05/04/2026 – “Take the last train to Strasbourg, and I’ll meet you at the station…”
Okay, that’s not how the song by the Monkees actually goes, but it was kind of appropriate. We decided to be daring and take the train from Strasbourg to Colmar, a charming town 30 minutes down the rails. We are train rookies, so this was out of our comfort zone. But the huge – and we mean huge! – train station was right across the street from our hotel. After eating a pastry we had picked up last night, we walked over and looked at the ATM-like machines which dispensed tickets. We stood there looking at them and stood there looking at them. We tried pushing some buttons, but being train newbies is difficult enough without being train newbies who don’t speak the local language, too. We thought there had to be a ticket booth with live – if not fluent English-speaking – humans working it. And at the very end of the huge terminal, there it was. We stood in line and spoke with an agent who was very helpful. We got tickets to Colmar and back for the same day. The agent advised us that we only had 7 minutes before the next train left. We went to find our train and could not figure which of the various tracks was our train. We asked a railroad worker, and we thought she said Track 6. But, as we passed underneath the various platforms, we did not see one for Colmar. After a series of confusing starts and fits, we found a train, asked the attendant if this was the correct train to Colmar, and boarded. Phew, we still had a couple of minutes. There were the usual overhead announcements, which we did not understand. We noticed that the train had not left yet although it was now several minutes past the time to depart. We then noticed several people leaving the train. Then, we finally noticed that many of them were surrounding the agent asking many questions. We finally slunk off the train and found out the train had been taken out of service. Wah, wah, wah…
We went back to the main terminal and asked some security officers which train we should take now. They did not know, but it wasn’t because they were unhelpful or rude. The track for the next train to Colmar had not been announced yet. We found that out when speaking with a man from Taiwan who was also trying to board the train. After speaking with him for a while, the Track number for our train flashed on the screen and we took off for the area. Dave wanted to stop and ask someone, “Pardon me boy, is that the Colmar choo-choo?” But he was afraid that someone would tell him, “Yes, yes, Track 29!” That would be bad because there were not 29 Tracks! We eventually ended up in Colmar about 30 minutes later and high-fived ourselves!
We exited the station and were trying to determine what we wanted to do in this town. We overheard some people speaking English and they were staying at a hotel in the historic section of town. We decided to follow them. Bad idea. They did not know where they were going. So, Dave pulled out his phone, asked them what hotel they were staying at, entered it into Google maps, and started guiding these people from Australia to their hotel! Ten or fifteen minutes later, we dropped them off at their fancy hotel and started wandering around the old town. The man had told Dave that the restaurant at the hotel was a Michelin 2-star restaurant, so… they would be eating in a pub elsewhere! Dave later looked at the prices for their restaurant. They started at 135 euros and went to 150 euros for one meal! The pub was probably a great idea.
We wandered around Colmar enjoying all of the half-timbered houses and buildings and the canals/streams. Colmar was the home of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the builder of the Statue of Liberty. We got some drinks and sat on a bench in a park and watched the storks roosting in the sycamore trees. While sitting there, we chatted up a couple seated next to us. Turns out, they are from Niagara-on-the-Lake, just over the Canadian border from where we live! Small world after all…
After having our fill of the charming town, we headed back to Strasbourg on the train with no issues whatsoever. We walked back into town to find some dinner. Kathy had a very traditional Alsatian dinner with sausage, pork, and sauerkraut, while Dave had a nice chicken dinner in a mustard sauce. It was a nice way to end our last day in Alsace-Lorraine.