i mean, as if gas station champagne weren’t enough. (please pause while i laugh my ass off.)
the true story about our drive from Strasbourg to Colmar is that there wasn’t actually that much wine involved. we had Miss Girl with us of course, so stopping off at every (or any) degustation wasn’t really in the cards. that said, it was amazingly beautiful country, filled with what came to be known as “Mommy’s wine bushes”. yeah. there’s that.
i’m not entirely sure when grape season is in Alsace, but even with the vines trimmed and not even close to blooming, we got some amazing views of the countryside. moody spring skies were a visual perk.
the Alsasce Route des Vins is technically just over 100 miles north to south along a path just east of the German border. we got off the main highway to take a 2 lane road through many of the picturesque villages along the route. perfect roads for driving stick and Spy thoroughly enjoyed it. yay!
so for starters, we got lost in the lovely town of Barr, which is technically less than 8 square miles. oops. Madame du Nav (or Nav Whore, as she came to be known in the Renault) failed us again and we ended up literally up a mountain. note to self: best to always just follow the grape signs.
our next notable stop was Château du Haut-Koeningsbourg. what Disney lacked, this shit made up for in spades. Miss Girl was running through the halls, psyched that a real princess probably did the same thing. it was kind of incredible. and i was so proud of my girl for being excited about this, because, man. this was some real. i think i’ve mentioned before here how scared of heights i am. so to climb to the top of a mountain, then climb to the top of a castle tower . . . well, i needed some wine before all that.
my first Edelzwicker (my new favorite white!). in a plastic cup. with another jambon buerre. all class. all the time. and why did i need to go to the castle again? i was perfectly happy down here overlooking the valley. but, okay. the castle was so worth getting over my fear of heights for a second. and OMG, i can’t even imagine how cold this thing was in the winter!
after enough time, we all hopped back into the car and let Madame N guide us south to Riquewihr. so many curvy roads. so many traffic circles. so many “tournez a gauche”-es. ahem. god, we were really tired of that bitch. but at about cocktail hour, we arrived.
and ahhh . . . this was the quintessential Alsatian town. so super cute with all the half-timbers and super Princess Sophia-looking villageness! we walked through. admired the cute shops and restaurants. then found a suitable winstub for another glass of Edelzwicker before Miss Girl turned into a pumpkin.
it was perfect and where i would want to spend a good, leisurely half-day. but alas . . . back to the Renault and on to Colmar. . .