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Thanks so much for stopping by! I believe that everyone can have a beautiful home without spending a fortune! One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to re-purpose things I already have on hand, or have picked up at yard sales and thrift stores. Join me as I share with you some of my favorite ideas for crafting and decorating, as well as travel adventures, and fun things that I pick up on my treasure hunts! Much of my work is influenced by my love all things French, nature, and of course shabby chic! I have gotten so many creative ideas from you very talented bloggers out there, and I hope that I can be an inspiration to you as well!

Monday, September 24, 2012

A Visit to the French Countryside

Bon Jour Mon Amis!
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Today I thought I'd share with you more photos of our trip to the Alsace region of France.
The city of Colmar was full of amazing half timber buildings, and like much of the region, was heavily influenced by nearby Germany.  As a matter of fact, a large portion of the area had once belonged to Germany, and Austria at one time, too.

I was ooohing and aaahing over all of the flowers, and pretty shutters, too!  Especially the blue and turquoise ones!
Aren't the flowers amazing?
A river ran right thru Colmar, making it even more picturesque!  I called all of these towns and villages "fairy tale villages", as it felt like we were walking right thru a story book!
The next shots were taken in the quaint little medieval walled village of Bergheim.  Isn't this painted shutter just adorable?!!  It even has their initials on it!
I was having so much fun just soaking up the details, such as this sweet little shuttered window filled with pots of succulents.
I thought of all of you when I saw this neat old mannequin in a winery.  Sure wish that I could have taken her home!  Speaking of wineries, the Alsace region is known for their many vineyards.  We followed the "Route des Vins" (wine route), and visited a bunch of wineries and had fun doing lots of wine tasting!
We didn't have any hotel reservations til we got to Paris, so we just played it by ear each day as to where we would spend the night.  Like many of the other pretty little villages that we visited, most of them we just happened to stumble upon, including Bergheim, which was one of our favorites!  We managed to get the very last room available in the hotel below for one night.  It was amazing!  The building was once a farm, and they've kept much of the original features, such as the old stone walls and interior beams.  We loved it so much, I could have spent an entire week here!
Our room was on the 2nd level, and this interior open air courtyard was right outside our door.
We had the best dinner that night at their restaurant, below!  Notice the old fashioned pumpkin?
Love!
I was interested to learn that family who owns the hotel (and also a winery), has been making wine in this same little village since 1737!
The lower level had the most amazing pool (piscine) that we took a dip in.  Notice the old stone walls and beams?  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the sides of the pool are old wine barrels.  How neat is that?
Here's hubby at the entrance to the village.
And yours truly (having a bad hair day, I might add!  What on earth happened to my usual bangs?!), enjoying the sunshine and flowers.
That's it for now.  I'll be sharing lots of photos of our trip to Paris in upcoming posts.
Hope you all have a tres magnifique week!

6 comments:

Susie said...

DONNA !!! Your pictures made me wish I was there. I am going to look at this post again later today.:):) Smiles, to you, Susie

Bente said...

Hi Donna. Beautiful France. It`s so special. So nice to see your photos.

Hugs

Susan EvelynAndRose said...

Oh Donna, how picturesque and beautiful these places are! Truly a fairy tale village as you described. So happy you enjoyed your trip. I can't wait to see more of your Paris visit. Ooh la la!
You look adorable, bangs or no! :)

Musings from Kim K. said...

Sigh...it's all so lovely. Very much like a fairy tale. More please!

john said...

Wonderful photos Debbie.... It's such a rainy ,grey English today and so is lovely to look at your fabulous holiday piccies...including the one of you looking nice without bangs !! (I think thats what we call a fringe over here ??) Gail x

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Your trip looks amazing, Donna...and the photos are pure eye candy!