Colmar, France - Part One

On Saturday, we visited the Medieval city of Colmar, France. It was only a 15 minute train ride to Breisach, a border town on the Rhine. We then took a 30 minute bus ride to Colmar. And it was FREE!!! Well, almost. All of our transportation was covered by the passes we had to purchase for travel around Freiburg.

Colmar was founded in the 9th century and has been well preserved. A number of the homes date back to the 1300s. It's located in Alsace near the German border and has changed hands numerous times. Colmar was the last town in France to be freed after the second World War.  I'll stop there with the random trivia in case others are not quite as interested as me. All other comments will be limited to photo explanations.

Musee d'Unterlinden, a museum housed in a Medieval convent

"Old Town"

Colmar is renowned for its timber-framed houses

The building on the left is dated 1562

Maison des tetes, "House of the Heads," so called because it is decorated with faces, is a German Renaissance building.

Noah and Caleb had a blast kicking dirt and throwing rocks into the canals.

These guys did NOT want to stop for a photo.

Caleb raided the snack bag.

Maison Pfister, called "a jewel of the Renaissance," was built in 1537. 

Paintings decorate the facade of Maison Pfister.

"Petite Venise" or "Little Venice" is a row of houses accessible by small boat. This was one of our favorite parts of the city, and the boat ride was certainly a highlight. 

Why, yes, we did go under the bridges. The boys thought it was funny that we had to duck our heads.

Noah thought it was "Awesome" (in his words) to stick his finger in the water.

Thankfully our guide was relaxed and didn't mind us switching seats or splashing the water.

See our relaxed guide? Wish he was hidden from this otherwise great photo.