I'll be touring from Paris to Alsace and then on down to Nice next May.Has anyone been through Alsace before? Any great routes, tips or secret cool places you can let me in on? How close is the Matterhorn? Any clue on typical Vosges or Alsace weather at that time?
I've googled plenty but would love some personal experiences.
Thanks

The wife and I were in the Alsace in May of 2003. We took the train from Amsterdam to Strasbourg, picked up a car (a surprisingly nice Citroen diesel) and then wended our way down to Nice, where we got back on the train and went to the Italian Lakes, Milano and Torino.

Strasbourg was clean, nice, and very livable. The old town is a good place to stroll at dusk. The Alsace isn't spectacular, but it's very peaceful and pretty. We ate lunch in Albert Schweitzer's home town Kaiserberg. Chicken in Riesling - with plenty of cream to fatten it up. Yum. The town is gingerbready. Clean as a whistle. Cute as a button.

Here's a tip: You might want to spend a night on the way to Nice in the Franche-Comte. It's a relatively untouristed part of France on the Swiss Border. But still inordinately beautiful. We stayed in a cheap but groovy inn in the middle of the countryside - a place called Moulin du Prieure near the town of Bonnevaux-le-Prieure. The owner-chef created a truly fine multi-course meal for us, at a bargain price. Go to www.chateauxhotels.com.

Uh-oh. Gotta go. I'll pick this up later.

Thanks. I may post this again in early spring as the touring saeson gets closer. I'm gonna print out what you send me.

I'll be touring from Paris to Alsace and then on down to Nice next May.Has anyone been through Alsace before? Any great routes, tips or secret cool places you can let me in on? How close is the Matterhorn? Any clue on typical Vosges or Alsace weather at that time?
I've googled plenty but would love some personal experiences.
Thanks

Don't have tons of experience there BUT if you're riding I'd say you have to mix in a ride including the Ballon d' Alsace as this climb was truly the first substantial climb included in the Tour de France. The region (Vosages) was important to Henri Desgrange as it was close to the German border and wanted a bit of patriotism in his race as much of Alsace was in German hands at the time.

If I recall you visited Provence this fall (wasn't it Vaison La Romaine). How'd that go?

I tried to find the Moulin du Prieure in the chateauxhotel website, but it doesn't look like the hotel is a member of the chain anymore. I do have a phone number for the place, though: 33 (0) 381592147. When I went there, nobody spoke a word of English, but maybe they've learned enough to take a reservation. And of course, being off the standard tourist trail, they're friendly as heck.

Burgundy is also on the way between Alsace and Nice, and it's a part of France veritably festooned with castles turned into hotel-restaurants. It's a lush, sumtuous part of the planet. Burgundy can be expensive, though. Yes, it was over fifteen years ago, but my wife and I enjoyed a stay in a castle turret at the Chateaux d'Ige, outside of Macon.

It's fairly easy to detour to the famous TdF Alpine climbs as you make your way south. Alpe d'Huez, as I'm sure you've guessed, handily meets the Michelin Guide's criteria for "worth a detour." Even more impressive is Mont Ventoux. The countryside around Mont Ventoux is also some of the prettiest I've ever been in.

It's only a few hours away from Nice, but a heck of a place to spend the night (and stuff yourself silly) is the Bastide de Moustiers in the town of Moustiers Saint-Marie. The town itself is perched in the middle of a cliff. A knock-out.

Weather-wise, our May trip couldn't have been much better. Partly cloudy. Highs in the Sixties. In Paris there was still twilight at ten pm.

Anyway, all this stuff is at least worth a google. And one final command. Seeing that your screen name is Cheddar Love, don't neglect to partake of the cheese course that accompanies every major meal. The cheese plate at the Restaurant de Mousquetieres in Moustiers still tugs at my taste buds.

I've printed out all the info. and will hope for more from others. Thanks for the tip on the climb in Alsace. I'm a sucker for a classic climb! Even on a loaded tandem. Ventoux,Tourmalet,Aubisque, Mente, Aspin..etc! bragging rights? You bet! :D
Vaison is by far one of my favorite villages in Provence. I was there in May and have been there a couple times and it is so fun to just kick back at the cafes and watch the people go by! Yeah, I can't wait for the cheese plate! and the baguette! and the Badoit!

My all-time favorite place to eat in the Alsace is Hotel-Restaurant Anthon in Obersteinbach, about 20 km west of Wissembourg. A wonderful place to stay, and the food is heavenly. Pricey, but after the first bite you don't care any more. :D

Everything I am reading is that the food of the region is sauerkraut. Maaan! I don't know. I'm not a big sauerkraut fan. :rolleyes: When we hit the alps last May, the food was this cheese dish called rackolette. Now I KNOW I'm not spelling it correctly but I'm waaay to tired to look it up right now. What a smell that stuff had. Kinda tasty once or twice though.

It's okay if you don't like saurkraut...but the way the Alsatians do it in dish called Choucroute is to cook the kraut with wine and carrraway seeds to sweeten it up and then pile sausages and cured meats on top. It's mega-wonderful, especially with a local white wine or a local beer. And my Poulet au Riesling, by the way, didn't come with kraut as a side. It came with spaghetti cooked in garlic and butter.

Everything I am reading is that the food of the region is sauerkraut. Maaan! I don't know. I'm not a big sauerkraut fan. :rolleyes: When we hit the alps last May, the food was this cheese dish called rackolette. Now I KNOW I'm not spelling it correctly but I'm waaay to tired to look it up right now. What a smell that stuff had. Kinda tasty once or twice though.


Raclette is what your speaking of.....it is indeed tasty. For the home viewers large wheels of cheese are placed under special heating coils (the ones I've seen are part heat lamp, part exposed toaster oven) and the cheese is heated. As it heats up they scrape the warm cheese off the top onto a plate with potatoes. I also recall them bringing some garnishes like pearl onions and cornischons (Lil' Pickles). I don't remember much else because both times I've had it they also brought tons of good wine.