le petite pirate

Bonjour! Right now I back in Germany and on the train to Dresden, but I am writing to talk about my 4 day excursion (still on the Rhine River) to Strasbourg, France.

In sum, it was… well… French. J

It was a breath of fresh air to be someplace where I could speak the language. I’m not entirely fluent, but for the most part was successful and managed quite well.  Thank you Greenhills Highschool.

Strasbourg, France is in the Alsace region of France. It is a very interesting history because it has gone back and forth between German and French hands perhaps a hundred times over hundreds of years.  It is right on the Rhine River and also on the border of Germany.  It has its own language, called “Asacien” (go figure) but most people just speak French.

I stayed in a cute youth hostel, “L’auberge Jeunesse” just outside of town.  Hostels have their attraction because they are inexpensive and you typically get to meet a lot of neet people and share rooms with people you might not otherwise have the opportunity to make a connection.

 For example, I shared a room with a sweet Hungarian girl who worked for the European Parliament (must be hard times for the EU if they could only afford to put her up in a youth hostel)  an Australian girl, who was backpacking for a total of 8 months,  and four tidy quiet, beret-wearing-baguette-eating-cigarette-smoking French cockroaches.  No, I am not calling the French “cockroaches.”

 I am describing the character and nationality of the cockroaches who shared my dorm room.  Personally, I think I should have gotten a discount since I paid to share a room only two other inhabitants,, but all together  avec mes petites cockroaches, we made 7.

 My second night there when 192 teenagers checked into the hostel, I knew I was in for a great time. J

And I digress…

Strasbourg is an adorable town with (big surprise here) a beautiful Cathedral that lies in the center and is one of the main attractions. Only one spire on this church, however.  After the Cathedral in Cologne, I decided I was a 2-spire kind of girl, so didn’t waste my time going in OR climbing the stairs.  J I did however enjoy coffee and pizza, people watching, bird-poo avoiding, and speaking French to waiters…all while looking at the cathedral.

I also took a boat ride on the canals (the town is lined with canals) on a beautiful sunny day. I was pretty sure the boat ride was meant for all tourists, but it was actually a boatful of Germans and me.

By this point, I speak enough German to ask for things like food coffee and beer, to recognize that someone is in fact speaking German, to talk with my hands (wait—that’s Italian), to  LAUGH (even though most German strangers I pass do not laugh, nor do they think it is funny when I do so--- ) and  I know how to say, “No old man, these are MY headphones in ENGLISH. YOUR headphones go in HERE and are in GERMAN.” 

My favorite part of the boat ride was when we passed the torture towers.  (that sounds strange, but wait).

 This was where, you guessed it you smarty-pants you, they tortured people back in the old days.  What I found particularly funny in the recording (perhaps something is lost in translation or the French are maybe just blunt?) is that when the previous Torturer was caught doing something illegal (I don’t remember the crime), his punishment would be first to have his tongue cut out and then decapitation.  But, in a very cheerful voice, the tour guide said, “thanks to many years of good service, the judge took pity and fortunately allowed him decapitation without cutting out his tongue.”

Should I have clapped here? I was the only one who laughed (out loud).

RESEARCH...   

I mostly wandered about the town but since I actually was here on research, I met up with a friend who lives here, Mathieu, who I actually met in Southern France this past summer doing river-research. This is a particularly interesting area because effective flood defence/management depends on what happens on BOTH sides of the river.  One side is Germany, the other is France, both of whom have different policies, regulations, and interests. 

In short, went to see some “cool stuff” on the Rhine.  Well cool stuff for me, like dikes, poulders, dams, and BANK EROSION (oooh….ahhhhh….)

Laugh if you like, but I know my water friends are appreciating this right now!

  (on the left side, Das ist Germany, Right side c'est la France)

Though unrelated, check out this BUNKER!!! (its on the right , the cement block)

From the WAR!!!!  

