Clervaux to Colmar

Day three of my first solo motorcycle trip across Europe took me from Clervaux in the North of Luxembourg to Colmar a beautiful medieval town on the Franco-German border.

It was a sweltering 36°c and I was baking in my leathers, so I stopped off at the French city of Nancy to stretch my legs and enjoy an ice-cream at the epic Place Stanislas; a huge pedestrianised square right in the city centre.

I was soon back on the road and arrived at Colmar late afternoon. I checked into my hotel (the gorgeous green timbered building on the right hand side of the photograph at the top of the page), where my attic room treated me to the most incredible view of the canal.

Colmar is a beautiful city, especially in the old town, where you'll find perfectly preserved renaissance buildings and cobblestone streets around every corner. It feels very German, which is pretty typical of the towns and villages this close to the border.

By this time, I'd ridden almost 1,000 miles from home and my arse was killing me. Thankfully my room included a jacuzzi, so I was able to ease the pain a little before heading out for the evening.

There's no shortage of places to eat and drink in Colmar, with tons of restaurants and cafes with seating outside - perfect on a warm summer's evening. The cuisine is quite Germanic here too, with plenty of sausage and sauerkraut on offer.

The architecture in Colmar is breathtaking; tons of perfectly preserved semi-timbered buildings and the jazziest church roof I'd ever seen on St Martin's, right in the bosom of the old town.

This, along with the rest of the Alsatian wine region, is the perfect roadtrip for motorcyclists and a part of the world I'll definitely be coming back to one day.

These photographs were taken on my Olympus Pen micro four thirds camera and the extraordinary Panasonic 15mm f1.7 DG ASPH - one of my all time favourite lenses.