Page 38 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - France

36 BACK ROADS FRANCE

hero credited with returning from
wartime Hungary with cuttings of
the Tokay-Pinot Gris vine. Today the
château houses a wine museum.
The fountain on the Place Schwendi
is surrounded by wine cellars and
colom bage houses. The square opens
onto the countryside, and the
benches along the city walls are a
nice place to sit and take in the view.
Exiting Kientzheim, visitors will see
an army tank that is part of a World
War II memo rial park along the
town’s western ramparts.
ª Take the D28 to Kaysersberg. There
is a big free car park outside the city
Above Vineyards surrounding the pretty town walls requiring a 10-minute walk to
of Riquewihr Below Colombage house in w Riquewihr the furthest sites. The other option is
Riquewihr Haut-Rhin, Alsace; 68340 paid car parks in the town centre.
Every time Riquewihr was assailed
WHERE TO STAY by enemies, winemakers doggedly r Kaysersberg
rebuilt it so it would be more attrac- Haut-Rhin, Alsace; 68240
RIQUEWIHR tive than before. Pass through the Kaysersberg – Mountain of the
Hôtel-Restaurant Au Dolder late 13th-century watchtower Emperor – was named when the son
inexpensive–moderate entrance, the Dolder (home to a of the 13th-century German ruler
Small and intimate, Au Dolder has a
dozen cosy rustic rooms. local history museum), and bought the castle whose
52 rue du Général de Gaulle, 68340; take Rue du Général de ruins now loom over the
03 89 47 92 56; www.dolder.fr Gaulle. The tightly packed town. Take the fortified
colombage houses are Porte des Pucelles – Door
KIENTZHEIM
among the most beautiful of the Maidens – to the
Hostellerie Schwendi moderate in Alsace: multicoloured main street, Rue du
This hotel in a colombage house has
modernized rooms with balconies. with sculpted wood Général de Gaulle and
2 place Schwendi, 68240; 03 89 47 30 50 beams, ornate over- pass the Église Sainte-
hanging windows, Croix and Place Gouraud.
EGUISHEIM
courtyards, wells and Near here is a museum
L’Hostellerie du Château moderate fountains. The town, An illustration inside dedicated to 1954 Nobel
The small, welcoming establishment known as “the pearl of the Maison de Hansi Peace Prize winning
has neat, bright rooms.
2 rue du Château, 68420; 03 89 23 72 00 Alsace’s vineyards”, boasts doctor Albert Schweitzer,
many cellars in small side ruelles who estab lished a hospital in Gabon.
showcasing the prized grand cru From here follow the marked trail
Riesling Schoenenbourg. Children along the Weiss river, which flows
will love the Maison de Hansi (open through the village, bordered by park-
daily except Mon mornings Jul–Aug), lands, remains of ramparts, towers
which displays the delightful work of and dungeons and charming houses.
Alsatian illus trator Jean-Jacques Waltz, ª Take the D415 via Ammerschwihr.
affection ately known as Uncle Hansi. At the roundabout turn right to
ª From the Avenue Mequillet turn Ingersheim. In the village turn right
southwards into the Chemin de onto the D11 (2).
Kientzheim and continue along the
Route du Riquewihr to Kientzheim. t Niedermorschwihr
Haut-Rhin, Alsace; 68230
e Kientzheim Alsatian place names can be a
Haut-Rhin, Alsace; 68240 mouthful. Niedermorschwihr’s original
A buttonhole of a place in a sea of name Morswilre – Farm of Maur – was
vines, Kientzheim has a fortified gate- changed to stop it being confused
way, Porte du Lalli, whose grima cing with nearby Obermorschwihr. The
stone figurine was designed to scare town, cupped in a small valley, is
off the town’s aggressors. Pass bisected by the Grande Rue, which
through it to reach the Château features several beautiful houses with
Schwendi, named after an Alsace overhanging oriel windows, carved
Where to Stay: inexpensive, under €70; moderate, €70–€150; expensive, over €150