Foire aux vins?
When is a Wine Fair not a Wine Fair? When it's The Wine Fair! Ok - not funny, but true. I refer of course to the famous Foire aux vins which takes place every August in Colmar. With such a name, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this particular festival had something to do with wine. Nothing could be further from the truth however. Unfortunately this doesn't stop hundreds of curious visitors making their way to the festival in Colmar each year and asking themselves "So where's the wine?" soon after getting through the turnstiles. (Which is precisely what my cousin and I did a few weeks ago.) What wine there is at the Fair you have to pay between 1.50 - 5.00 a glass to taste, and there are no spittoons - so you have to swallow. However, you may have trouble locating the viticulturists in between the double-glazing and farm machinery stands, but then this is not a wine-tasting event per se, it is simply local show that has evolved into something of a mutating beast with [...]