Riquewihr, Kayserberg and Breisach

 When we departed River Queen at our first stop in Breisach, Germany, our tour group of thirty guests, which was the normal size for Uniworld's excursions, quickly met up and departed on one of the Uniworld buses that shadowed our cruising route on land so as to be available with trusted drivers at each port. 

With a delightful French accent, our guide introduced herself as an Alsace resident and began telling us about the region.  Before leaving the German side of the river, she pointed out the solar panels on many of the buildings, noting Germany's push to alternative energy and said that would be in contrast to the French side, which had gone in the direction of nuclear power and therefore didn't have the somewhat unsightly modern panels perched on otherwise quaint buildings.

We would be calling on two Alsatian villages, with our first stop being the 16th century village of Riquewihr, France.  Having watched Disney's Beauty and the Beast many times with our family, I couldn't help thinking of Belle walking through the village at the beginning of the movie. 

According to our guide, inside its original medieval walls, Riquewihr survived World War II pretty much undamaged through a simple strategy. The townspeople abandoned the city rather than fighting to stay.  Apparently the Nazis found no good reason to destroy the village, so when the war ended, the residents returned and reclaimed their buildings and any other personal possessions still there.

 Following our knowledgeably guided tour of this quaint village, including time to walk about on our own, we headed down the scenic road toward Kayserberg, France, another stop the Route de Vins d'Alsace (Alsace Wine Route).  Some enjoyed a glass of wine at one or both of these villages, but it seemed a bit early in the day for us.  Not to worry.   On board the ship, we would be served wines of Alsace along with dinner, and also with lunch or in the lounge before and after dinner for any so inclined, at no additional charge.

While Kayserberg did not survive the WWII in tact, it has been rebuilt essentially as it was.  Many men of Alsace, including Kayserberg, were involuntarily conscripted by the Nazis and sent to die as cannon fodder on the Eastern Front and elsewhere.

By the way, the German village names date from long before the Nazi invasion.  The Alsace region, including the large city of Strasbourg we would be visiting the next day on our cruise, has changed nationalities many times over the centuries, but these villages kept their names even when the French had won the previous battle.

We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion and can't believe the alternative tour to Colmar, which is a bigger city that's also part of the Route de Vins could have possibly been better, but when we returned to River Queen for a delicious lunch, those who visited Colmar felt the same about their choice.

The optional Black Forest Tour offered in the afternoon at an additional charge in line with typical cruise line shore excursion prices probably would have been amazing too, but we were ready to head out to explore the port town of Breisach on our own.

Allied bombing of the Third Reich destroyed about 85% of Breisach, but we found plenty to see.