But it is right alongside the Rhine. I gotta think that during heavy rains the average bunker-hiding Frenchie is hedging his  (or her)bets on which is safer… dodging bullets from the Germans across the river, or… the rising Rhine River itself.  Check out the awesome sign.   See, EVEN IN GOOD WEATHER floods can happen people!

I also had the unexpected opportunity (these are the best kind) to go out and visit a 1626 Hops Farm because Mathieu’s friend Stephanie grew up on it.  They still have the original house and all the buildings intact which is beautiful and it has been in their family for generations (Since it was built I believe).  Anyway, we got to see the hops farm and get a tour in French (which I mostly understood) how they grew the hops, processed them, and then distributed them.  Her family distributes hops to Heinekin, Budwieser, and others.

 (These are what the hops vines grow up to).

 Mostly exports but they do sell hops to one local brew as well called Meteor.  To close the tour, we of course enjoyed a meteor in the back yard. 

Check this out—I didn’t take a picture of it, but it is behind the door (because I didn’t want to be offensive), but this cross has the head cut off because during the French revolution, the armies came to destroy all Christian paraphernalia!  They never gave jesus a new head. I find that funny. J

Afterwards, we went into Mathieu's house.  He has a pet squirrel. This is amazing. I apologize that the video is sideways I can't figure out how to change it, but check out the most hyperactive squirrel you have ever seen in your life.

Anyway, post farm tour, we all went out into town to enjoy some traditional Alsacien (regional) cuisine.

One traditional dish I enjoyed (other than the pretzels, coffee, and delicious bread!) is called Tarte Flambée . 

“Tarte Flambée”  (pronounced, tart flambay) is French for, “flaming heart-attack-on-a-plank.”   It is like a thin crust pizza  (only a little softer but not like a tortilla shell) minus the sauce, and then add on onions and lots of different kind of creamy cheeses. If you eat meat, then you also usually get it with a type of ham.  It was delicious. They serve it to you on a plank and you pay once but they keep coming and coming with more flaming tartes.  I could only eat about 1.5 of them but I would have loved to have more. 

Another dish which we all cooked is called: “ knopfle. “ It is pronounced like  ka-no-p-fluh , only frenchier.  This is kind of like noodles? You make the batter and then drop scoops of it into boiling water and as the globs rise to the surface you take them out of the pot.  Then you sautée them with garlic and cream and cheese.  Delicious.  And ham of course if you like that sort of thing.

I had a fantastic time with Mathieu and his friends.  Truly, everyone I have encountered on this trip has been so generous and that has made my experience even better.  After just 4 brief days there, I hopped a train back to Germany where I spent the next 4 days in Munich but I will save that for another post. 

Other traditional foods are really just torture methods... I mean check this out. On EVERY CORNER...How does someone not gain like 500lbs (I'm sorry, I mean 200 kilos), while living here?

Oh, and I took a picture of a little french pirate dressed up for--I don't know what. But I had no choice. It's not often you see this sort of thing.I did it on the sly so that I didn't look like a stalker, but now I kind of feel like hiding myself while taking pictures might officially give me stalker-status. crap.

Oh, plus, while waiting for the tram, I met these guys.

After they tried to “scare” me and failed miserably, we chatted and they let me take their picture. I would like to add however, in the spirit of things, and in the spirit of OUR season, that this is somewhat out of place. Because

1)   it was October 20, not 31… and also,

2)   FRANCE DOES NOT CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN! WHERE WERE THESE PEOPLE GOING???!

That is all for the short stay in Strasbourg.

Closing thoughts?

-I am quite well…

-I am eating quite well (maybe too well)

-I am meeting a lot of really nice people

-I love trains

-I am safe

-No, I did not tell the French any of my French Military jokes 

-European soccer fans take the prize for enthusiasm over American sports fans any day  (I say this as a die-hard Michigan football fan)

-Some guy who looks like Larry Bird just sat down across from me