Hello everyone!
Autumn is coming to an end here in Tokyo and everyone is getting ready for Christmas!

In October, I took a short break in Paris and visited Alsace region over a weekend. I'd like to share my Alsace trip with you!

I took the TGV from Paris, changed at Strasbourg and then headed to Colmar. With the new East Europe line (opened in June 2007), it took only two hours from Paris to Alsace!

As soon as I arrived in Alsace, I went to a tiny village called Niedermorschwihr to visit the famous Christine Ferber jam shop. Christine Ferber is very famous in Japan and it is truly delicious!

Ferber's shop signboard is so pretty, isn't it? (See photo above.) This pretzel shape is the iconic symbol of Alsace's famous sweets, the pretzel and the kouglof. There are many cute shop signboards like this in Alsace and it is fun walking around just looking at them.

In the Christine Ferber shop, they sell many types of jams, chocolates and other sweets, as well as newspapers, magazines and everyday sundries.
There are also many restaurants, hotels and wine caves in Alsace. The village is well known for its delicious white wine.

I visited another small village called Riquewihr. This is a very touristy place and I saw many tourists and souvenir shops.

I bought a bottle of white wine here. although my suitcase is packed with lots of jams. The heavy wine bottle and jam jars made my suitcase so heavy!

I also stayed one night in the very pretty town named Colmar. The walls of the houses in the town are very colorful in hues of baby pink, baby blue and egg colors... The balconies are decorated with flowers and there is a small canal in the town.

The food here is very delicious. The photo above is of the Alsace's most famous dish, the Tarte Flambée, which is like a very thin pizza. It was fantastic!

And .... this is also a famous Alsace dish, Choucroute and sausage.
Choucroute is fermented chopped cabbage and tastes a little sour. I love the combination of choucroute and beer! (Alsace is close to Germany, hence their beer is also great!)

This is the night scene in Alsace. So beautiful!

I stopped over at Strasbourg on my way back to Paris and visited the Strasbourg Cathedral which is registered as a world heritage building.

The cathedral was too big to fit in my camera screen.the I imagine there is a huge magic clock and a Catherine wheel inside... it must look different in daylight. It was definitely worth visiting.

There will be a Christmas market in Alsace soon. I heard that the whole town would be covered with beautiful Christmas decorations. I would like to come back to Alsace again next Christmas!