Wissembourg

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We arrived at Constantin's parents' house late last night. I think it was around 2 when we got in. Finally, we were able to find lithium batteries for my camera this morning! The original plans were to see Strasbourg (Straßburg), but because of the large number of tourists on the weekend, we opted to go to Wissembourg (Weißenburg) instead. We had a full car today—Constantin, his parents, his grandmother, and me. They are all genuinely lovely people (myself, of course, included!).

This was my fourth trip to Europe, and my fourth trip to France, but my first time in Alsace. Alsace is a German-speaking part of France and is also arguably more culturally German than French. I seem to have a proclivity toward the "Eldest Daughter of the Church," even though I don't have a drop of French blood flowing through my veins that I'm aware of. It was nice to be in France, even if only for a few hours.

Before leaving Germany, we stopped by the Wine Gate in Schweigen-Rechtenbach before going to Wissembourg. Mindful of life's priorities, lunch was the first item on our agenda. This consisted of escargots (snails) and amer, an Alsatian drink consisting of beer with a shot of sweet liqueur poured into it. We then went to the ancient abbey church, followed by a visit to a renowned bakery and a walk around the old town. We shopped for a few minutes at a supermarket and stopped to have more amer before dinner.

Dinner was at a nice restaurant on the bank of the Rhein. I had frog legs for the first time, and they were unbelievably good! Delicious food, great company, and amer—what more can a man ask for, really? After returning to Bruchsal, we spent some time with the downstairs neighbors, whose daughter was celebrating her third birthday. It was fun to communicate in a combination of broken German and broken English (Constantin mostly let us enjoy doing our best without his translating assistance). The neighbors have family in Alabama. It's a small world indeed!

Patrick

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