Arriving in Colmar

As I write this, I am sitting on a large sectional sofa, windows pushed open, and a sweet French breeze is wafting past my face. Rocky is on our television, but the sound is drowned out by the ringing of the church bells, letting us know it is 5pm in Colmar. Behind me, in the kitchen, I have a pot of duck soup simmering, and I have to say, it smells pretty incredible. Rusty is at the other end of the couch, working on our Instagram account, trying to stir up a little more blog business. You see, ever since my blog was deleted by my host back in January, we have been struggling to keep the traffic afloat. Google and Pinterest have both punished me, which means far less traffic, which means far less income. This blog was to be our living expenses, but that January hit has made life a little tougher than it needs to be.

So, we work. We concentrate on creating posts you may like to read, photos you may like to see, recipes you may like to try. Today, though, I am just writing to you to let you know we made it to France, and are settling in to this fairytale town.

Have you been to Busch Gardens?

Colmar is exactly like Busch Gardens, except real life. The buildings are colorful, pastel hues and wooden beams. Shuttered windows filled with flowering windowboxes, streets of cobblestone that residents walk down the middle of, as cars are few and far between. The shops throw their doors and windows wide open, with the aroma of fresh bread or handmade soaps or perfumes meandering out into the streets. There is no shortage of specialty sweet shops – it seems that every other storefront is a chocolatier, filled to the brim with custom Easter bunnies, or a patisserie overflowing with tarts and brioche. Glaciers with piles of flavorful ice creams, waffle and creperies on every corner just luring you in with the sweet smells of their sugary confections.

I have certainly fallen victim.

So far, despite our budget, I have pushed us over in the name of “blog research” – from a homemade salted caramel sauce with fleur de sel, to freshly baked brioche, to accidentally buying $35 of caramel nougat. I can’t tell you exactly how that happened, but, it happened, and well, I intend to enjoy every bite of that $35 mistake. We’ve shared a chocolate covered waffle on the street. We’ve shared a Gourmaderie filled with pastry cream and chocolate chips. We had dinner at an outdoor café last night, where my entire meal consisted of diced potatoes layered with four kinds of cheeses – goat cheese, brie, emmenthal, and comte. And here I was expecting to be low carb this trip.

Yeah, going to have to reconsider that idea. Maybe walk 15 miles a day? It’s certainly possible here, as this town is stunning and there is always something beautiful to look at. We’ve wandered over to Le Petit Venise, the area of town that everyone Instagrams. It’s lovely, for sure, so picturesque. The canals weaving between centuries old buildings, flowers spilling over the banisters and in pots lining every balcony.  But Little Venice isn’t the only beauty here…it is everywhere.  Literally everywhere. I can’t stop taking photos.

Next week, the Easter Markets begin, and vendors will be out in droves hawking their wares. I can’t imagine it being anymore amazing than it already is, but, supposedly it’s even more charming than normal. I am anxious to see what all they have for sell…you can only go broke once, right?

Stay tuned for lots of posts from Colmar, and even a few recipes. Like – for that Duck Soup, and very soon, a French Toast stuffed with cream cheese and caramel. I can’t wait to not fit in my jeans thanks to that one.

Have a great weekend everyone!