I was fortunate to have arrived near the old part of Colmar—as I later discovered, it is considerably larger than first impressions suggest. There are numerous signs pointing to the old town and Petite Venise. I drove around the old town and its narrow cobbled lanes, to familiarize myself with the place while on the lookout for a comfortable hotel. Eventually, I found one not too far from the best part of Colmar, the Hôtel Turenne (www.turenne.com, 33 3 89-21-58-58), a comfortable two-star with helpful staff and an in-house car

Unlike small towns which try to paint themselves as isolated art centres and fail because they lack the culture, Colmar has no problem standing tall

park.
   Car parking inside the Turenne, on the route de Bâle (it really isn’t that far from Basel) is tight, but thanks to the desk clerk, who guided me in, I managed to get into a small spot. The rooms are similarly small, though with the comfort one expects from a two-star.
   Old Colmar and la Petite Venise are walking distance from the Turenne, so I began exploring. A walk in Colmar, without any particular target, is worthwhile. Thanks to the Allies’ decision during the war, the wooden houses and the cobbled lanes take one back to another age. Every lane in the old town is filled with colour, from restaurants and bars to antique shops and bakeries. Colmar has the artistry that cities try so hard to emulate—and happily, it possesses it genuinely. Unlike other small towns, which try to paint themselves as isolated art centres and fail because they really lack the culture, Colmar has no problem standing tall.
   The musical experience in Colmar, from the concerts to the buskers, is of the highest calibre. The 56th Foire aux Vins d’Alsace is due to take place from August 8 to 17, 2003, with a major concert each day. I can recommend the Colmar International Festival in early July, with concerts at the Église St-Matthieu and other venues, where one can expect works from composers such as Bach, Chopin, Dvořák and Shaskatovich.
   Not all of it rests on its history. Those reading guidebooks will have discovered that Colmar was once home to Grunewald and Frédéric Bartholdi, the man who created the Statue of Liberty. Grunewald’s work can still be seen in the Unterlinden Museum, housed in a convent next to the tourist office.
   Even the layperson is in to art. Parked illegally on the Grand’ Rue was an old Volkswagen Golf. Presumably, someone from one of the stores it had blocked, either Original Design, the furniture store specializing in 1950s to 1970s designs, or the boulangerie next door to it, had painted on its front and rear windows in true Magritte style: ‘Ceci n’est pas un place de stationnement’. Was this a dry dose of Alsatian humour or art in a living sense?

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TOP OF PAGE: At the canal in Petite Venise—no rides on Monday. ABOVE RIGHT, FROM TOP: Another view of Colmar’s Petite Venise area. The restaurants: to the lower left of the photograph is Les Bateliers, where the author dined. In the centre of the old town, preparing for a wine-tasting. An illegally parked Volkswagen Golf with a tribute to Magritte on its windshield and rear glass.