Turn to the cobbled footway towards the Collegiate Church of St. Martin, with its gothic gargoyles and rounded roof tiles that resemble colourful fish scales shimmering in the sunlight. The earliest parts of the chuch date back to 1,000, which is the arch above the doorhas 14 carved figures including aone holding a T-Square, representing the architect who designed this part of the chuch, also called the old town cathedral. Take a look at the scene above the door that depicts St. Nicholas saving the three daughters of a poor man from being sold into lives of dishonour. The interior is not as spectacular as most of its treasures, including Virgin and the Rosebush and the 14th-century altarpiece, which has been moved elsewhere for safe-keeping. Although, if you are lucky, you can hear a flautist or choir rehearsing.

After taking a visit to the interior of the church, exit the same way you entered and take a left turn and then a right and you'd be on Rue de Boulangerie or Baker Street! This was where the breadmakers used to set up shop. And it is also on this avenue that the Bartholdi Hotel stands. If you keep on walking straight ahead, you will eventually get to the Place d'Unter Linden and end up at the Musuem of Unter Linden.

Proceed down the stairs on the right and walk along the canal towards Rue de la Poisonnerie, the fishermen's district where they used to peddle their catch of the day. The district opposite the bank of the river was once inhabited by market gardeners who used to sell their vegetables and fruits from barges on the river (very much like Bangkok's water market today). It still retains the original name of KRUTENAU, meaning vegetable waterway.

Pass through the alley towards Quai de la Poisonnerie, where you will see some of the most colourful houses of the town. Tradition has it that at one point, when the townsfolk were not literate, they had to paint the houses in different colours for easy identification. Look out for the restaurant on your left with its trompe l'oeil mural as you pass the Natural History Museum towards the bridge.

Cross the bridge and cut through the covered market on Rue des Ecoles, which is now a parking lot housing the monument commemorating the Alsatian winegrowers. Continue on to Rue St Jean and the leather maker's district, on Rue des Tanneurs, towards Place de L'Ancienne Douane and the Koifhus, a warehouse where customs duties were collected and paid on all merchandise passing through Colmar from Italy, Champagne, and Flanders. Completed in 1480, it was Colmar's symbol of political and economic power. The town's coat of arms decorates its stained glass window. In 1771, General Rapp was born here in the gatekeeper's house. In late gothic style, it depicts the two-headed imperial eagle of the Habsburgs. The other buildings on the middle and left are done in a Renaissance style (c.1575).

Go around the corner or cut across the courtyard of the Koifhus towards Rue de Marchand where you will find one of the most spectacular wooded buildings in the town. Maison Pfister, built in 1537, it was restored in 1971. It features yellow sandstone with a corner oriel window and a wooden gallery on the second floor painted in a biblical theme with scenes from the Old Testament. One minute away from the Pfister is the house where Frederic Bartholdi once lived. It is here in the studio where he conceived the Statue of Liberty. The house is now a museum containing a collection of replicas and early models for the American icon who stands at the gateway of New York Harbour.

. . . continued in Part 2.