Alsace Region- Ribeauville, France

Boy, do I miss Europe and blogging about European cities.  Good thing I still have PLENTY of catch up to do on various trips that I didn’t quite get to while we were over there.  This particular day was from Spring Break 2013.

The Starbucks were with us and had spent a couple days with us at our house seeing Heidelberg and visiting our favorite German city, Rothenberg.  On Friday morning, our first official day of Spring Break we packed our bags and headed south for a Spring Break in a few regions in France.  First stop, the Alsace Region.  We’ve been to the Alsace region several times to visit Strasbourg and Colmar but this time we were seeking out some of the smaller villages along the Route du Vin… the Wine Road.  These cute little half timbered villages are nestled in the hills and completely surrounded by vineyards.  

Our first village stop was Ribeauville.  We parked, and wandered all the way up the haupstrasse (main street) and half way up the hill into the vineyards to enjoy the view.  Like all French towns in the Alsace region, they boast half timbered houses (German influence) and shutters (French influence) together making them quite unique.  It was a cute little town.

Love all the doorways and archways, alleyways and narrow walkways.

French baguette pizzas for lunch.

Saw these cute little round Alsace characters all throughout the town.

At the end of the main street, we hiked up about 10 minutes into the vineyards to get a look back at the town below.

Note the storks nest perched high on top of this house.  Stork’s nests can weigh up to 1000 pounds each.  Fun to spot them throughout this region.

The best part of this village was the store Monae and I found.  We spent a good while inside while our husbands entertained kids outside.  Monae ended up with some cute numbered glass jars and I got some turquoise pottery and a round white wood carving that I just love.  Fun to remember this day with souvenirs!