Fall!!

Well, Autumn is here in Strasbourg and it is so beautiful. The changing colors partnered with the architecture and charm of this city make a stunning combination. Here are some pics I took during my walk to town a couple of days ago.

These yellow trees are everywhere right now and they are so cheerful.... especially on one of our rare sunny days.






Along the canals, even the vines are changing into this vivid red color.





Even the landscaping at Place de la République consists of fall colored flowers:



God is a pretty amazing artist, huh?

The Human Race

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Peter was even more busy than usual preparing his first oral presentation which, if you will pardon me for bragging, he killed! French students even emailed to ask him for a copy! So that is his valid excuse. My excuse is less impressive........1 part lack of material, 1 part my new baking obsession, 2 parts good ol' fashioned laziness.

While I am definitely not as busy as I am accustomed to being, I am slowly but surely finding ways to occupy my time here. In addition to taking a couple of french classes, and helping out at our new church, I am also making new friends through swimming and running. I am training with a few ladies from my church for the Barcelona marathon in March, and a couple of us decided to run in the Nike Human Race Saturday morning.

It was my first running event in France and it was so much fun. It wasn't technically a race, but a group run that Nike organized to get more people involved in the sport. It was supposed to be a 10k, but after several missed turns and loop-backs, I'm pretty sure we ran some other distance. I was so happy to learn though, that the running community is just as warm, welcoming, and fun in Europe as in the U.S. Here are a few pics from the morning:

My friend Heidi ran with me and we had a great time sporting our new Nike running shirts:


Waiting for the start which, following French custom, was 20 minutes late:


Around 50 runners or so participated, including a couple of children and a wheel-chair participant.


Unfortunately, a few hours after the race, I started coming down with a cold and spent the rest of the afternoon watching episodes of "How I met your Mother" online. I never knew about this show, but our French friends love it so I've been catching up. Peter found it amusing to harass me by taking pics like this one:



Notice the tissue on the desk......A cold is definitely a worthy excuse for wasting a Saturday afternoon with American TV, right?

The Market

This week, I was planning to do a blog about some of my favorite things in Strasbourg. These include the swan families, the dogs, the families in the parks, the flower shops, and the bridges. Unfortunately, my plan to take photos of all these things and post a blog about them has been ruined by the freezing rain that is our weather for today. So, I'm going to post a blog about just one of my favorite things......the market. (Market day for me is Wednesday, so I took some pics after my trip this week.)

Almost everyday of the week, there is a market somewhere in the city, but we are lucky to live near Place Broglie, which is the site of Strasbourg's largest market. The vendors set up on Wednesdays and Fridays and you can buy anything from steak to lingerie at this lively outdoor shopping extravaganza. The produce is all seasonal, so it is an adventure every week to see what the new arrivals are. This week, as I was unpacking my purchases, I thought about how pretty they were and how delicious they would be and I thought to myself, "this food should definitely be part of my favorite things post." So, here are some of my favorite food items from the market.

But first, this is what I use to shop at the market and the grocery store. I like to believe that because of its cool color and pattern, my cart does not fall under the category of "old lady cart." But even if it does, it is absolutely necessary and is definitely one of my favorite things.


One of the new arrivals last week was pumpkin!! Fall is officially here, and to kick it off, I've been using some of my spare time to bake. That's right, tomorrow, after a couple of hours of work, the contents of this photo will be a delicious pie. (hopefully.)


Other purchases included Comté cheese, fresh red tomatoes, cereal bread, regional apples and olives.

French camping

When I think of camping, I think of beautiful views and magnificant sunrises like in the photos above. I think of quiet, of nature and wildlife. I also think of "roughing it." I think of packing as little as possible because I know that I will have to carry it for several miles. For a meal, I think of peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and maybe a granola bar. At the most, some marshmallows or hotdogs to roast over the fire. What I do not think of is fois gras, red wine, marinated pork-chops, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, oatmeal for breakfast, non-instant coffee made in a special press, full loaves of freshly baked bread, or several types of fancy french cheese. So, you can imagine my surprise when I went camping with a french family this weekend and all of the aforementioned items (plus several others I didn't list) were a part of our autumn adventure in the Vosges mountains.

My first warning should have been when I arrived at my friend's apartment and she handed me an extremely large pack and asked if I could transfer over the things in my daypack because they needed me to help carry some of the extra food and supplies. I had taken care to pack as lightly as possible, but, of course, I didn't mind carrying some weight for the team. I'm in pretty good shape and I knew that we were bringing more children than adults, so I figured we would need extra water or maybe some extra clothes. No big deal, right? ..........wrong. I did not realize what I had agreed to until I put on the pack after my friend finished stuffing it full. Let's just say it was so heavy I needed help lifting it to put it on. But I wasn't about to complain because the other adults were carrying as much as or more than me and all of the kids that were with us were carrying packs as well.



By the time we made it to camp, my back was aching, and my shoulders were so sore, they felt bruised. I figured I must have been carrying some of the water, or maybe the tents for the kids, or some other heavy, but necessary item. Imagine my surprise and I'll admit, frustration, when we started unpacking and setting up the camp and I started pulling items out of packs that I don't even order at restaurants, much less consider as camping food. And when I jokingly asked them about it, the conversation went like this:

Me: " Fois gras? Are you serious?"
My completely straight-faced French friend: "Of course we're serious. We're french."

Ok, I guess no more explanation than that is needed.

The French Countrymen

During the last five months, we have been able to observe some drastic differences between life here in France and life in the US. We have noticed that one of the most important values in French society is the ability to protest. Unlike the 9-3pm picket lines in the US, the French protests are a kind of dramatic art form. Their protests range from metro-transit workers shutting down Paris or perhaps taking factory managers hostage and of course the topic of our blog: bringing Strasbourg to a grinding halt on Thursday with 1500 farm tractors, tons of potatos, grain, lettuce and cow manure.


The French farmers are one of the most united groups in France and consider themselves the essence of a french countryman. So for example, when they are upset about new European Union agriculture regulations they do their best to express their disapproval. On Thursday farmers from all over the region descended on Strasbourg and clogged the main route between Germany and France with their tractors.

This was quite a shock to some...


and was welcomed lunchtime distraction for others...


Whit and I rushed out of our apartment when we heard the horns and cheers not wanting to miss this "display of power."

Whit had just gotten back from her run and confirmed a huge police presence all over the city. We were a bit suprised, because what kind of damage can farmers do? Later Thursday afternoon we found out.

The signs attached to the tractors helped explain their anger:
"Farmers, on their way to extinction."

Here is the Press tractor. The sign reads. "Europe, Don't forget who feeds your children!"

On my way to class after lunch I biked passed several round bales of hay in the middle of the street burning out of control. As I waded through the mounds of lettuce in order to get to class, I realized these guys were serious. After class I decided to swing by the rallying point for the farmers to see if I missed anything dramatic. When I arrived at Place Bordeaux (the square where the main rally took place) it was a seen of carnage.


I convinced Whit to come check-out the aftermath.

The end of the protest coincided with the end of the school day and it seemed that the French kids treated it like somewhat of a fall festival.

The farmers dumped potatoes, lettuce, corn and hay as they went and kids, either under orders from their parents or by their own initiative, began collecting the produce that remained eatable.

Well...not just the kids...

What can I say? When in Rome.......