Top Ten France Off-the-Beaten-Path Adventures

Fused with German culture yet stubbornly French, Alsace serves up the imposing Vosges Mountains and wild valleys, plus Rhine Valley wines and Franco-German cuisine. It all makes for a great canoe trip. About four miles (seven kilometers) north of Colmar, you can launch a canoe or set sail down the Ill River for the day. Put in at Illhausen and soon this river—with its strong current but no rapids—coasts through the forest of Illwald. Stop at a number of villages dotting this woodland route for a well-priced lunch of fried carp, pike, or eel. Wash it all down with a smooth Tokay or Riesling wine. Watch for the "dains," Alsatian white deer exclusive to the region, as well as storks, gray herons, kingfishers, and beavers. Finish at Illebersmunster.