Eguisheim & Riquewihr

I didn't know this before, but apparently there are two towns in France that both say they're the inspiration for the village in Beauty & the Beast.  One is called Eguisheim, and the other is called Riquewihr.  They're close to Germany, so they still have German-ish sounding names.

The Ls, As, and I went on a day trip to visit both of them.  First we went to Eguisheim.

Eguisheim was the smaller of the two and very quaint and cute.  Surprisingly, not a lot of tourists were there.  We were able to amble around the stone streets without having to push through crowds.  It was a Sunday too, so local people had tables out on the streets and were selling things.  The things were sometimes handmade crafts, but most of the time, it was odds and ends and bits of junk.  A weekend flea market of sorts.

Almost all the houses had something like this written over their front doors.  I'm guessing it says when the house was built?

A decoration featuring the animals from the tale The Musicians of Bremen

Eguisheim is constructed in an oval shape, and the road we walked went in a loop all the way around.  

The town's church

A view from a window in the churchyard's wall

The town did look like a prime spot for a young French woman to walk around, singing about her provincial life.

Next we went to Riquewihr.

Riquewihr was also pretty and cute, but it was larger and had more tourists.

We bought sugared pretzels at one spot and then coffees at another.

An ornate metal sign advertising the shop beneath it

I loved the bright colors of the buildings in both villages.  I also really wanted to know what the story behind the painting in the above photo was.

My coffee!

Both towns were lovely, and I was happy to explore both of them.  I think I'd vote Eguisheim though as the more Beauty & the Beast-like though because it was smaller, cozier, and had fewer tourists.  There was also a ruined castle near the two villages.  We didn't go there but who knows, maybe that was where the beast lived.  ( ;