Alsace France

This past weekend we visited the Alsace region of France. This was our first trip into France and we had a wonderful time! We spent our first day in Strasbourg and ate at a nice French restaurant. The French were very friendly as were a couple from Switzerland. Neither of us speaks French so it was nice to hear the couple from Switzerland speaking German. We had not felt so lost language wise since we first arrived in Germany. Thankfully the chef spoke English and she recommended the Cordon Bleu, so Collin ordered that and I ordered the Quiché Lorraine. That was the best Quiché I have ever had. For dessert we had crème brulee. It was good but we actually like the crème brulee we make better. We walked around the town and plan on going back when we are able to tour the cathedral and take a river boat tour.

Cathedral in Strasbourg, France

We spent the night in Mulhouse, France. Most of the town was closed for the holidays. We have noticed one of the biggest differences between this part of France and the part of Germany we live in is that businesses are not opened during the holidays. In fact, the day after Christmas the gas station we drove to in Germany was closed. Many restaurants and retail stores were closed as well. In Mulhouse we only saw one restaurant open besides the restaurant in our hotel. Saturday morning we decided we would go to McDonalds for breakfast since there were no bakeries near our hotel and most of the businesses in Mulhouse were closed. When we arrived it was not open. McDonalds in Mulhouse does not open until 10:30 and does not serve breakfast. In Germany the McDonalds have a traditional American breakfast as well as a McCafé which serves gourmet coffee and pastries all day. We were surprised that this McDonalds in France did not have the same thing. We decided to wait and eat a burger there in case the businesses at our next destination were closed too. We both had a cheese burger, fries, and a salad. They did not have mayo or ketchup but a sauce for the fries. It was a mix between ranch dressing and mustard. The French fries were wonderful.

Strasbourg, France

Our last day we spent in Colmar. Colmar is a beautiful medieval city. It was still decorated for Christmas and the Christmas markets were still open. We grabbed a bite from a bakery there and even got some baked goods to go. This bakery was like the bakery in Germany, they served cold baked goods. The croissants and pastries were delicious but tasted better when we got home and were able to put them in the oven. Overall we had a wonderful time and are looking forward to visiting France again soon.

Colmar, France

To see more pictures of our trip, visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/collin.marisa/StrasbourgAndColmarFrance02