L'Alsace, le meilleur des deux mondes

Hello friends, I have much to say to you, as this was an eventful weekend full of Alsacien good times... laissez les bon temps rouler as they say, or wait -- that's New Orleans. What do they say here?

Saturday: I woke up early and met up with two other erasmus students, Marina and Kira. We took the bus to Germany (round-trip tickets to Germany, only 2.50 euros, book now!) as we were eager to take advantage of the lower prices just fifteen minutes away. You know the French and their taxes. I ended up buying a memory card for my camera (yes, I have a camera now!) and a coat for these difficult winters. As an aside, Germans are truly the nicest people I've met on this fair continent, on the whole that is (for the French have been very pleasant as well, but you know those nasty stereotypes). Although, for some reason they seemed to think that I understood German, although I only spoke English. I would ask Marina to say something, as she speaks German, and the person helping us would talk to me, as if I had just asked the question. But regardless, I now know two German phrases: Ich heiβe Alison. Ich komme aus den Vereinigten Staaten.

We returned to join a group of erasmus students for a trip to the Kronenbourg factory to enjoy a tour of the facilities, learn how they make beer, and of course round out the experience with la dégustation -- tasting of several different beers. Actually, I did not enjoy the beers I had, but I am rather picky when it comes to it, yes? They gave us pretzels however, and so I was content.

I ended the successful day with a house party at a French student's apartment. This guy, through several connections, knows Lauren from a visit to Georgetown, so we had already met him a couple of weeks before. As such, he invited us to come early to meet some of his friends before the other invitees were scheduled to come. I therefore met a small group of French students, and some Germans with French names. Our entrance to the soirée only proves I am right when it comes to how ridiculous French greetings are -- namely, the two kisses on every cheek. It went something as follows:

'Alison, Jean.' *kiss,kiss* 'Lauren, Jean.' *kiss,kiss* 'Alison, Pascal.' *kiss,kiss* 'Lauren, Pascal.' *kiss,kiss* 'Alison, Oliver.' *kiss,kiss* 'Lauren, Oliver' *kiss,kiss* 'Alison, Julien.' *kiss,kiss* 'Lauren, Julien.' *kiss,kiss* 'Alison, Marie.' *kiss,kiss* 'Lauren, Marie.' *kiss,kiss* (I do believe there was another person, too).

You can see how this already exhausts my attempt at being sociable. Only once I was done kissing everyone was I offered a place to sit, a drink, and you know the general chitchat of those awkward first meetings. In addition, some people grasp your hand when they are kissing your cheeks, which then causes me to FLIP OUT slightly, as this is TOO MUCH physical contact with STRANGERS.

But anyway, the Germans were nice, and taught me more phrases to add onto my slight German, including "Nice to meet you" and "I'm wasted." But, Ich spreche keine Deutsch.

Sunday: I woke up early yet again for the planned Route des Vins, a bus ride through Alsace, a region rich in wine production. Our first stop was the charmingly small town of Obernai, where I promenaded (like in a Jane Austen book), took pictures, bought a pastry and drank a café.

 We then traveled onwards to le château de Haut-Koeningsbourg (left!), a castle on the top of a mountain that was reconstructed by Kaiser Wilhelm II at the turn of the twentieth century. Despite my interest in history, I found our tour rather boring, especially as there were nearly seventy of us trying to listen to one woman, so instead I spent my time examining strange nooks and crannies, and the graffiti that has accumulated in the stairwells. Afterwards, we had a picnic, although it wasn't much of one because there was not really anywhere to sit.

After that came Riquewihr, where we went into une cave to participate in la dégustation. I tuned out our tour guide yet again, so I cannot tell you anything interesting about the production of Alsacien wine, except that a) the region is mostly known for white wines, and b) the region is protected by laws which somehow in someway for some reason helps them flourish in their production (in my defense, I was very tired by this point). The more interesting part was when we tasted the wine, and learned how to examine it my sight, smell, sound (I lie, but I got bored listening yet again, so I started moving my finger around the top of the glass to make it ring) and of course, taste. They were all quite delicious, especially with Kougelhopf, an Alsacien cake, to accompany them.

Lastly was the city of Colmar, Alsace's second largest city. We promenaded some more, and bought ice cream, and then paninis, and sat my a small canal and ate. We looked at la Petite Venise, the "waterfront", and I made friends with a small gray cat, and then it was time to return to Strasbourg.

But truly, Alsace is a beautiful region. Throughout the entire route I could see Les Voges, the mountains in the distance; and it was a perfect day, and we past towns and fields and just about everything was so picturesque I felt like I was looking at a postcard.

Yet now I must turn my thoughts towards studies, as this week sees the commencement of classes. Donc, à pluss! votre amie,
Alison