Our holiday began in Eguisheim, located in the Alsatian vineyards, 60 km north of Basel Airport, instead of starting in Basel due to unforeseen circumstances. Part of the wine country, it is a small village with 1800 people surrounded by vineyards on all sides.
The village is quaint and was rated as one of the most beautiful villages in France. Pope Leo XI was from this town and there’s a statue and chapel dedicated to him. Wolfberger at the beginning of the town offers free wine tasting and has decent Pinot Noir. An evening stroll landed us at the community cultural centre where a group of youngsters invited us to join them for the evening at 7 pm. After a short leisurely stroll closer to the vineyards, we returned to the centre to find that a few elders from the town had joined the youngsters for the evening.
We were warmly welcomed by everyone. They had brought their own wine bottles, food as well as deserts. Bernard, a teacher and council member, had been to India 35 years ago and had fond memories of Rajasthan, Ladakh and Benaras. He and his wife became our hosts for the evening. They were shortly joined by Philippe who had lived for 16 years in the UK before returning to Eguisheim to take care of his elderly parents. A caterer by profession, he loves Indian food and can make pork vindaloo too! Sebastian from the nearby town of Strassbourg had helped organise the evening as a platform to showcase the talent of the youngsters in the community as well as make it an evening of enjoyment. There were some mime acts to help the audience guess names of movies followed by live music.
They shared their wine and food with us and for dessert there was an exceptional Apple Tart made by Bernard followed by cakes. Phillip also helped me have a couple of rolled cigarettes for the first time in my life. Global warming seems to have affected this region which earlier had hot summers and cold winters and with plentiful snow. This village also invited and welcomed a refugee family from Mosul, Iraq in 2013.
We cannot guarantee you will get the same experience, but the warmth that we received was absolutely amazing. Find a day to stay if you are in the vicinity. It is close to Basel Airport and summer is the best time to visit
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