Riquewihr to Schirmeck

Travelled: 99km

Stay: near Natzwiller   48.45294, 7.25483 

Started with a short drive to Riquewihr and parked in the paid Aire/parking and used the services. We had a stroll through the town with its typical colombage houses and cobbled streets, but we thought it wasn't as good as the towns we visited yesterday. 

Our next stop was Bergheim, which we enjoyed more and was much less touristy. 

This is an insect house in a garden!

Having our fill of typical villages we headed for the medieval castle, however the road to the parking area was gridlock. We managed to do a U turn and escape. We continued on our way into the mountains to Schirmeck, to visit the Alsace Moselle Memorial. It focused on the areas change of nationality between French and German from 1870 to 1945, but especially during WWII. It was very informative and their displays exceptional. After 2 1/2 hours, we were feeling a little worn out and decided to visit the near by concentration camp tomorrow.

This is part of the Maginot Line. Which was an elaborate, mostly subterranean defence network built before WWII along the German border. It worked in a sense, as the Germans did not come through this defence line but rather around it, invading France from Belgium!