A Good Afternoon In Colmar

 We then wandered the streets of Colmar, taking in the sights, the lights, the houses, and the markets.

I know, it's like the 900th picture of an

incredible, magnificent half-timbered 

house.  These houses are the Portuguese

blue tiles of this trip.

Cool sign.  Of course, ANY sign that 

says "Charcuterie" is cool.  This one just

happens to be at the top of the scale.

Christmas market scene.

Hangin' out...down the street.
The same old thing...we did last week.
Not a thing to do but talk to you.
Not a thing to do out in the street....oh yeah.

Love this color. . .not sure why.

Guess because it is unique.

We also visited the

Saint Matthieu Church,

built as a Dominican church

by the Franciscans.  Yeah,

I don't understand it either.

The rood screen is the main

attraction, although I

can't find any additional

details about it on-line.

Just trust me that it is famous.

Madonna of the Rose Bower!

(I showed it to Carol and she 

remembered the name).

A Protestant church since the late 1500s, the

church has superb acoustics and is used

for concerts and an annual international

music festival of the kind which

 Carol would enjoy and I would doze off

(so we would both be happy).

Half-timbered houses at dusk.

(Editor's Note: Wow, great caption,

without your help, readers wouldn't know!

Writer: Hey!  You! Knock it off!)

Carol and I decided to head back to the apartment to rest a bit before dinner.  Julia stayed down and did more shopping at the Christmas markets, wandered the town, and got a drink at a bar.  She enjoyed the alone time and we enjoyed the rest.

Little Venice, Colmar

To get back to the apartment, we had to wait quite a while for what turned out to be the only Uber driver working at that time.  Having been driving in the area since getting married and having a baby four years ago, this was the first time he had been on the road we were staying on.  He half-joked about being nervous driving down the pitch-black road with no buildings at some points.  

To meet Julia for our 7:30 dinner, we drove back into town, figuring parking would be easier.  And it probably was.  The first place we parked was on a sidewalk.  A policeman came along and nicely told us to move it.  So we did, and found a legal, free spot another 20 yards down the road.  Twenty yards may not sound like much, but when you are Giants fan these days like I am, trust me, 20 yards seems like a mile, he writes bitterly.

We walked across the bridge at Little Venice, and didn't have to go far to meet Julia outside La Maison Rouge -- a classic French restaurant that was delicious.  I just found out today that it is a Michelin Guide restaurant.  (Michelin "Guide" doesn't mean the same as Michelin Star, but it still signifies you are going to have a damn good meal. . .and we did).  Carol had the salmon, and Julia and I each had the veal.  Quite good. 

I even ordered a bottle of local Riesling that was quite good.  Not sure what to order, I picked an Emilie Beyer so I could text a picture of the label to our good friend Emily Bayer, noting that she was just two letters away from being rich and French!

After dinner, we drove the easy 1.2 miles back to the apartment to get ready for most of one day in Colmar, and then a drive to Basel, Switzerland.