Bonjour! Most likely when you think of traveling to France, your mind automatically goes to Paris – the city of love, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, hundreds of quaint cafes, and Arc De Triomphe. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved traveling to Paris and would love to go back with Mitchell one day. My mom always says Paris is pretty from the second floor and up- meaning that if you look at the second floor of the buildings and upward it will be the picturesque Paris and down below it is just a crowded big city.
When we went to France this time, we wanted to experience something completely different than Paris. If you are traveling to France, I would highly recommend getting outside of Paris and exploring the rest that this amazing country has to offer.
Strasbourg
The first stop on our little tour of France was Strasbourg. Strasbourg is about a 2 train ride from Paris. Strasbourg would make a perfect day trip if you are staying in Paris. Strasbourg sits near the border of France and Germany, so there are German influences as well as French. This was really unique to combine the both of them. It was the perfect blend of French glamour and German style.
We were only in Strasbourg for one night. We arrived around 2pm and we left at 9am to our next location. We stayed at Hôtel Cathédrale , and we couldn’t have asked for a greater location. We were right on the main square where Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg is located. Being there such a short time, having a centrally located hotel is key. The hotel itself was a typical European hotel – so small rooms, even smaller bathrooms, but it was good for the short stay there. When we travel we spend the least amount of time in our hotel room as possible. You did come to a new country to explore the culture and not sit in a hotel room, right?
What to eat
I found it quite interesting the combination of French and German cuisine during our short time in Strasbourg. We only had one official meal during our stay. There are many quaint restaurants scattered throughout the city. Nothing was in English, so we just picked one that looked cute, and had many people in it. We sat outside in a square and it was the greatest atmosphere. Sitting in France looking at the amazing architecture, listening to a man play the accordion, and hearing all different languages around you. Strasbourg, and all of the places we visited in France are located in the Alsace region, and this region is known as the land of white wine. I was one happy girl.
We ordered two things that when you come to this region of France that are must-haves. First we had French onion soup. Kind of silly to have French onion soup in France, but let me tell you it was some of the best I’ve had, and I’m a sucker for a good French onion soup. Now my grandpa makes one of the best, and I will say the soup in France was quite comparable to my grandpa’s.
The next thing that everyone said we have to try when we are in Strasbourg is flammkuchen (tarte Flambée in French), which is a French version of pizza. The sauce is a white creme fraiche, and it is topped with bacon and raw white onions. It is on every menu in very restaurant. So why not give it a try. I personally wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but I am happy we tried it because people were eating it everywhere.
On a sweeter note, you can’t come to Europe and not not order gelato at least once a day every day. After doing some research, my mom found a gelato stop that shapes their gelato in extravagant roses – sign me up. Amorino is a gelato shop known for making their gelato into artistic creations. You can pick up to 3 flavors for your rose and then you get a yummy macaroon to top it off. I chose strawberry and chocolate with a cheesecake macaroon. Let me tell you, it was the yummiest rose I’ve ever had.
What to do
Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg – Situated in a gorgeous, Germanic square, it was actually the tallest building in the world from 1647-1874. You can go inside the Cathedral for free.
Petite France – This area is dripping with colorful photo opportunities, and it also looks something like a small Disney village come to life.
Explore – This is our favorite way to see a new place. Just walking through the streets, wandering in and out of stores, and just soaking everything in.
Alsace Wine Route
My mom and I rented a car for the next day in our trip. I highly recommend this because this was my favorite day out of the whole entire trip. Our next location was the village of Colmar. It is about a 45 minute drive from Strasbourg, but if you take the scenic white wine country route it took us about 2-3 hours. This route takes you through around 15 of the most charming, quaint, and beautiful French villages. I rounded up my two favorite villages we drove through and explored. These villages are known as flower villages, and there were blooming flowers on every building – I wish I could put that smell in a candle.
Ribeauville
Ribeauville was one of my favorite towns that we drove through. We parked and explored this village on our way to Colmar. We loved wandering this tiny town that is packed with some of the prettiest streets in the Alsace. We were just in awe of the architecture of this place. The flowers were unreal, and it truly felt like we were strolling down a street in Disney, it almost felt unreal.
