We boarded the bus at 8:45 am for a 9:00 departure. Sure enough however, one of our fellow music students Tom (a guitarist) called Julia (a clarinetist) at 8:40, saying that he just woke up and was throwing on clothes as they spoke. We heard periodic updates from Julia as Tom ran to the tram station (about a 15 minutes walk from his house), then seeing that there were no Trams, began to sprint across town. We were all holding our breaths wondering if he’d make it. Luckily, the French version of staring on time is a little more relaxed. Just as we were about to pull away, we see him emerging in the distance. We cheered as he ran onto the bus, and collapsed in a seat. Pretty impressive for a guy who doesn’t really do much physical activity, but needless to say he was pretty soar the next day.
We drove about 30 minutes or so until we got to Haut-Koenigsbourg, which is a major medieval castle in the Alsace. This castle is beautifully situated in the Vosges, and has everything a castle should have to offer. Lots of stone, spiral staircases, old rooms, etc. Although it was quite chilly, (inside and out) it was interesting to see. It is unlike many castles I had seen; the only way to describe it is “uniquely Alsatian”. One interesting fact our guide told us was that the spiral staircase was built with the stairs going the opposite way they normally do, so that the knight could better defend it. C’était intéressant!
After the castle, we boarded our purple bus (complete with butterflies) and drove to Eguisheim, a little Alsatian village on the “route du vin” for lunch. We had a long (almost 2.5 hours) glorious lunch. This little restaurant specialized in wild boar, which was fun for many to try. They made me a steak-like piece of meat with steamed veggies. Since I couldn’t eat dessert, they brought me out a huge apple, which was sweet of them. I especially liked the espresso, quite smooth and creamy tasting.
Like many French events, lunch ran long, which put us a little bit behind schedule. We had a quick walk around both Eguisheim and Colmar, a nearby city. The more I see of the Alsatian villages, the more I like the quaint, beautiful and unique style. The small town squares are complete with large fountains and brick roads. The small narrow cobblestone streets and the unique German/French architecture makes you feel like you are in the middle of “beauty and the beast”. I half expected the all the doors to open simultaneously and for the entire neighborhood to burst into song.
My favorite part of this excursion was by far the wine tasting. After exploring Eguisheim and Colmar, we headed to a little vineyard in Blienschwiller. This tiny, husband and wife owned wine cellar, was fun and quaint. We all crowded literally in the cellar, and listened to information about Alsatian wine, and the differences in processing and growing techniques. (Monsieur Marxe translated for those with minimal French experience) The Alsace is known primarily for its white wines, the Riesling, Pinot Grigiot, Muscat, and Gewurztraminer, and its one red: the pinot noir. I am a deep red wine fanatic at heart, and am used to drinking full-bodied Malbecs, spicy Zinfandels, and poignant Cabernets. Knowing little about the “other side”, I found that this tasting was particularly enlightening. We tried the Pinot Grigiot first, which was smooth and herbal. After came the Riesling, which was crisp and remarkably poignant. I had some negative connotations about Rieslings, thinking they were weak and too sweet, but I guess the Alsatians know what they’re doing. The Muscat was sweet, but had a startling floral nose, prominently lilac. The Gewunstraminer reminded me of butterscotch, but also had that aged oak aftertaste.
By the end of our tasting, we were quite happy and thoroughly impressed. Many of us, including my theory teacher and Monsieur Marxe, took the opportunity to by some of these bottles. They were a great price, since we were buying from the source, and they had a fun memory attached to them. After giving the little vineyard a good deal of business, we got back on the bus, and headed back to Strasbourg. Interestingly enough, on the tram ride home, nobody looked twice at us carrying our large boxes and bottles of wine. Vive la France!
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