Alsace

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Tuesday it must be Alsace.
We took the train from Bettmeralp to Brig and then to Basel. What a surprise that the abbreviation for the Swiss intercity train system is SBB (for those of you not from lab land this is one of the credentials we have in the lab) and the name of the paper in the town was the DNA (Dernier Noevelle Alsace not deoxyribose nucleic acid). I take this as a sign that I was meant to take this trip.

In Basel we went to a lovely private museum the Beyeler Museum; unfortunately it was under renovation but the grounds were beautiful and we had a good time with our friends the Wilhelms. Basel is very close the the boarder of Switzerland, Germany and France so on the way to our destination in Alsace, I got to take another visit to Germany. I may have been in Germany a little longer than the time in Italy, but my feet didn’t actually touch the ground since we were in a car. The highlight of the day for me was our visit to Village Neuf. Research by my sister, Pat and our friend John Wilhelm suggested that Village Neuf may be the origin of my Mother’s family the Stribys. Further study makes that idea a little shakier, but we stopped by the village city hall (or Mairie ) to thank the kind women that had helped John find records. Alas, she was on vacation. None the less, we took the appropriate pictures and were on our way to Eguisheim. Whatever picture you have in your mind of a quaint European village, Equishiem fits the bill, but more on it later. For dinner Gary had his first of 3 versions of choucrute (a dish if smoked ham, sausage, bacon and sauerkraut).


Wednesday 15 Sept
Ah, the quaint hotels of France. I never new quite what this meant until we arrived at the hotel in Equisheim. Quaint means a beautiful view from your window and many steps to your third floor room which is good for the mind and the legs. It also means there are no plugs in the bathroom so one must stand in the middle of the bed and look in the mirror across the room to use a curling iron, no plug for the computer and no wifi access (the special plug that worked in Switzerland and was to be for all of Europe does not like French outlets), the light in the bathroom shines on the back of your head and the toilet paper holder falls off the wall every time it's used. But, the food is wonderful, the people friendly and it wouldn't trade this for a 4 star hotel anywhere.

Wednesday brought clouds and light rain so we took a road trip to Strasbourg. Our first stop was the cathedral which is breathtaking. I thought the churches in St. Gallen and Poschiavo were ornate and beautiful, but this is on an entirely different scale. You need to walk a block or so away just to get to be able to get a picture of the entire edifice. We were inside for about 2 hours and I still didn’t see everything. The cathedral was started in 1190 and I felt like a character in the Pillars of the Earth novel. The art, multiple chapels, altars and just the size are like nothing I have ever seen. The english translation of the guide to the cathedral was priceless. It referred to the cathedral as one of the larges piles of art in Europe.

The old city is beautiful and the filled with canals and ancient buildings. We had lunch along the canal and I tried a traditional Alsatian dish, frammenkuchen, that is like a very thin crust pizza with soft cheese and onion and very delicious. There are many shops called patisseries where once can stop (and we did) for luscious pastries and coffee or have lunch. It is so lovely to hear everyone speaking French. I have managed with some coaching from our friends to ask for a second glass of wine or a cup of coffee. Alas, the waiters usually switch to English after my request, but such is the life of an American in France. For dinner Gary had his second version of choucrute; he could never resist the call of sausage and sauerkraut.

Thursday 16 Sept

After another wonderful European breakfast (they have chocolate croissants in France) we hiked to the ruins of 3 castles on the Voges mountains above the town. It felt good to have a nice hike and how easy when the hills are less than 1000 meters. We are in the region of France know as the Route des Vins, so we are surrounded by grape vines as far as the eye can see. We got to see the beginning of the the grape harvest on the way to another castle, the Chateau du Haut-Koeningsbourg, this one restored by Kaiser Wilhelm around the turn of the 20th century. The residence rooms were considered quite posh for the time and all had huge ceramic stoves with beautiful tiles; I still think I like central heating better. For dinner Gary had his third try at choucrute!

Friday 17 Sept

We took a leisurely walk around Eguisheim and then went to Colmar for the day. We visited the Unterlinden Museum that is housed in an old cloister. They have a very famous altar piece, the Isenheim and many other beautiful and interesting things in their collection. Unfortunately the rest of Colmar wasn't as Gary and our friends had remembered. Still an old city, but now filled with cars, thousands of tourist (yes I know I am one too) and tourist trap shops. On our return we stopped to walk through the vinyards near Eguisheim and taste the grapes. We leave for Switzerland tomorrow so it is goodbye to France.

Mary and Gary

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Photos

Tram from Bettmeralp
Down the mountain and goodbye to Bettmeralp

Mairie of Village Neuf
Town hall

Strasbourg.
Cathedral

The 4 amigos
3 Chateaux

Route du Vins
Typical crucifix on the roads in France