5 Best Sights in Alsace-Lorraine, France

The humble, stone-and-stucco Maison Natale de Jeanne d'Arc—an irregular, slope-roof, two-story cottage—has been preserved with style and reverence, although there is little to see inside. The modern museum alongside, the Centre Johannique, shows a film (French with English subtitles), while mannequins in period costume recount the Hundred Years' War. After she heard mystical voices, Joan walked 19 km (12 miles) to Vaucouleurs. Dressed and mounted like a man, she later led her forces to lift the siege of Orléans, defeated the English, and escorted the unseated Charles VII to Reims, to be crowned king of France. Military missions after Orléans failed—including an attempt to retake Paris—and she was captured at Compiègne. The English turned her over to the Church, which sent her to be tried by the Inquisition for witchcraft and heresy. She was convicted and burned at the stake in Rouen. One of the latest theories is that Jeanne d'Arc was no mere "peasant" but was distantly connected to France's royal family—a controversial proposal that many historians discount.

Up the street from the Ancienne Douane on the Grande-Rue, the Maison aux Arcades was built in 1609 in High Renaissance style with a series of arched porches (arcades) anchored by two octagonal towers.

Built in 1537, the Maison Pfister is the most striking of Colmar's many old dwellings. Note the decorative frescoes and medallions, carved balcony, and ground-floor arcades.

The Bartholdi Museum is the birthplace of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), the sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty. Exhibits of the artist's work claim the ground floor, and a recreation of his Paris apartment is upstairs. The creation of Lady Liberty is explored in adjoining rooms.

In this villa, built in 1902 by Paris architect Henri Sauvage for Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle, sinuous metal supports seem to sneak up on the unsuspecting balcony like swaying cobras. The two grand windows are by Jacques Gruber: one lights the staircase (visible from the street), and the other is set in the dining room on the south side of the villa. After a major restoration project, the interior has been restored, and visitors can now explore the Majorelle's family villa, decorated with more than 100 pieces of furniture, paintings, and ornaments—all mostly original.