Tag Archives: France

August 14, 2017 Strasbourg and Alsace France: I love wine

2017 European River Cruise, photography, ,

We woke up in France. Part of the Rhine River travels through the border between France and Germany. That is where we were. This part of Europe has of course been actively fought over by France and Germany many times through the centuries.

This was our first time in France; we were absolutely thrilled. We have travelled a fair bit, but never to France. Today we tried to make up for that. We think we did.

Our guide for the morning was Florian a handsome young student who was free with his knowledge and opinions. Some of our group were not impressed. Most of us thought he was a fantastic guide. Chris and I were enthusiastically in the second camp. He had a lot of knowledge of European art in particular and obviously loved to share it.

Because the region and the city have changed so often, (5 times between 1870 and 1945) it is difficult to say whether the residents are French or German. The dialect that Florian spoke, even though he is a citizen of France, is 70% German and 30% French.

 

 

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We took a short bus trip to a smaller boat so that we could sail through the canals of Strasbourg. To our disappointment, the smaller boat was covered with a glass roof. That did allow us to see the city, but it made photography all but impossible. According to Florian, when it got hot this created a greenhouse heat.

Europeans are strange. In 1977 the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg was completed becoming one of the 4 capitals of the European Union. Who would want 4 capitals? The cost of course is crazy, but Europe can afford it. Strasbourg is not the capital of France but is a capital of Europe. It acts as the capital for only 4 days each month. As a result there are a number of international institutions in the city. Right beside it is the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice as well as the European Council.

One of the interesting things about Strasbourg is that it is formally secular. The people still resent the profound effects of the 30 Years War. That war resulted in the loss of 1/3 to ½ of the population. After such a war they were reluctant to allow religious disagreements to become part of state policy. In fact much of France is keen on secularity in politics. Who can blame them for that?

Interestingly though, according to Florian, one can still be sued for blasphemy, though the law is ignored to such an extent it is no longer effective. Sort of like marijuana laws in the Netherlands.

According to Florian, Strasbourg is now a city of many religions. They even have Mennonites and Amish. This may not be surprising, since the Mennonites are taking over the world by stealth. If you don’t believe that read the Daily Bonnet. The site is for Mennonites sort of like Pravda for Russians. At the start of our journey into the city, a new Russian Orthodox Church was under construction. Thanks to the European Union diverse groups have been emigrating to France. For example, 7.5% of France is now Muslim and that is not without controversy of course. Of course with diversity, come challenges.

The historic centre called Grande Íle (Grand Island) was classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988. It was the first time that an entire city was so designated.

Some famous people have lived here including John Calvin, Albert Schweitzer, and Johannes Gutenberg.

The French Constitution of 1958 provides that France is a democratic, secular country, but religion in France is never that simple. That constitution makes France constitutionally secular with churches and state separated. Even though it says that the government does not recognize or subsidize any religion the taxpayers of France in fact subsidize religion in many ways. For example, the law provides that for public funding of religious education the Catholic Church is the primary beneficiary of that law, but not the only beneficiary.

The European Union is an interesting experiment. They have created an economic union, but not really a political union. Some people in some countries think the central European government has been overly aggressive in imposing centralist policies that the rural people in particular resent.       One of the wonders of the European Union is the reconciliation between France and Germany that it has facilitated. I remember one of my fellow travelers in Africa who was a German resident filled with pride that these former enemies–France and Germany–were now friends. That is a remarkable achievement when you think about how often they have gone to war. I hope it lasts.

Part of the problem between these 2 countries was the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War. Germany was never successfully invaded in that war. It was not really defeated militarily. The impositions on Germany after that war were hugely unfair and led directly and quickly to the rise of a German populist leader–Adolf Hitler. Germans revolted against this injustice and listened to a rabble-rousing leader who in effect promised to make Germany great again.

 

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We eventually got off the boat for a walk through part of the town. Then we saw up close one of the highlights of Strasbourg–the Cathedral (Munster) of Strasbourg. This was the tallest building in Europe for nearly 5 centuries. It is 461 ft. high and contains some remarkable features. Unfortunately, we could not get a view of it from a distance as we could in Breisach. It was completely surrounded by buildings, as was the Duomo in Florence. As a result of course, we got no good photographs of this magnificent church. That is a pity.

