We came across Eguisheim quite by accident. The way we travel is unplanned. We decide a direction we wish to travel and using the byways instead of the highways we make our way there, avoiding the large towns and the majority of the tourists. On this trip we used a compass on the dashboard of the car and just set a direction we wanted to head. It took awhile before we realised that the magnetic influences of the car created havoc with its directional capabilities but we stumbled across many treasures in the process.
Eguisheim is in North-Eastern France in Alsace. People had lived there for years with archaeological excavations going back to the Paleolithic times. The Romans conquered the village from the Gaul tribe of Senones and with the Roman love of wine it became a wine growing area and still is today.
Early in the Middle Ages (11th century) the Duke of Alsace built a castle and the modern town as you see it today sprung up around it. We were staggered that for such a beautiful town the tourist hordes did not seem to have descended in any great numbers. This may have changed because in 2013 it was voted as France’s favourite village.
Here you could see how life may have been in the Middle Ages. Lingering to look at the windows you could imagine women chatting from them across the street, pails of slop poured from them, fishwives shouting, clopping of horses on the cobblestones. The longer you lingered the greater the imaginings.
http://lingeringvisions.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/a-lingering-look-at-windows-2014-title-page/
Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist) 
I feel fairly sure that after that vote of confidence, it’ll now be overrun. But only in the tourist season. The place would’ve worked really hard for that award; and now they’ll be asking themselves “WHY DID WE DO THAT ?!” …
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Yes I think it will be also. Glad we got there prior to this happening as we hate crowds. Yes, there’ll be locals that love it and others that hate it. I know when we had the shop we used to dread the rush at Easter , October long weekend and Christmas. Cheers Irene
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What a perfect, gingerbread village. I thought it was Austrian at first, never thinking it was in France! Love it, and glad you got to see it before it became famous! Cheers Irene 🙂
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Yes chocolate box. Hard to believe it is lived in. I always think it is strange to think of this style of housing having interiors with televisions and computers and all the other mod cons.Have a good day. Which voice is talking to you today? 🙂
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I’m smiling because I think just the same thing when I look at houses like this!
My book, but I’ve yet to start. Going for a quick walk, (want to come?) have lunch and then down to it. Got to post as well, a short one. My ‘First Fifty’. See what you think.
How about you? Let’s chat about it while we walk… 😉
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Sounds good. Walk then sleep. I’ll be interested in your thoughts on doing the fifty. Fifty is so few words I found it very difficult. I had thought I would edit an existing piece to the number of words but I felt it lost the essence of it. So I went fiction. Thanks for the walk. Ready for sleep. Hope the ink runs well for you. Cheers Irene
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Yes of course, it’s your bedtime isn’t it! I keep forgetting that! Maybe you better not read my story before you go to bed, it’s dark but it’s based on an upsetting scene I witnessed just down the road from us a couple of days ago and I felt I had to write some fiction based on it. I hope others don’t think it’s too dark but you know what it’s like when you just have to write what’s on your heart. I just posted it.
Sleep well my friend and glad the walk helped. See you tomorrow 🙂
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What a great way to explore. Great photos. 😀
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It works for us but not for people who need to plan.
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It’s gorgeous! I love all the plants along the street, and the buildings… I want to go there!
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It sure is. Well worth the trip.
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We traveled through the Czech Republic in much the same way and found wondrous treasure!
I look forward to visiting this village, maybe when we visit our son who is stationed in Germany. Thanks for the tip!
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This is so close to Germany that it has gone back and forth between France and Germany over the ages.
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