Eguisheim - Two Months of Rhine - CycleBlaze

June 22, 2022

Eguisheim

a hop, skip, and a jump

In between the forecast rainshowers, we decided to zip over to Eguisheim, one of the closest pretty wine towns from Colmar. We grabbed our dirty, dirty bikes and took off through Colmar. After getting out of the town, the entire way we saw either corn fields or grapes. Lots of grapes. I do wish I could tell the different kinds.

what all the commotion is about....
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David SwordNice ! Knowing enough to be very dangerous (friend has a 4 hectare vine yard in the Niagara area), a key is exposing, or not, the grapes to the sun by trimming away (or not) the leaves. So, that just adds to the commotion — my take away, a very labour intensive thing, but a great end product.
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1 year ago
Patrick Parnoi will post a pic of the leaf trimmer later today
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1 year ago

As we got closer to Eguisheim though, there was nothing but grapes. They stretched for kilometers and kilometers. Even the houses below had them in the backyard, the side yard, the front yard. I imagine they are quite a lucrative crop. Better than growing tomatoes I guess.

never ending fields of grapes, probably Riesling
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As we rode into Eguisheim though, we started to see what the stories were about - these towns being the prettiest. Wow, what an entrance!

the entrance to Eguisheim
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Susan SagertSo very beautiful!
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1 year ago
Patrick Parnothis town was certainly one of my favourites
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1 year ago

There is a story book castle there, and we were sure that Belle was about to emerge singing with all the townspeople (and I am the Beast?) Then, we notice the fountain. Hmmm, would anyone mind if we cleaned our bikes?

Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!
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I did mention how dirty our bikes were, right? So we took 10 minutes and wiped them down. Wonderful! You can see the shower caps on our Brooks saddles because of the rain that was drizzling down. We were not deterred though, it really wasn't coming down hard at all.

fountain with a "horse trough". Perfect!
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Every little street you looked down was picture perfect. By this time we were walking our bikes as the cobblestones would practically rattle your teeth loose.

many narrow, picturesque streets
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Susan SagertSuch a lovely site - and so much history everywhere!
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1 year ago

After lunch, we decided to take advantage of the brief dry spell and scoot back to Colmar. It's only 7.5 km, so a 30 minute ride. We made it without any more rain, but with a renewed sense of searching for cute photos of our "home town". 

Below is the part of C0lmar they call little Venice. You can see the boats that ply the waters in fact, but they don't wear black and white striped shirts. That restaurant you see below was where we ate last night, and we laughed at the people getting a ride in the boat because they were all looking at their phones instead of the scenery. Then they would all look up at some direction from the navigator, take a photo, then look back down at their phones!

"little venice" part of Colmar
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We had fun trying out our French today, but as soon as we would stumble they would revert to English. A great attitude towards tourists I think.

you can't beat their patisseries
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We wandered the streets until we found a little wine tasting place. Again, the Riesling was just ok, Marjory still loves the Cremont (sparkling wine).

colourful houses lining every street
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David SwordNice pics. Get a great sense of how ‘cosy’ the streets are. And missing, the cars !
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1 year ago
Patrick Parnothe cars are actually allowed and cause a traffic jam. the tourists just wander in front of them!
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1 year ago

Colmar is much, much bigger than these other surrounding "wine towns", but still has this charming old town. Tomorrow we will probably take a bus to Riquwihr, as riding after a few glasses is probably just as bad for your health as driving. Don't worry, I'll dry out - before the Mosel river....

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Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles)
Total: 734 km (456 miles)

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