nights here.



If you've heard of the world-famous scenery of Strasbourg's Petite France, I must propose that the underrated Colmar beats Strasbourg in aesthetic quality hands down. And if you're impressed with Colmar, I must say that Riquewihr and Ribeauville are ranked even higher in my mind. The towns on this short little hike, rather than Strasbourg or Colmar, would be my ultimate destination in Alsace.



This main attraction in Riquewihr is of course its well-preserved medieval core, a sizeable 400m across and filled with Gîtes, restaurants and local vintner's shops. Even with the onslaught of weekend tourists the village remained absurdly quaint and charming on a Saturday morning, with the character of a bustling market fair from several centuries back.



In Alsace we came across three absolutely recommendable restaurants: L'un des Sens in Colmar, La Table du Gayot in Strasbourg, and then this amazing place. Tucked inside this 16th Century timberframe house is the enigmatic Au Trotthus, half of it operating as a contemporary French restaurant and the other half as a modern Sushi-ya. In charge are two chefs from opposite corners of the world, settling in this tiny village in rural France and influencing each other's work.



We're not talking fusion cuisine -- featured here is a 5-course meal consisting of the most traditional Alsatian dishes, only presented in the concept of a Japanese bento box, served for lunch at an incredible price of 18 Euros. Yes -- a 5-course traditional Alsatian meal, in the ambiance of a 16th Century winemaking mansion of dark wooden beams and masonry -- for 18 Euros.



Now you start to see why this was among my favorite restaurants on our 24-day journey. The quality of food was simply top notch, starting with a small but flavorsome mushroom velouté and moving onto this perfectly caramelized Quiche Lorraine. I'm normally not a fan of quiches, but this one was so exceptionally rich and fluffy that I savored every little scrap of it.



It wouldn't be an Alsatian meal without the most famous regional dish of all, a carnivore's dream known as Choucroute en Cocotte. As per the namesake this dish wasn't about the succulent cut of ham hock or the selection of sausages, but the sauerkraut underneath that soaked up all the dripping goodness from the meat. The mild acidity provided the dish with just the perfect balance -- I don't think I've ever had sauerkraut this good.



Winding down the 5-course meal was a generous wedge of the famously supple cheese from the nearby town of Munster, and a croquant topped with a chocolate mousse that was simply heavenly soft. Everything was fresh, locally sourced and prepared at a level of excellence way beyond the prices.



The next level up in prices was a 3-course menu, available for lunch or dinner, at a nominal 26 Euros. The ingredients were even more mouthwatering, and it was actually 4-courses starting with this unadvertised but equally outstanding crème of celery.



The real entrée was a silky smooth Mousseline of haddock and herbs, in a bath of red pepper juice and served with these paper-thin croustillant laced with a black olive tapenade. The Mousseline was already excellent by itself, but what elevated this dish even more was the addition of the Brazilian Peppercorns (see the little red dots floating on the side) for some subtle complexity. This was my favorite item.



The main dish of pork cheek confit was just absolutely succulent to the point of melt-in-the-mouth soft. Balancing out any residual oiliness in the pork cheeks would be the one ubiquitous local ingredient ... even more Alsatian choucroutte! This was easily my wife's favorite item between the two set lunches.



Dessert consisted of a scrumptious raspberry cake and a refreshing sorbet of mixed berries. 26 Euros for 4 courses of this caliber was quite a bargain in my mind, and 18 Euros for the 5-course lunch was simply ridiculous. Out of dozens of restaurants we visited on our 24-day journey across 6 European nations, this little restaurant in rural Alsace stood head and shoulders above all the rest in terms of price-to-quality.

Bill for Two Persons

Alsatian Lunch Menu	18 Euros
26 Euros Menu	26 Euros
Carola Bleu 1/2 Litre	3.6 Euros
Pinot Gris 1/4 Litre	7.6 Euros
TOTAL before tips	55.2 Euros (CAD$77.3)

Doesn't this handmade soap look delicious? After getting some unique gift items we visited the Office de Tourisme and picked up some brochures and a map for our upcoming hike towards Hunawihr and Ribeauville. The most useful was a folded map called "Sentier viticole des Grands Crus," available free-of-charge but in French only. That became our most reliable hiking map.



We followed the advice of the tourism office staff and exited the Upper Gate on the western edge of the walled village, and turned right onto the patriotically named Rue du 5 Decembre 1944. From that point on it was near impossible to get lost, as Riquewihr, Hunawihr and Ribeauville are lined up almost exactly in a south-north direction.



The start of the hike winded through some apple orchards to the highest point of the hike for a panorama of Riquewihr set among the vineyards (see picture at the beginning of the article). After that it's mostly downhill in terms of elevation, and the view was about to get even better.



To the north was our upcoming intermediate stop of Hunawihr with its famous fortified church, and vineyards stretching across the Alsatian plains as far as the eye can see. To the west was the wooded peaks of the Vosges Mountains, the border between Germany and France prior to WWI. And on the horizon to the east, 20 km away, was the modern border along the Rhine. If you've been wondering about the German-sounding names of these French villages, they've changed hands four times between the two countries in the past 150 years.



It was only a couple weeks before the harvest season when we visited, and along the entire route were these ripe old vines of Gewürztraminer and Riesling. Prior to this trip I was never a fan of white wine, but that all changed after visiting the Alsace, the Mosel and the Mittelrhein over these several weeks.



Closer to Hunawihr we started to spot another spectacle beyond the rolling hills of vineyards. Once ruling over the local peasants of neighboring Ribeauville were the town's three medieval castles, Saint-Ulrich, Girsberg and Haut-Ribeaupierre.



This first section of our hike was actually shorter and easier than I originally thought, as we started approaching Hunawihr at about 30 minutes, after merely 2 km of walking. Here's another medieval village set among the endless vineyards, though without a fortified wall to protect the peasants. Instead the fortification was built around the church of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur at the village's highest point.



Here we would enter yet another beautiful village of 16th Century half-timber houses in lovely pastel colors, en route to our final destination of Ribeauville. We've got another 2.5 km to go on this day-hike, which I'll have to cover in the next article.