French fancies ...

Last weekend I had the pleasure of jetting off to Basel to meet my best friend for a girly weekend of pampering and relaxation!  She picked me up on the French side (there's a Swiss exit also) and we drove about half an hour north. We had already made reservations at the Hotel Verte Vallee, located in Munster in the heart of the Alsace region. The hotel is situated within a beautiful park alongside the River Fecht. It was a beautiful time to go as the autumnal colours where in full show and the weather was crisp and cold with a light mist in the morning. 

relaxing by the pool

Our primary reason for going was for the spa treatments. The hotel has a wellness centre with a small gym, swimming and jacuzzi pools and a sauna.. and the products they use for their face and body treatments at the spa are Thalgo and La Sultane de Saba. I had a Thalgo hyaluronique facial treatment which lasted an hour. It was a very relaxing experience and my skin felt clean and hydrated afterwards. This was followed by a back massage, but I wish they had done this before the facial as I then had to put my freshly cleansed face onto a towel which I felt absorbed the creams from my skin. No matter, I left the treatment room feeling very relaxed with a cup of herbal tea. I floated down to the indoor pool and spent the afternoon reading on a lounger and dipping in the jacuzzi and pool. We also made time to walk into the town on the Saturday morning where they had a market in typical French style.  Stalls and custom built vans with counters full of fresh produce, cheeses, meats, pastries etc.

Colmar

On our last day we checked out of the hotel and drove to the town of Colmar to get more of a sense of the region. We had a lovely lunch of tarte flambe and wandered around the town.  All the shops are closed on a Sunday but it was nice to take in the air and the architecture of this pretty old town. 

Almost forgot to mention that the food was delicious, although very French = tasty but rich! .. and the wine from the region was also very good.  We sampled the Crémant d'Alsace (methode champenoise) and the Pino Noir also from the region which was highly recommended by the Sommelier at the hotel restaurant. Well he would say that wouldn't he .. but he was right. It was the perfect companion for the dishes we had.  All in all, a lovely relaxed weekend.

I flew with Swiss airlines from London City Airport to Basel which took only 1 hour and 15 minutes. The flights and hotel were very reasonably priced making it a very do-able long weekend treat! Bonne journée!