Alsace is made up of two departments (the Bas-Rhin or Lower Rhine and the Haut-Rhin or Upper Rhine) stretching along the Rhine valley to the east of the Vosges mountains. It represents 1.7% of the surface area of France and 3% of its population.

Alsace is an agricultural area whose vineyards produce excellent white wines. The vines grow on hills overlooking the old towns of Colmar and Obernai and villages like Riquewihr and Kaysersberg with their carved houses, often still topped by storks's nests.

Village on the wine trail (Alsace)

But this is also an industrial region, particularly along the Rhine, where there are big cities like Mulhouse and Strasbourg, the regional capital, which is full of history as well as being an economic crossroads and the seat of the Council of europe and the European Parliament.