Happy Thanksgiving Day from France

Although Thanksgiving is not a holiday in France and I had steady fire-hose stream of European Union history (and unfortunatey not football) on Thursday and Friday (en français, bien entendu) we were able to share this fun and filling tradition with our good friends and neighbors Julie et François-Xavier. They are true Alsatians and thus culinary experts so the pressure was on for Whit. Here you can see her in preparation mode.......the kitchen was full of delicious smelling dishes that I wasn't allowed to touch.



To distract me from tearing into the food before our guests arrived, Whit gave me the important job of carving....... Lucky for me, she prepared a breast instead of an entire turkey, making my job pretty easy.



Needless to say Whitney really stepped up to the plate and, I can say it because I am safely across the pond; she prepared the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever seen or eaten!!! (sorry to our Mothers and Grandmothers, but you taught her well). Maybe it's just one of those great things about southern women.
Whit prepped the table in first class style and gave me a thorough briefing on the need to be as careful as possible with the glasses and how maybe it would be better if I didn't lift anything higher than 3 inches from the table to avoid the inevitable...


Luckily, the evening was crash-free and we even took the time to say what we were thankful for......



The first class meal included turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry casserole, and pumpkin bread with ice cream for dessert. Julie and François loved each dish, and were really excited to hear that it is tradition to take a "to go plate." Here they are happily preparing their lunch for the next day.


Lucky for us, they have decided to return the favor, inviting us to a traditional french Christmas meal.

This weekend, Strasbourg's famous Christmas markets have started, so expect some pics of this winter wonderland soon.....

Liberated....65 years later

This year Europe has been celebrating the 65th anniversary of the end of WWII and Strasbourg was no exception. As Whit and I were riding our bikes home from church Sunday the American Army, literally, came rolling through town to liberate us. Actually it was french actors dressed in American GI gear and driving American WWII jeeps and trucks. It was extremely patriotic.


We were initially shocked and as we were transported back in time, then overcome with extreme pride to be Americans. Even though it's 65 years later the French have not forgotten the sacrifice Americans and the rest of the allies made to save them. We watched with pride as this dramatic parade of "Liberators" descended upon Strasbourg and were amazed that the French citizens were out on the street cheering as if it was actually happening!

Later that afternoon, we caught up with the army in downtown Strasbourg.

These gents (dressed in American and French WWII uniforms) are holding a german sign from WWII that was taken down by the advancing allied forces in their march east to liberate France.

I stopped for a couple of photos with some of these guys and their were extremely eager to talk about the history of the liberation of Strasbourg.

This gentlemen explained to me that the US Army's 44th Division, 324th Infantry was the force that liberated Strasbourg along with two french infantry divisions. Here is the 44th's patch from his uniform. The division insignia consists of two blue figure 4's back to back on a golden orange circular background within a blue border. The colors are those of the House of Nassau, whose Dutch settlers inhabited what is now New York and New Jersey, and are used because the division was organized from National Guard units of this region. As a side note, the 44th is action in Baghdad at this very moment, sacrificing for you and I!

You can see the 44th markings on the front of this guy's jeep. Also, on a side note, when driving in the country we see old US army "willys jeeps" often. I assume their were left here after the war and the french have restored them and drive them around with pride.

Also, their was a special guest appearance by none other than Lt. General George Patton himself, apparently still on the move to liberate europe.


In reality I have never seen a more authentic display of American WWII apparel and equipment, including guns, radios, etc outside of a museum... even in the US. Maybe this will destroy some of those French stereotypes and remind us that the old man slowing us down in traffic may have sacrificed so much of his youth so that we can live with freedom!!

A delightful morning in Strasbourg

Today, I had a fun morning, so I thought I would share it. Don't be too excited........nothing exactly note-worthy happened. But since we aren't traveling as much, less of our life here seems blog-worthy. So I thought it might be fun to share a few of the simple pleasures of a typical day here.

This morning was delightful for a few reasons. The first of which is my new sneakers. Every woman in Strasbourg between the ages of 15-30 has these exact shoes. So, when I needed new sneakers, I thought, "why not?" There is something fun about a new pair of shoes that are exact replicas of shoes I wore in middle school. 7th grade Whitney would be proud.
Voilà my brand new converse all-stars.......


