Colmar's Canals and Half-Timbered Streets

On Monday, 29 January, my wife’s work began. While she was busy, I took my first day trip on my own, across the border into France, to Colmar.

I had chosen Colmar because of Little Venice, the old quarter along its canals, and because I wanted to see it from a boat. I did not have any particular expectations. I simply wanted the experience.

It was also the first time on this trip that I was exploring alone, and in a different country from the one we were staying in.

I set off from Basel station in the morning.

Many railway tracks seen from above, with a long white train curving along them and a station and low hills beyond, under a grey sky. — The tracks at Basel station in the morning.

By a little after eleven, I was outside Colmar station, a red-brick building with a clock tower and a large arched window.

Colmar station, a red-brick building with a clock tower, a green copper roof and a large arched window above the words “Gare de Colmar”, against a deep blue sky. — Colmar station.

The weather was very different from the grey weekend in Zurich and Basel. The sky was clear and blue, and the low winter sun lit up the buildings.

Into the old town

From the station, I walked into the town, through a long park with bare trees and a fountain, and on into the older streets.

The canals appeared quite soon. Beside one of them, a row of small flat boats with yellow seats was moored along the bank.

A canal between a pink sandstone building on the left and a row of half-timbered houses on the right, with small boats with yellow seats moored below and a low bridge beyond. — Boats moored on the canal in the morning.

The streets were lined with half-timbered houses, many of them painted in soft pinks, yellows and blues, with coloured shutters.

Two tall half-timbered houses with red shutters and steep roofs on a street corner, beside a stone building with arcades, with cars parked in front under a blue sky. — Half-timbered houses in the old town.

Not far away was St Martin’s Church, its sandstone bright in the sun under a patterned tiled roof.

The side of St Martin’s Church in Colmar, with a tall tower, Gothic windows and a green and gold patterned tiled roof, in bright sunshine. — St Martin's Church.

A museum at midday

Around half past twelve, I visited the Unterlinden Museum. Its galleries had Roman carved stones, medieval statues, a large carved stone font and old altar paintings.

A white gallery with five medieval stone statues on wooden plinths around a large carved stone font. — Medieval statues and a carved stone font.

On the canal

In the early afternoon, I took the boat ride along the canals. The boat was small and flat, and sat low on the water.

At first, I was the only passenger. The boatman spoke very good English, and I soon started wondering how I would keep the conversation going for the whole ride. Then another couple got on at the next pickup point, which was a funny relief.

It passed under old stone bridges and along quiet stretches lined with trees and gardens.

The flat wooden bow of a small boat heading under a worn sandstone bridge with two arches, with green trees visible through the arch. — Under one of the old bridges.

The bow of a small boat on a quiet canal between bare trees and dark evergreens, with a house and a stone bridge in the distance. — Under one of the old bridges.

Then it came out among the half-timbered houses of Little Venice, where the still water reflected the buildings. The ride took about twenty-five minutes, and despite the cost, it felt worthwhile.

A row of colourful half-timbered houses with red shutters along a canal, with wooden terraces over the water and a low bridge at the left. — Little Venice from the boat.

A tall red building with a decorated stepped gable and a restaurant terrace beside the canal, between half-timbered houses, under a blue sky with a few clouds. — A red-fronted building beside the canal.

Back to Basel

After the boat ride, I made my way back to the station. By about half past three, I was on the train, watching the flat fields of Alsace go by, with hills along the horizon.

Wide ploughed and green fields stretching to a line of low hills, under a sky of scattered white clouds, seen from a train. — Fields from the train back towards Basel.

That evening, I was back in Basel. The next day, I would cross another border, this time into Germany.