Who has more taste: me or Jacques Chirac?

The starchy, pristine clean lab coat I bought from the stockroom my first day is finally accumulating the battle scars of chemistry. When I picked it up from the rack today I noticed several new chemical stains. Suppose this means I’m finally getting into the fun stuff…

The Winstub I had intended to go to last night was closed because the family was on vacation. Instead, I “settled” for a place just down the road called “Chez Yvonne” because it looked authentic and had reasonably priced menus considering it was for a nice dinner. I ordered an Alsatian wine, stuffed piglet and garnish with seared potatoes and salad. The meal was nice and formal, but honestly doesn’t compare to the local Salon de Thé I stumbled upon in Colmar on Saturday.

At work today Pauline raised an eyebrow and told me that the restaurant is famous because former French president Jacques Chirac’s favorite in Strasbourg.

Jacques Chirac’s favorite; my second choice. I’m either a tasteless American or discerningly honest. I’ll be taking votes.
http://www.chez-yvonne.net/francais/accueil.php


Reminiscing on the weekend

Finally, I know. These blogs take forever to piece together, which is why I love comments because it tells me someone other than my parents, aunts, and Adamo read it. Thanks to everyone who leaves a comment, they keep me motivated to keep putting in time writing.

On Saturday I went Matt to Colmar, a smaller town south of Strasbourg. Colmar is famous for being the home of Frédéric Bartholdi – sculptor of the statue of liberty. I’m sure that Colmar has other attributes, but I’m American so this is clearly all that mattered.

We arrived and with the help of my trusty guidebook, we followed the recommendation for a local Salon de Thé (Teahouse)

I ordered the Munster cheese quiche, and it was the best quiche I’ve ever had in my life. Anytime the famous cheese is made in the town just south of where you’re eating it, I’m sure the food just naturally tastes fabulous. Everything in the place just looked adorable, from the cookies they served with the coffee to the flowers on the table.

After lunch we popped into one of the cathedrals to explore and avoid a bit of the rain. The towering ceilings were dark and only partially illuminated by the stained glass. We took two steps inside. Like the voice of God and tone of Dracula, a pipe organ started to blare above us. It amazes me how organists make such “heavy” instruments flirt with complex melodies. The concert lasted only as long as long as we wandered the church, so another perfect hit.

The rain was beginning to pick up so both of us went to the Unterlinden Museum. The old convent was full of famous art. I enjoyed the upstairs which contained French furniture from the early 1800’s. This would be the era when Jane Austen’s brothers fought in the Napoleonic War…so through my eyes it was like looking into the parlor room of the enemy.

http://www.musee-unterlinden.com/anglais/HOME.html

We went and found one of Voltaire’s temporary residences (French Enlightenment writer) and did the tourist thing to say we’d been there.

Overall: good day. On the train back to Strasbourg, a group of bachelors boarded the train. Apparently it’s a big thing in Europe to make the bride or groom to be play embarrassing pranks, so they made this guy come around and “check tickets’ and try to sell condoms and candy for money. I’m not sure which they were more of: drunk, or loud.

Well I just skimmed this entry and I’m going to go ahead and post it as is. Germany bike ride to come when I get back this weekend after sipping champagne, and feeling no pain.

Elaine

PS: If anyone ruins the ending to this movie for me I'll stop the blog. This is me not kidding.