luxemblog: Touring the Alsace region with a local

This is Patrick. He is Alsatian, born somewhere in or near the Vosges mountains of France, which are about a 2 hour drive South, South-East of Luxembourg City. Patrick was a super cool friend for taking 4 of us non-Alsatians to his homeland for a thoroughly lovely weekend in August.

Patrick is shown here on his family's land, showing us the farm where he spent his youth, helping raise the family dairy cattle, making cheese, hunting, developing a sophisticated palette for fine wines and cheeses, learning several languages, and doing all the other cool things you do when you grow up in an enchanted region like the Alsace.

Look at how beautiful this land is.

The fields are full of wild flowers and herbs and when you walk on them your steps create little puffs of fragrant breezes. No wonder the milk and cheese are so tasty here–the cows are eating such nice food.

I made the group (Patrick, Claudia, Dave and Mike) pose like an indie rock band. Claudia is the lead-singer. They indulged me for quite a few pics from which I will spare you.

The local Munster cheese, served with Cumin seeds and wine (or beer).

The local cows- notice their markings- they are like giant Oreo cookies, with black sides and a solid white stripe which runs around their center, from forehead, down the spine, over their butt, under their belly, over their chest and over their face (got that?). Kind of like the Belted Galloway cows but the coloring has been rotated 90 degrees on the cow's body. Be sure the click on the image to get a closer look- it's really interesting!

We were told the Alsace has the most days of sun in all of France. Patrick says no, though it is sunny a lot of the time. It certainly was sunny while we were there, and I think it's been sunny every other time we went there. Another reason to love that area.

Eguisheim- a BEAUTIFUL little town in which Patrick brilliantly chose for us to stay. Our hotel was right on the main square and next to a fountain, church where one of the Popes was born, and a stork nest.

Can you see the stork nest on the building in the center? At night we could hear one of them cackle. It sounded like "ack ack ack ack ack ack ack". Storks are a popular symbol of the Alsace region, with meanings ranging from fertility to Jesus to an opportunity to sell small figurines. I read that the Alsace is where the story of the Stork delivering babies comes from. Not sure if this is true but they are very pretty birds and it's fun to see their giant nests perched on top of the buildings everywhere.

The architecture of the Alsace is traditionally half-timbered and much of the stucco is painted bright colors like pink, blue, ochre, peach, etc. The shutters often have symbols like hearts, clovers, etc. As you can see, Claudia really liked the hearts (yes, I made her pose like this).

One of the many super charming streets in Eguisheim.

Another beautiful town, Obernai.

The weather must be nicer than in Luxembourg City because there were kiwis growing there!

Dried grape (?) decor:

Alsace = charm, charm, charm. Everywhere you look there is something pretty or interesting or yes, charming to see. Flowers, especially geraniums are quite common.

It seemed like the locals took every opportunity to add a bit of color and charm to even the smallest spaces. I loved that.

I really like this color combo- putty beige with pale, dusty pink and a gray-blue.

Patrick checking out the local pottery- a big attraction here. It's brightly colored with lots of symbols like storks, hearts, flowers, etc. painted on it. A popular item to get is the big casserole you see here. I think Patrick is checking out where this one is made to be sure it's authentic.

I think you could use it to make the very traditional Choucroute (sauerkraut with pork belly and a variety of sausages cooked with Riesling or other Alsatian white wine) seen below on the very handy plastic-laminated placemat.

Other regional specialties are these spice cookies, often in the popular shapes of storks, hearts, etc.

Dave and me, by the church where some Pope was born.

Baker with some traditional cakes called Kugleholpf, which are basically a brioche-esque cake.

It's really delicious–especially if it's fresh and warm, like this one was.

Oh, and let's not forget the delicious Alsatian wines. A friend who is very experienced in the wine business said the Alsace has some of the best, if not the best wines in the world, especially if you like whites.

Here is Claudia sampling some wine.