“Thud thud thud” went my luggage along the incessant cobblestone path from the train station to the hotel as I ruthlessly chanted in my mind “this better be worth it, this better be worth it”.
It didn’t help either that the hotel was so buried in the morass of streets that is Colmar the six of us had collectively exhausted enough footsteps to hike back to Melbourne.
Needless to say, we were famished when we finally found the clandestine charm, aka Hotel Le Rapp, only to be told that their restaurant had closed for the night, along with most of the other eateries in town.
“But wait, let me try something for you”, the motherly hotel clerk had had a light bulb moment, God bless her. She called up the nearby restaurant ‘Le Sereno’.
Her sweet French accent melted off her tongue. "Good even-ing, 'ow are you ? …Yes I’m well, thank you. These lovely girls ‘ave just come ‘ere after a long journey – but they haven’t had dinner yet…would you mind kipping your restaurant open for a bit longer please?...Perfect!"
Having just been in a hostel in Paris where we were told to buy our own water after asking for a cupful, the hospitality at Colmar was refreshing.
The restaurateurs were on a tier of their own. Expressing no exasperation at us casually strolling in an hour later (after getting lost. Again), they let us take our time ordering, and even went to the lengths of bringing out ingredients from the kitchen to show them to us, when the language barrier prevented us from understanding what was in the food.
But if the hospitality (and the amazing ‘Sleeping Beauty’ style sleep inducing beds) doesn’t pique your wanderlust, the quaint town centre is certainly one that calls for appreciation. The place is timeless. Hours pass by unnoticed. I have fond memories of running around on the grass, followed by cloud watching, in one of the pocket parks dressed with pathways and streams, and a feeling of beautiful and utter happiness coming over me. A crisp late afternoon breeze then wafted the sweet concoction of saxophone and accordion our way. Such jovial sounds lifted the ambiance; I struggled to keep my feet still and danced in the middle of the street.
The cobblestones (yes, the very same), the combined culture of Germany and France, the little glimpses of the streams leading to the main river, the flora..,in four words, Colmar’s atmosphere is best described as a colourful, relaxing, beautiful fantasy – a real life storybook town. It surely was worth it.