028 Strasbourg stained glass with name

 

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After a short stroll through the old city, we met again and Florian led us back to the boat where we enjoyed a light barbecue lunch on the upper deck. We overheard ignorant Americans at the next table say they did not like France because “we have rescued it too many times.” More self-satisfied nonsense from Americans. When will it ever end?

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I always have difficulty passing up flowers wild or exotic

In the afternoon, we had another guide who took us in a bus to Alsace. It is cultural and historical region of eastern France located on the eastern border of France and Germany.

Alsace is a great wine-producing region. Grape growers believe that grapes must suffer to be worthy of good wines. The grapes have to get thirsty. If life is too easy, the grapes produce inferior wines. It reminds me of my belief that suffering is needed to produce religious enlightenment. Added to that, the soil cannot be too rich. Poor soil is better than rich soil for wine production. This forces the roots to grow deeper and grow through a variety of soils. The diversity of the soil is good for complexity of the wine.

Our tour took us to a small family vineyard and winery in the town of Obernai. It has been owned by the Robert Blanck family since 1732! During the centuries the knowledge about wines and grapes has been passed down through the generations. We were introduced to the wine production by one of the daughters of the owner. She was very knowledgeable about grapes, wines, and wine production. We learned an amazing amount about wines. Sadly, we also forgot a lot about wines.

Grape growers do not allow the leaves of the grape vine to touch the ground. Added to that, the Alsace producers do not allow any winery to add sugar to the grapes. It must be pure to qualify as Alsace wine. They also do not permit any blends.

We also learned that climate change is having a big effect on grape growing. Because growing seasons are changing, the wine producers sometimes have to cool down the grapes that have been harvested because often the warmer weather starts fermentation too soon for best quality. I was pleased to see that the Americans at our table did not cover their ears when this was explained, but I am not sure about other tables.

We loved all the wines we sampled (4 of them). Well at least I loved all 4 of them. The ladies beside me did not agree. They did not enjoy some of the wines. This was a great pity, for when they did not enjoy a wine they poured it into my glass rather than the trash container we were given. As a gentleman I had no choice but to help the ladies out. I must always rescue damsels in distress. Sadly that meant that I consumed too much wine. What a pity! My mother always said that I was a very good boy, but bad associates could get me into trouble. That is exactly what happened today.

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After we left the winery we drove back to our ship. We started driving through the town of Obernai. It is a gorgeous old town and would have been worth a stroll, but sadly, we had no time for a stroll. Our taskmaster guide forced us to leave. It was nice to see a stork on a roof top.

Back on the ship we were “entertained” by a group of French musicians who had supposedly just come from Vegas. I told our companions, Scott and Susan from Delaware/New Jersey and Fort Lauderdale respectively, that I considered the accordion an instrument of torture.

We dined with Scott and Sue later and found out that Sue was a Trump supporter and her son Scott hated Trump. That made for some interesting conversations. Sue tried to convince us that Trump had done some good things, but unsurprisingly, she had a difficult time finding some examples.

Dinner was another elegant and tasty treat. The more wine Scott consumed, as his mother pointed out, the more of a raconteur Scott became. We didn’t mind; we had a marvelous time.

 

August 13, 2017 Breisach Germany to Strasbourg France: Often little gems are the best

2017 European River Cruise, photography, , ,

Much to my distaste, I woke up much too early. The causes were probably over excitement. I always have trouble sleeping the first night of a vacation. This is particularly true when I am recovering from jet lag and under the influence of strong drink. I woke up at 4 a.m. After that I took a long shower and wandered off to the early bird riser breakfast. This is a small breakfast offered at 6 a.m. to those fools who don’t know how to sleep properly.

After our breakfast we went on our first and worst excursion. This was a long bus ride to the Black Forest. We also noticed a number of vibrant corn fields as well as fields of flowers. Germans love their blumen (flowers). And who could blame them for that? Not I. As from commercially grown flowers in the farmers’ fields, there were numerous wild flowers throughout the country. This surprised me as I expected Germany to be too civilized for wild flowers. That means there is still hope for the rest of us.

