Summer Week Exploring Strasbourg and Colmar, France

We spent a week in the Grand Est region of France in mid-August 2019. Our first stop was Strasbourg, where the scale of the architecture is immediately apparent. After the kids found some bollards to climb in front of an official-looking building, we spent time looking up at the incredibly detailed facade of the city's Gothic cathedral.

The old part of the city, Petite France, is full of half-timbered buildings lining canals and cobblestone streets. It was busy with people browsing the market stalls. We found some time to just sit by the water and watch the reflections. The whole region is known for storks, and we managed to see one in its large nest perched on a chimney against a clear blue sky.

To get away from the city streets, we rented a small boat for an afternoon. Paddling along the calm, tree-lined river was a nice change of pace. It was sunny and quiet on the water, a completely different view of the area.

We also took a day to visit Colmar, which was just as popular. The canals there, in the area called Petite Venise, are lined with brightly colored buildings and flowers. The sky was a bit more overcast that day, but the streets along the water were still full of people.