After a week in Paris, it was time for a mini trip to the Alsace region, on the German border, and famous for their white wines which we were there to sample.

We took the fast TGV train from Paris, and in a non-stop, 2 hours, we arrived at Strasbourg, our home base for three nights. We stayed at the chic LÉONOR Hotel which used to be a police station. Our cell-err room— was modern, spacious and with a view of the courtyard.

Dinner was at a well-reviewed bistro with a small but tasty-sounding tasting menu. Tasting being the operative word for tiny foods, preciously prepared.  I ordered a la carte and could actually see my food! Andy’s main was a squab the size of a hummingbird abd other miniscule bites followed. Overpriced and over the top dinner and we agreed to skip tasting menus going forward!

Strasbourg is a lovely city with miles of canals, enveloped by flowers and foliage. The leaves were starting to turn.  We quickly got the lay of the land, finding our perfect breakfast boulangerie where we became a two day ‘regular’.

We walked back  to the central station with fresh cheese, baguette and sausage in tow and headed to pick up our car rental for an afternoon outing to a winery and the allegedly more beautiful city of Colmar.

But first… confusion! Turns out our rental was from the Strasbourg Airport, not the Central Station.  We put on our most piteous expressions and the kind Budget agent changed the rezzie and even upgraded us from a stick mini to an automatic hybrid. And tout alors, we were on the road to Weinbach vineyard an hour out of town. There we enjoyed a lengthy tasting ( I lost count after 5 tastes) of mostly Riesling, Chablis and gewurztraminer in a private room filled with antiques. And withthe charming Sarah as our informative wine guide.

Then a short drive to Colmar.  All the guidebooks said this was one of France’s prettiest towns. Yes, it had flower and heart-bedazzled canals and plazas with cafes. But also tourist groups galore. And a dinky white “train” ferrying people around the Swiss chalet and German style streets.  It  reminded us of Solvang in California.  Nuff said. We high-tailed it back to Strasbourg. 

Our second night’s dinner was at a fish restaurant called Orchidea, a block from our hotel.  This time we had adult portions of delectable grilled octopus for Andy and perfectly grilled sea bass for me. Both were amazing.

So amazing that when we showed up again the next night our server was quite surprised to see us. However, this time I had the octopus and he had lamb stew. We topped off our night with a gorgeous chocolate eclair from our hotel restaurant. In our room. With herb tea. And watched the last, thrilling episode of Bodkin on Netflix!

But wait. I haven’t told you about our second wine tasting. This one was 20 minutes out of town at  Pfister, a family owned winery since 1780.  Melanie, the 8th generation of the family, was our sommelier.  But before she took us into their tasting room, she had to help dump barrels of freshly picked grapes into the sorter!  This is harvest season and it’s all hands on deck! She was an ace on the forklift.

Again, we tasted  many Alsace white wines and this time ended with a delicately sweet muscat.  Melanie apologized for the quick tasting of their wares as she had to head back to grape pouring.

This last morning, we ate at the hotel and thought we had plenty of time to take a cab to the station. No.  It was rush hour and our concierge said just take the tram down the street. Unfortunately, she didn’t tell us where to get off!  We overshot, took a return tram one stop and race-dragged our bags 6 minutes to the station.  We made it with minutes to spare in an adrenalin rush. But we made it.

Two hours later, we were back in our Paris apartment where I’m writing this.