Riquewihr
This village is just around the corner from Ribeauville, and we decided to stop here for lunch. Another fairytale village where you were just transformed back in time. The quietness and stillness of this village is what made it extra special to me. There were few tourists, and just people living their normal lives. This is one of my favorite parts about traveling, getting away from the other tourists and emerging yourself in the every day life of the people who live there. Yes there was no one speaking our language, we were in the middle of countryside France, but the food was good and the white wine was chilled.
Colmar
We reached our final destination on the Alsace wine route – Colmar. Both my mom and I wanted to spend the night in this village because of one thing. It is the village that the animators of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast got inspiration from. We even found the exact fountain that they used for the opening scene with Belle and the song “Bonjour”.
We spent our afternoon and evening in Colmar, wandering the streets of with something even more charming around each corner. We skipped and sang Beauty and the Beast songs all night. We took an evening boat ride in a section of Colmar called Petite Venice. With canals and bridges everywhere, it truly felt like a French inspired Venice.
For our last night in Alsace we wanted to try some more German-French cuisine. We stumbled upon a tiny restaurant on a canal that we thought would do the trick. We treated ourselves to a couple German Blonde Ales that they accompanied with pretzels. I felt like we were in Germany. Then for our meal we split a veal with béarnaise sauce and a bowl of spätzle. Spätzle is a German egg noodle, and I found it delicious! Our whole meal was great. The French inspired veal was such a wonderful piece of tender meat, and the spätzle added a German twist. I would highly recommend you try it in any of the cities in Alsace.
Reims
Our last stop in France, and I think is a must-see for all champagne lovers is Reims. This is the champagne capital of the world. Fun fact: in order to call a wine champagne it has to be from this specific area of France. So all champagne you drink around the world originates from this area. Now I love me some bubbly, so I was extra excited for this stop on the trip.
Reims (the French pronounce it like France with an “R”), is only about an hour train ride from Paris so would also be a really good day trip option. The architecture is very Paris-like and completely different from our last few days in Alsace. It felt like you were in Paris, except it was smaller, way less people, and cleaner. I really enjoyed Reims.
Taittinger Champagne House
My favorite part of Reims was our champagne tour. We visited the Taittinger champagne house. Before visiting Taittinger, I recognized the brand, but have never tasted their champagne before because you know I have champagne taste on a beer budget.
We had a guided tour through the champagne house, which included the cellars that were 40 meters under ground where they keep all of the champagne. I have never seen so much champagne in my life. I am talking hundreds of thousands of bottles of champagne down in this cellar. Side note– if you do decide to tour a champagne house, bring a sweater because the further you go in the ground the colder it gets, and since champagne needs to be chilled, it is quite chilly down there.
We learned so much about how champagne is made, the history of champagne (did you know that the bubbles were actually a mistake, but people loved it and kept requesting it), and my favorite part was the tasting. We each were given two kinds of champagnes to try – the brut and the rosé. Y’all know how much I love me some rosé, and this one was so good I wanted to bring home so many bottles in my suitcase.
There are so many different champagne houses in Reims, that you could spend all day going from one to the other. We wanted to explore the rest of the city, so we chose Taittinger as our one house to tour because it was the brand we knew the best and it is one of the biggest houses in Reims.
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims
Another must-see in Reims is Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims. If you are catching on that Notre Dame in Paris is not the only Notre Dame in France. The one in Reims looks exactly like the one in Paris. You can go in the cathedral, and it is stunning. The stained glass was some of the best I have ever seen. I am always awe-struck when I visit these grand cathedrals. The details that are put into them and the fact that they were built so many years ago just blows my mind.
Something that I think makes this cathedral extra special is that every evening at 10:30PM they have a light show displayed on the actual cathedral. So after dinner we ventured our way over the the cathedral and found a spot to sit while people, both tourists and locals, gathered around for the show. It was spectacular. It was about a 25 minute show, with music and the light display far exceeded my expectations. If you find yourself in Reims this is a nighttime activity you need to add to you itinerary.
There is so much more to the country of France besides just Paris. Paris is a lovely city, and I highly recommend visiting. I also recommend getting out of the city to visit a few of these places. Whether it is a day trip or spending a couple days in traveling the Alsace wine route, it will truly make your trip special. There is only one more place in France that I feel like I need to see, and that is the French riviera and southern France. That will be my next trip to France I hope.
Have you ever been to any of these places, or want have any more questions about what we did, ate, anything let me know!
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