My friend Patty is teaching me to cook Indian food, so today she took me to the local Indian and African grocery stores. So, another factor in my joyful morning was all the beautiful spices I bought. Sunday night I will be preparing my first Dahl.......Even though I have no idea what I'm doing, I figure you can't wrong with lovely ingredients like these:


On the way home from the grocery store, I saw several beautiful things that also brightened my day. For example, I watched these swans fishing for a few minutes. We have swans like these all over the city and they are one of my favorite things. I love that they are rarely alone. Usually they are in a family of four or a couple like these guys:


I also walked by the main square in Strasbourg, Place Kleber. This will be the site of the biggest of several outdoor Christmas markets that will be held all over the city in December. More tourists visit Strasbourg in December than the summer months combined to experience France's "capital of Christmas." Today, I was so excited to see preparations in process. Here is the gigantic tree that will be lit next weekend to kick off the season:


And these decorations are already hanging:


Finally, near my apartment, I came across the most beautiful tree. It is huge and so brightly colored. I'm trying to soak in all the beautiful fall colors, because I know that gray winter is just around the corner.


Next week, I will prepare a Thanksgiving meal for the first time. Thankfully, our guests will not know the difference if I ruin a couple of things, this being their first Thanksgiving. So expect a post next week chronically my great success or horrible embarrassment. Hopefully, it will be the former.

A sight for sore eyes!

This past week was a break in school for me and we were blessed with a visit from some our best friends from the states, Brandon and Natalie. During their stay we took advantage of both French and German culture and tried to highlight the sights, the wonderful people, the food, the wine and the beer.


We greeted them the traditional French way with a bottle of Cremant (Alsatian version of champagne) and some various regional cheeses. Not wanting to pass up the world famous french pastries Natalie and Whitney headed directly towards one of the glamorous pastry shops in downtown Strasbourg while Brandon and I discovered a cozy little bar and caught up over some delightfully refreshing local beers.


The fist evening of their arrival we celebrated with a traditional Alsatian meal and local Riesling at a well known establishment called Chez Yvonne.

Brandon and I opted for the regional winter-time meal of choucroute which includes different cuts of pork over a bed of sauerkraut served with horse-radish and mustard (I believe this is France's version of Adkins). Natalie and Whitney went with the heavier choice of smoked salmon and a fresh purée of local vegetables.

One day we had the opportunity to ride bikes over to Germany, which is about 5 miles from our house, to try some local german fair and let the girls take advantage of the lower prices while shopping. Behind us is the pedestrian bridge linking Germany and France and a permanent reminder of the reconciliation after WWII.

Not to much can beat a true german pilsner and a good conversation...

We encouraged them to make them-selves at home and modern technology and communication seemed to really help Brandon. Here he is having a phone conversation with their 2 and half year daughter about numbers, specifically the number 2, I think.

While Whit and Natalie spent some quality time shopping in Strasbourg, Brandon and I took a biking tour of Strasbourg, including the European Institutions. In a city filled with buildings from the 15th and 16th century the modern European Parliament building is quite a sight.

We also trekked about to edge of our comfort zone on our bikes and rode to La Foret de Robertsau (Forest of Robertsau), which is home to pillboxes still intact from WWII.

One afternoon, while Whit and Natalie stocked up at the market for a home cooked meal Brandon and I had the opportunity to cruise the Autobon in Germany. Unfortunately, all the pictures were blurry, so to experience the feeling of getting passed by a purple Volkswagon van going 200mph, you just have to go drive it.

No trip to Strasbourg is complete without a village meal of roast duck and spaetzle (german pasta) followed by a drive along the Alsation wine route for some wine tasting. Whit and Natalie stand in front of the restaurant our neighbors recommended. It's in the small village of Eckwersheim, just outside of Strasbourg.

The first wine tasting was at a mom and pop winery where the owner guided us through the wines while working at the same time.

The owner also gave us access to his cave to look at the fermenting wine in these giant casks.


While Brandon and Natalie were pondering over which bottles to take home,


I snuck to the back to try next year's Pinot Gris....needs another 6 months...


Here Natalie and Whit display their favorite of the afternoon, the Riesling.


The week passed fast, but it was a great chance to share this great area, including the culture, history and wonderful food. All right, back to my cave until Decemeber.