Sunday, June 24, 2012

St. Hippolyte and Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg


We hit the road from Strasbourg headed towards Colmar - behind schedule of course - and almost immediately Meg informed me of a site on the way: the Grandfather of Alsatian castles called Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg. It was too intriguing to resist so we hopped off the A35 and headed towards the big castle on the hill.


As we continued onward we passed through many vineyards and the small beautiful town of Saint Hippolyte. This photo was taken after passing through town.


The road suddenly turned into a maze of switchbacks rising above the vineyards below. We climbed and climbed until we reached the castle which was both under construction and oddly deserted. Though there were parking places for hundreds of cars, only one couple on a motorcycle were visiting when we arrived.


The castle itself was so big and we were so close, it was difficult to get a good shot of it. 


It commands an amazing view of the valley below including St. Hippolyte.






After admiring the view for some time, we got back on the road and continued our journey to Colmar. We could not resist however stopping for a few shots of picturesque St. Hippolyte.





With the assistance of the TomTom, we rejoined the A35 and made our way to Colmar and found our hotel situated in the Petite Venice portion of Colmar. We checked in and had a wonderful dinner not a dozen steps from our small suite (which backed up on one of the canals). Afterwards we took a walk and tried snapping a few nighttime photos before retiring.



Wistub Krutenau on the canal. 


Rue Turenne near our hotel.
 



Canal near the Compoir des Georges.




Next post: our day in Colmar.


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