Day 5. 21st April 2024.
Landau in Der Pfalz, Germany to Colmar and Eguisham, France.
Lots of rain on and off overnight and a rather chilly start to the day this morning.
We decided to head for Colmar, a smaller version of Strasbourg but just as pretty, hoping that we may get some improvement on the weather – or at least enough for us to have a look around.
The route took us south, running parallel with the Black Forest, which we had been informed by Marie Claire, was covered in snow. We did actually see glimpses of the snow covered mountains from the motorway, that’s when we weren’t driving though our own snowstorm or two 
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We really must come back when the weather is better to enjoy this area at its best. Yesterday we spotted lots of people harvesting crops but today we saw none. It would have been a miserable day for those working outside, that’s for sure.
We arrived at a dedicated motorhome parking area in Colmar (Camping-car parking lot Henry Wilhelm), we were pleased to see that as it was Sunday, parking was free 
.
It was just a short walk to the centre of the old town, and not long before we were walking through the medieval cobbled streets.
Colmar is certainly a ‘chocolate box’ town. There are a multitude of ancient houses and shops, selling tourist goods or artisan gifts.
They also seemed to still be celebrating Easter which was lovely. Decorations were still up around the cathedral and there were quite a few market stalls.
One of the stalls was selling vin chaud 
, oh yes please 
. It was nice to hear Jane and Andrew appreciate this pretty little place, in-between darting for cover from hail and rain showers .
Colmar was busy with tourists, keeping the wally trains running all day, but, due to it being Sunday the town itself was a bit sleepy. It was better at Little Venice which had a good choice of restaurants and cafes.
Taking the opportunity to get out of the rain and cold, we popped into one for Tarte Flambe (thin crust pizza with ham, onions, cheese and cream to you and me) 
. The drivers had coffees and the co- pilots had cider and beer 
.
You definitely need to see Colmar in the warmer weather or at Christmas to get the best of it. We missed quite a lot today so I’ve advised A&J to definitely put it on another trip’s list for another day. One of those being the birthplace of Batholdi, father of the Statue of Liberty. A scaled down resin example waits to greet you to the town on one of the roundabouts 
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We could have stayed the night in the parking area, but had planned to camp at another little beauty we had seen on Instagram – Eguisham. It’s only about 20 mins drive away and there’s an ACSI campsite close to the town.
The check-in was a little painful, a very helpful lady was loading us with information even though she knew we were only staying one night. Eventually we got onto the site and pitched up in a nice little spot.
Our intention had been to wander around Eguisham this afternoon but, everytime one of us stepped out of the vans the rain came. We told the lady on reception we had a permanent raincloud following us around, and that she would be pleased when we left tomorrow 
.
Anyway, I made cottage pie with broccoli and peas for dinner. It was lush, was scoffed by all, none left for the dogs and followed by cinnamon bun cake from Colmar .
A few more days of bad weather and then I think we’ll lose our raincloud in the tunnels and passes as we get closer to Italy.
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