This is the Best Place to Visit in France! (French Fairytale Towns)

So I know when you think of fairy tales here in France, you're probably thinking of Disneyland here in Paris. But what if I told you, you could come and see the villages that inspired those fairy tales? So welcome to Colmar here in France. And as you can see, this is the place that inspired the villages in Beauty and the Beast. If this spot in France isn't on your bucket list yet, you need to add it to it. Hey, everyone. We're Stephen, Jess and Little Hunter, an Australian family who just arrived in their final country on our epic European getaway. From eating too much pasta in Italy to boarding the world's largest cruise ship, hiking mountain cliffs in Switzerland to catching ferries in Scotland before picking up a van in England. But now we are in France, ready to tackle this adventure before saying our goodbyes to Europe for the summer. Just woken up, opened up our window. What a perfect fairy tale view from our Airbnb. Not even in like the most pretty part yet and still amazed by just the street that we are staying in. But a lot of people, I would say, when coming out to the Alsace region, which is where we are in France, stay in Strasbourg because it's a much bigger city. But we decided we want to stay in the small cities because a lot of people day trip to come out to Colmar. But it means we can wake up in the morning and have this tiny, petite town all to ourselves. Tell me it doesn't feel like that we've just stepped off the pages of a real life fairy tale book. So something that makes the Alsace region so unique is that because it borders Germany, there's a lot of French and German influence. Hence why we get these beautiful half timbered fairy tale houses. And that influence doesn't just apply to the architecture. When we're going to lunch, we're not getting a pretzel, but getting a pretzel. Can we first take a moment to appreciate how beautiful that bakery is behind me? But we found ourselves some pretzels and then we were googling because we thought pretzel was like a special word here in France. But a pretzel is a pretzel. Is this the German way of saying pretzel? So we got some pretzels. We got some pretzels. So I'm guessing they're going to taste like the ones that we had in Germany. But hey, we're in France. They're selling pretzels. We may as well try some. So we've got a cheese one and a plain one. Which one do you want? Let's do the cheese one. OK, what do you think? The cheese is good. That is a good cheese pretzel pretzel. Mm hmm. They're good. They're not all hard and stale. Probably because it's fresh. It is fresh. So this morning, we've headed out to a little place called Little Venice, and I can see why the streets are lined with canals. And we have the most picture perfect houses here. I just cannot believe places like this are real. There is a love lock bridge here with that background and a swan coming past. What a romantic spot to have a love lock bridge. Did you find a heart? Yeah, the mama heart. Mama heart. Our very own heart. Oh, Hunter, mom and dad. And I've got the key. We? It's open. And now you put the heart on here. You choose a spot. Just hopped on a boat. We're going to go take it down Little Venice and Little Hunter's got herself a little crepe for breakfast. What do you think? Your first crepe. Very French, aren't you? Or do you want to do a big bite like this? Oh, she's ready. She's ready. Can you say au revoir? Oui. Crepe. Oh no, duck down. Duck down, duck down. Down, down, down, head down. Head down. Oh no. Watch your head. We did it. Oh dear. It's one of those towns that every corner you turn, you think you've seen the most beautiful part and it just keeps getting more stunning. This boat ride, I have to recommend it because going through here, you're just sailing down. It's stunning. That's an Airbnb. Isn't it? Oh, my goodness. That's so big. What a beautiful Airbnb. I want to stay here. Wow. And just like that, we have cruised outside of the town of Colmar into almost a fairytale forest. There are birds chirping, it's so peaceful. What town can you come to where this is what the restaurants look like? Want to try? We were just walking along and I saw a little biscuit shop. I wasn't even going to look in there, but then I could smell the biscuits. They got us with the free sample. Well, that's the thing. I could smell the biscuits, went up, free sample, and I've walked out with a bag of biscuits. They are delicious. Cheers, Hunter. Cheers. Good choice, Bubba. Now, should we go on a choo-choo train? You ready? Yes. OK, Daddy's coming, Daddy's coming. Close the door, Dad. Choo-choo, here we go. Hello, green train. Oh, hello, green train. So usually when we get to a city, we like to go on a walking tour, get a little bit of information to find out what we're seeing. Of course, we've got a little one. It's the same thing. We're going on a choo-choo train. Kill two birds with one stone. She's happy. We get to learn about the town. One of Hunter's many talents? So it's interesting, this city, it's been ping-ponging back between owned by France, owned by Germany. 1919, after the First World War, it went back to France, and then in World War II, it went back to Germany, until it came back to France. So that's why you see this mixture of the two cultures. I'm a horsey. Hunter, do you want to give the ticket to the man? Merci. Merci, Francesc. If you guys want a hint, we're going to be making three videos here in France, and I guarantee the connection between all three of the videos is going to be a merry-go-round. So take your guesses on where we're going to go. Today, we're saying goodbye to one fairy tale town here in France and heading to another. Hunter, where are we going? I'm going to Rainbow. So this morning, we've decided to go and see some of the other towns in the Alsace region, and we're heading to Strasbourg. So we just jumped on a train. Hunter, I'm sure we'll find a playground. Yeah. You can. Strasbourg is definitely a lot bigger than Colmar, where we're staying. I mean, you can fly from the UK in here, but it doesn't mean that because it's a bigger city that you're going to miss out on the cute little fairy tale houses. The buildings are still just as beautiful. There are half-timbered houses everywhere. But our first stop here is to go and see the cathedral. It's a Gothic cathedral built from like the 1100s to the 1400s. So it took a while, but it looks very unique. So we're going to walk it in. How unique does this look, Steve? It's really cool because the street we're walking down, you've got the half-timbered houses on either side and the cathedral right in front of us. Just realized what makes this cathedral so unique because as we were walking up, it almost looks like it's missing meat on it. Like it looks like a skeleton cathedral. So as you're walking in, it just, I