I loved fairytales when I was young, read them incessantly, then read them aloud to my children later on. Now I’m in Alsace, where the villages seem to have stepped right out of a fairy tale.

One village in particular, Riquewihr, is said to have been the inspiration for the animated version of “Beauty and the Beast,” which was played plenty at my house when the girls were growing up.

Set aside for the moment the 21st-century tourists who crowd this shot and imagine Belle dancing through the streets saying “Bonjour, hello, how is your family?” It’s almost a dead replica, n’est-ce pas?