Colmar Day 13

I don't know exactly how to write this days' chronicle of our trip, but here goes. Zagreb was voted the best Christmas market in Europe for the third time in a row. If we were in Croatia, I would be writing about Zagreb. We are not there, we are in France. So I will write about the Christmas market in Colmar, voted the number two Christmas market in Europe and the number one market in France. I can't think of a better way to end our Christmas market tour than here, in Colmar.

Colmar came in to existence in the 9th century. It is a well preserved medieval city, the old city basically unchanged through the centuries. An abundance of half-timbered homes, museums, traditions, wines, gastronomic delights, and churches await the hordes of tourists that visit the Alsace, especially this time of year. The Christmas market is world famous and provides visitors with a safe and friendly environment. There are five markets within the city and the magic of Christmas comes alive. The kids love it. We love it. The pictures I post cannot do justice for Colmar and the other markets we have visited in the last two weeks.

Colmar has been part of Germany, part of France, back to Germany, and currently is French. It pays to be bi-lingual if you live here, actually tri-lingual. German, French and Alsatian. It helps us if they can speak a little English, because we certainly cannot speak any of the fore mentioned languages. Colmar also has ties to the United States. One of the enduring symbols of our country , the Statue of Liberty, was designed by a resident of Colmar., Auguste Batholdi. When next you are in New York or you see a picture of the statue of Liberty, think of Colmar.