Today we took a bus that visits six small Alsace winery villages outside of Colmar. It’s a bit like a hop-on, hop-off bus; it returns every one and a half hours at each stop and then takes you to the next. Each bus only has 24 passengers so they’re not that big, and it’s a great way to get around for 29 euros each.

Kutzig Bus departing Colmar

Ribeauvillé

Our first stop was the village of “Ribeauvillé” pronounced (Reebo-vill-aye), which is about 15 minutes outside of Colmar. A lot of people also choose to rent electric bikes to do these villages. Once out of town it would be fine, as there aren’t many bike paths in Colmar, and half of them shouldn’t be on bikes! Especially when you see one lady coming down a hill at breakneck speed, both hands on the brakes and her left leg out in the wind, you know it’s not going to end well.

Ribeauvillé is like a Hansel and Gretel town, similar to Colmar but with its much narrower streets. The lopsided houses from the 14th century, along with vibrant colours and cobblestone streets, all give the town character. It’s as though you’ve stepped into a cartoon. Being a Saturday, it had its crowds, but nothing like what Positano was last year—this was pretty good. We stopped into a small French cafe for coffee, which had just opened, for a caffeine hit before taking in the sights.

A lovely Restaurant and the main street in Ribeauvillé

Amazing little shops tucked away in little side streets, selling everything and anything, restaurants to keep you well fed and a few little bars to quench your thirst. Little “Boulangeries” (French Bakeries) and little pâtisserie shops. A Boulangerie must bake their bread on the premises to have the title of a “Boulangerie”; if you buy your bread elsewhere, it’s like buying from a corner shop. A Pâtisserie is not a Boulangerie; they do not bake bread, unless the sign says “Boulangerie Pâtisserie”.

You will see Munster Chees all through the Alsace Region and nearly on every dish

There was a stall vendor selling cheeses with a sampling plate. There was cheese with stinging nettle, goat cheese, and truffle cheese for sampling. I loved the stinging nettle and Leanne liked the goat. We both decided to get some, so he slices off these pieces. i said about about 150g each and he said, “Would you like some bread?” So we sampled that, and it was nice too and being a sourdough. When I said a piece, he cuts off a small slab from this roll (that is about 3 feet long) and wraps it up for us too. Now, this cheese was $AU70 a kilo, with the truffle cheese being $AU124 a kg. Not sure on the cost of the bread, though. Anyway, glad we only got small portions, and a bloody kilo of bread to go with it. I now know what’s for dinner

             Our stinging nettle, goat cheese & slab of bread                                                                                       3 foot long bread rolls

Home made salamis -Yeh? nah

Hunawihr

After a good hour and a half here in this lovely town, I’d planned to do a walk through the vineyards via the back roads to the next town called “Hunawihr” pronounced (oo-na-veer). It's about a 3km walk so it's not too bad. I’d researched this before leaving Australia and people said it was an easy walk. So, on with Google Maps and away we went. The first small incline wasn’t too bad. Now, I don’t mind walking or trudging up hills, but it seems Leanne likes nothing with an incline of over 2 degrees or I'm going to hear about all the way.

Heading through the Vineyards to Hunawihr 

Last stretch into Hunawihr 

I think Leanne was expecting side road vendors selling cheese with wine tasting under umbrellas along the way. How disappointed she was, and she was letting me know this as we trudged up yet another hill. Once we got to the top it started to level off, and we were on a nice narrow stretch of road with vineyards to each side of us, where you could just wander over and pick a few grapes to munch on. At the top we were only about 800 meters away from Hunawihr, and the view of the village as you approached with the backdrop of vineyards was quite nice. This walk is well worth it.

Old Church on the hill and house at Hunawihr 

We got a little lost in here as we couldn’t find anything open. The village is only small and very hilly, so we just had a quick look around before finding the next Kutzig bus. There were only another two couples in front of us, so that was good. Remember me saying hop-on, hop-off? Well you hope some will get off here. About 5 minutes before the bus was due, seven German twenty-something teens/adults arrived and as the bus arrived, they just pushed in. I’m now starting to remember an incident  back to “Bellagio” on Lake Como last year. These poor other Italian women were just being pushed aside, so I put on my super hero cape and said to them, “No, get to the back!” and one gave me a stupid look. “Back of the line and don’t push in!” I then let the two Italian ladies and the couple before us on as I held the bus rail to not let the Germans on until I was on, not knowing how many vacant seats there were; otherwise, you have to wait for the next bus. The two Italian ladies thanked me on the bus and in the end we all boarded with spare seats. Once in order I put my super cape away

Riquewihr

We arrived at “Riquewihr” pronounced (Rike - Vee - Ah), which was around a 15-minute trip—stunning little Alsace town again. As we stepped off the bus, they had a wine tasting stall set up, where Leanne wanted to sample some. So for 3 euros you got to sample their whites or reds. Leanne got a Riesling, which apparently is their dry wine, and I took in the Pinot Noir. Leanne didn’t mind hers as such, but mine was horrid—like red grapes with vinegar. I forced myself to drink it, as that’s what you do on holidays.

The cobblestone streets and the coloured houses of Riquewihr

The town is on par, maybe slightly ahead of Ribeauvillé, in "charm" With the same features, small streets, shops, and restaurants, we wandered up the top of town where we could hear accordions and drums. There was a crowd of people there listening to a band belting out songs from ABBA, Bryan Adams, Pointer Sisters, and more. They were really good! They were called a Polka band or a traditional Folk Ensemble.

Crepe with Beef, Pork, Potatoes, Onions, Carrots in white wine sauce

Witches, Cats and Pretzels in Riquewihr

At lunch we selected a small restaurant where Leanne’s cider was served in a bowl, which was very strange. But looking at the drink list again, it said served in a bowl! My meal wasn’t crash hot. It was a crêpe filled with what was like a beef stew. It was too bland for me, whereas Leanne’s Quiche Lorraine and salad looked much better.

Back to the bus we went to see if we could squeeze in one more small town before the end of the day. Feet were getting tired, though, and so was I. The lineup at the bus stop wasn’t too bad when we got there; however, it filled up fast and I counted 17 in line. If people don’t hop off here, someone’s going to miss out and it won't be us.
Then it happened. As the bus pulled in (now I don’t judge nationalities, but two definitely stood out and I won’t be mentioning here), they walked right past me and were about to board. So I pulled out my super cape again. “Excuse me the back of the line is down there!” (Dumb looks) “We are catching the Kutzig bus,” they replied in broken English. “So are we and the other 17 people,” I politely said, as I saw another herd that tried to push in saw what was happening and made their way to the back. “But they aren’t all hopping on this bus,” they said. The bus stopped and I started to let the people who were in front of me on. What I found strange was, of the 17 people behind us, only 4 hopped on; the others all took the one behind. Did the big bad Aussie scare them all off? I’ll never know.

I'll put it there, but are some European nationalities just downright rude and just don't like lining up and would rather chance it by pushing in? I've found that a lot over here, including another couple in Grindelwald who pushed through about forty people before he came to me and was pulled up.

We decided to give “Eguisheim” pronounced (Eh-gee-sime) a miss, as it was the last stop and we may not have been able to get back on. I highly recommend you see these villages, as Disney Studios were inspired by these towns and based the backdrop of their animated movie “Beauty and the Beast” on them.

Back in Colmar we dined on our cheese, with avocado, tomato, and fresh sourdough, then headed out for a Gelato and took some night photos

Bowl of cider, scruffy friendly dog and street shop in Riquewihr

                                                 Walk into Hunawihr                                                                                                Brass Band in Ribeauvillé