Straight Out Of A Disney Movie-- Eguisheim, France

In between Mulhouse and Colmar are several quaint French villages. Everyone seems to have a favorite. We opted to go to Eguisheim. It was a place that we had debated about missing, but we were glad that we stopped. And we recommend it to anyone that is near the region.

 

Eguisheim is a Medieval village surrounded by farms and vineyards. Over the years it was Roman, German, and is now French. It has the typical design of a small town center that is ringed by three narrow circular streets. These streets are lined with colorful, whimsical and lopsided buildings. We spent the next few hours exploring the small alley ways, taking photos, and visiting Christmas Market booths. 

There was no parking left in the city, so I dropped off the family and then parked outside the city and walked back. It was fun to see the walk as I went. 

In the village square there is a small chapel that honors a Pope from hundreds of years ago, Pope Leo IX, that was born in Eguisheim. 

 

I stopped at this book binder. He was using his trade that was passed down from his family for years to make art. He buys beautiful paper from around the world and then binds it into books. He was so proud of his work and I had fun listening to him talk about it with such passion. 

We started to really like roasted chestnuts. We have never tried them before but now we go seek them out to try. We are all in agreement that they taste like bit pine nuts--something we all love. 

There was a cathedral in one section of the village. As always, I always go inside just to see. When I walked in it was really quiet but a bunch of people standing around. I walked in to take a photo and then realized the walls were lined by high school aged girls. Then they started to sing! It was AMAZING! It ended up being they were a choir doing a concert there a few hours later. But were doing a dress rehearsal. To hear their powerful voices in the large cavern was majestic. I texted the rest of the family to come in and hear. (I did not want to leave and at this point my family does not understand my love of going churches and opt to just wait for me outside). We all sat for half an hour listening to them sing.