Colmar, France

Colmar is a city of about 70,000 residents in Alsace, France, set along the Lauch River and ranking as the driest city in mainland France with roughly 550 millimeters of rainfall per year. Its "Little Venice" quarter lines the canals with half-timbered medieval and Renaissance houses, while the 1480 Pfister House stands as the oldest timber-framed residence in town. The 1235 Dominican church houses Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, painted in 1515. Colmar was also the 1834 birthplace of Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who later sculpted the Statue of Liberty.