Our destination today was a small village where we stopped at a store that produced and sold cuckoo clocks. For me this was not a highlight of our trip. I hate cuckoo clocks. Who would want a clock that makes an infernal noise every hour? Not me.

I really thought this was a lame excursion. We drove 1 &1/2 hours by bus and then the same distance on the same route back again, and made one photo stop. I know that photography is not the sole criterion for a good excursion but it is certainly one of them for me and, I believe, others as well judged by the number of people that rapidly exit the coach when we did stop. I felt we had spent 3 hours in a bus for very little. I could have done better–much better–by staying in Breisach. I was not mad at anyone. We had chosen this excursion, why I am not sure. I think it was included in the price. So being a cheap Mennonite got me into trouble again.

We saw our first castle as we were driving through the Black Forest. This was a very modest castle, by Rhine River standards, but it was nice to see. It gave us a foretaste of what we would see later. This castle was a ruin from the Thirty Years War. That war had a devastating impact on Germany.

It was waged from 1618 to 1648 and was the deadliest religious war in history. About 8 million people died in that war(s). The war started as a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. Eventually most of the great powers got involved in the action. When the states got involved the war was less about religion than it was about politics. Just like the Irish Troubles. It really was the continuation of rivalry between the French and the Hapsburgs for European domination.

The states used large mercenary armies to fight their foes. Before the war there was relative peace that had been established by the Peace of Augsburg that allowed Catholic or Lutheran (but of course not Calvinists) to determine the religion of their subjects. There was little or no thought given to allowing the individual peasants to choose for themselves. Why would that be necessary? After all, they were peasants. When it comes to religion there is always someone who thinks that his or her views on religion must be imposed on others. Sadly, that tendency is alive and well today. Thank goodness today the religions have a lot less authority than they used to have.

As so often happens in wars, the 30 Years’ War devastated the entire region. Everyone suffered. That is usually how wars work, though that lesson is often ignored or forgotten by belligerents. War also produced famine and disease common consequences of wars. As a result casualties were high. The war also bankrupted most of the combative powers. Isn’t war glorious? As always, of course, the people suffered. That is what wars do; wars cause common people to suffer enormously while princes wail.

Our destination today was a small village where we stopped at a store that produced and sold cuckoo clocks. For me this was not a highlight of our trip. I hate cuckoo clocks. Who would want a clock that makes an infernal noise every hour? Not me.

I really thought this was a lame excursion. We drove 1 &1/2 hours by bus and then the same distance on the same route back again, and made one photo stop. I know that photography is not the sole criterion for a good excursion but it is certainly one of them for me and, I believe, others as well judged by the number of people that rapidly exit the coach when we did stop. I felt we had spent 3 hours in a bus for very little. I could have done better–much better–by staying in Breisach. I was not mad at anyone. We had chosen this excursion, why I am not sure. I think it was included in the price. So being a cheap Mennonite got me into trouble again.

 

After lunch we did what we should have done in the morning. We had a most pleasant walk through Breisach. This is a lovely little village. We had caught a glimpse of it from the ship on our way in, but we did not realize the beauty for the village until we strolled through it. To begin with, it was a marvelous afternoon. Bright and sunny. Warm and pleasant. There were surprisingly many people strolling through town. We gathered they were both locals and tourists on a fine Sunday afternoon.

 

 

Yesterday our Cruise Director joked that probably most of us signed up for this cruise because we wanted to see Breisach.  Of course very few of us had ever likely heard of Breisach. it is a tiny town. yet, I came to realize the Director was right. Breisach was exactly what I wanted to see. It was a lovely little town with interesting things to see and photograph. We loved sitting outside sipping a beer (me) and a wine (Chris) soaking up the sun and atmosphere. As is so often the case, the little gems of travel are the best. The things we are expected to enjoy (like the Black Forest) sometimes disappoint.

I particularly enjoy photographing the churches and cathedrals of Europe.  This is particularly true when they are perched on top of a hill and I am able to get far enough away to capture it digitally. This was a great day.