don't know. That's what I thought, but it's also humongous. It is so stunning in here and it makes me happy and sad at the same time. I'm so happy that a beautiful cathedral like this has survived the war. I mean, the intricacies that you can see on the carvings, the statues, the stained glass window. They also have an astronomical clock here as well, which is so worth checking out. It goes like two, three stories up in the sky. But it's also sad at the same time because you just know how many beautiful places like this were destroyed, but very thankful that a cathedral as beautiful as this is still around today. We can walk around and enjoy. We just wanted to say a massive thank you to Wild for partnering up with us on this video and keeping us smelling fresh on the road. So we first came across Wild when we were cycling through Germany and Austria. And we just loved how we could get a travel deodorant that was natural, compact, refillable, and good for the environment. So a couple of things we definitely love is that one, they're personalized tins. I've got my Steven tin, Jess has her Jess tin. And because it's refillable, you can pretty much try a new scent every time you go through one. So I'm currently loving the fresh cotton and sea salt scent. And Jess is currently using the jasmine and mandarin scent at the moment. It's great because it's vegan, cruelty-free, aluminium-free, and made with all natural ingredients. And Wild had a fantastic impact on our planet, planting over 100,000 trees last year and saved over 61 tonnes of plastic waste. So we've been absolutely loving using Wild for travel. And they've been kind enough to give you guys a discount code. I'll link it just up here on the screen and I'll put it in the description below. So you can get 20% off your first purchase of a Wild deodorant and they're just gonna deliver it straight to your home. And they have a subscription option as well. Now, let's head back to the beach. ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ So we found a restaurant serving traditional Alsatian food. And we've been really wanting to try this one. It's called Tarte Flambe. And it's kind of like a French version of a pizza. Normally they serve it with cream, onion, and bacon. But here they replace the bacon with veggies. And look at this thing. It's like really flat, but really big. So we're gonna tuck into that soon. And we also went for an Alsatian onion pie. Looks really tasty. Kind of almost looks like a quiche. Should we dig in? What do we do first? It's funny, cause like the pie's super fat. And this is so thin. This is so thin. All right, let's dig into the pizza first. Pizza, the Tarte Flambe. Mm. Steve, that is so good. It's really good? It's almost like, I would say it's like a really thin pizza. It's like, it almost feels like it's been made on a wrap. And then there's cream on top. And then a bunch of veggies. And yes, Hunter is having some chippies. But if she's having French fries, is that still count? Seeing as we're in France? It's yummy, isn't it? Mm-hmm. Cream base rather than tomato. Cream base is really good. Yum. And they've like stacked those veggies on there. And then we've gone for a traditional pie, which is known in the region and it matches the fairy tale gingerbread house that we are currently sitting in front of. Like, look at that crust. Like, that's a grandma baked this for you. And it is- It looks so homemade. And then look how thick- It's like layers of onion. Mm. Does it taste like a quiche? It tastes like a quiche, yeah. Like a very onion-y though. Look at this. Super onion-y, but I wouldn't say it's like overpowering it that you feel like you're just eating layers of onions. But both really good starts to our little trip. Yummy, yummy. Yes. What one did you choose? This, this, this. Crème brûlée? Yes. Okay. You know, I was thinking about it. I feel like I've only had like one crème brûlée my whole life. And I can't really remember it. So what we do, I think, is you hit it and crack it. Oh, she's into it. Wait, you got this. Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack, crack. Yeah. Don't they do it on the show? They crack it? First French crème brûlée's day. I'm excited. Ooh. Custard. And then the top is like crunchy, hard sugar. Hunter, loving it. Is it tasty? So I literally do not like crème brûlée. I think it's because I'm not a huge fan of caramel. And the top is usually, because it's flamed, it turns the sugar into caramel. But my one rule is, if we're in a place where it's from, even if I don't like it, I give it a try. This is why I never get to order it, because you don't like it. It's good. Try it. It's yum. I 50% like it. I like the custard underneath, but I don't like the top. She doesn't like the top, Steve. She is you. She loves bread and doesn't like the top of crème brûlée. She is a little Stevie. I think my favorite thing about the half-timbered houses is how imperfectly perfect they are. Like, look at this. There's no straight lines going there. It's either over time, maybe the architect built it correctly, and then it's just kind of sagged down a bit. But it has character. It looks imperfect. It looks great. Should we get her? Oh, we've never gotten like a squishy one before. Yeah. Or a soft one. She's so cute. Let's get her. Okay. I really want to come back here for Christmas. I was just about to say. In there, they have the cutest little like pots and plates. It all had little gingerbread on it for Christmas. Oh. I feel like this area at Christmas time would just be magical. Welcome to Petite France. I cannot think of a more adorable name for this area. We've just been walking along the canals and they've just opened up to these picture-perfect houses with restaurants and little cafes lining the water. Absolutely beautiful. So you can come for a little walk along the river. Of course, you can catch a boat as well, but because we did it in Colmar, we decided to go for a walk. Gonna say it. Don't tell me that is straight out of a fairy tale. Right there. If this spot in France isn't on your bucket list yet, you need to add it to it. Can't tell you what the food is like. Can't even tell you what they serve there, but if you guys want a restaurant, go to this one here. Au Pointe Saint-Martin. Look at it. It's like this little thing on the water behind the houses. That would be a beautiful romantic spot for dinner. For the boat to get into Petit France, it's in a canal and they need to raise the water up. That's so cool. Oh no, wait, the doors are about to open. This little trip is reminding me so much of a few years ago. We actually went and did a kind of fairy tale inspired road trip through Germany. And it kind of feels like we're doing that again, except this time you just hear everyone speak in French. The cobblestones just put her to sleep and I cannot believe this pram is lasting.