We spent a lovely few hours yesterday evening wandering around the beautifully preserved old town of Colmar in the Alasace Region of Eastern France. The old buildings are beautiful and “Little Venice” with it’s canal is full of character. I was here many years ago with Mum also in the spring 😜 but it was later in May and the flowers were so colourful. However the snow gave it a fairytale effect.

And now for some history on Colmar….

Colmar is located 68 km south-southwest of Strasbourg, 15 km west of the Rhine River, bordering the German frontier and a few miles east of the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. It is on the main railway from Strasbourg to Mulhouse and Basel, Switzerland.

The first mention of Colmar is in a chronicle of the Saxon wars of Charlemagne, emperor of the West (800–814). In 1226 Colmar was raised to the status of an imperial town by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and was surrounded by defensive walls. Civil rights were granted to it by Rudolf of Habsburg in 1278. In 1632, during the Thirty Years’ War, it was occupied by Sweden. Louis XIII of France took the town under his protection in 1635; it was later gradually annexed by France during 1648–78. Colmar was twice annexed by Germany: from 1871 to 1919 and again during World War II.

Colmar’s many fountains, ancient churches, and Alsatian Renaissance houses have made it a centre of tourism. Colmar is also a wine-trading centre.

This is the “Little Venice” area of Colmar absolutely beautiful.

This is General Rapp – Napoleon’s aide de camp.

Sheila took a fancy to this guy 😜

Colmar totally iced over this morning even though it wasn’t as cold as Verdun. Thank God for the doggy buggy it was kinda like a Zimmer frame for the ice🤣🤣