The excitement was almost unbearable. The 2-3 o’clock hour felt like a week, and 3-3:13 pm felt like an eternity. Kevin was about to arrive. I was to meet him at Blvd de Metz, right next to the train station at 3:45, when his Lufthansa airport bus was supposed to arrive. It had been quite an emotional rollercoaster up until this point, Kevin trying to secure the finances and the time off, deciding where to go-France? Germany? Switzerland? Then the decisions-the reservations, the hotels, trains, and the general logistics. After all of our long e-mails, web searches, and skype chats, we finally decided on an itinerary. We were to fly out of Baden-Baden (the closest Ryan air hub) to Rome on Friday, stay in Rome on Saturday, and leave Sunday afternoon for Florence. We would stay in Florence for Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday, and leave for Cinque Terre on Wednesday. The rest of Wednesday and Thursday morning would be spent in Cinque Terre, then we would head to Lausanne to stay with my former au pair Thursday night, Friday and Saturday morning. Then head back to Strasbourg on Saturday and Kevin would depart for Frankfurt and fly to DC on Sunday. Although it would be a whirlwind of a trip, and not really “conquering” any city completely, I felt it was the best decision for us. It was Kevin’s first time in Europe and I wanted to give him a “box of chocolates” sample of Europe, a quick taste of some of its unique flavors and textures, and all gluten and dairy free!
The weeks before his arrival were intense; we both (ironically) fell quite ill with the flu, one right after the other. Trying to make last minute preparations for the trip in the midst of an unquenchable thirst for sleep was a challenge, but we pulled through. We both fully recovered and he was about to arrive. I tried to keep my mind busy the week prior by planning everything I would show Kevin in Strasbourg, down to our walking route back from the train station. I had already packed, bought food for the plane, made dinner reservations and shaved my legs. I was golden. I walked to the train station to kill a few minutes before his arrival. After finding Blvd de Metz, and the Lufthansa sign I knew I was in the right place. Any minute now, he would be here. My heart was pounding and I was wringing my hands with anticipation. My heart leapt for joy when I saw the yellow bus come down the street. It stopped and I saw through the windows a figure of Kevin jump up and begin to run down the isle of the bus. He stopped briefly and thanked the bus driver and bolted down the steps, dropped his bag, and scooped me up in one of the most passionate embraces I have ever experienced. It had been two months since we had seen each other, two months since we had held each other in an emotional good bye at JFK. Now he was here, and I could put my arms around him instead of look at him through a computer. Not that I am not grateful for the invention of skype, it has made being apart remotely tolerable, but it is nothing like being in his physical presence. It was a strange juxtaposition of completely new and strange, and one of the most deeply familiar feelings, which are more deeply embedded than memory itself.
Hand in hand, eyes lit up, and grinning broadly I walked him back to my host family’s house through Petite France. I lead jet-lagged Kevin though the narrow doorway, and he was immediately greeted by excited, jumping labs and my host mom speaking to him in French in a narrow hallway as he tried to take off his shoes and bag. I lead Kevin inside and told my host mom that he spoke about five words of French. She either didn’t understand the connotations of that or didn’t believe me, but either way, she continued to speak to him in French the entire time. I let Kevin set down his bag and regroup while I fed him a small snack of Gluten free Peanut Butter and Jelly and Orange Juice.
After a brief respite, we headed back out into Strasbourg. I showed him the important highlights, the cathedral, the Syracuse Center, downtown and the beautiful walk by the river. After two months Strasbourg has begun to have a sort of familiarity to it. So needless to say it was fun to see the reactions of someone who had never been to Strasbourg, much less Europe.
After our walk around the city, we began to search for “Les fleur des champs” a restaurant that was recommended to me by a friend. I had been in e-mail contact with the owner and being gluten and dairy free would not be a problem. Having only vague directions we got lost down some of the narrow cobblestone streets of Strasbourg behind “Place Broglie”. Although Kevin usually gets frustrated in these sorts of circumstances, he loved every second of the exploration. We finally stumbled upon it, and entered a beautiful, quaint “biologique” café. I chatted with one of the workers and she pointed out a few things on the menu that we could eat. While Kevin and I were contemplating our dinner choices, a man came out of the back and introduced himself. He apparently was the owner whom I had been communicating with by e-mail. He was very friendly and outgoing (especially for French standards) and answered some of my questions about the menu. Not knowing all of the complex vocabulary I chose the “menu de la mer” (literally meaning “menu of the sea”) for Kevin and I. Dinner was lovely; we had a sort of bean soup first with seaweed, followed by a plate of a little fillet of fish with herbs and two little strips of seaweed. With a fresh salad, and little pilaf of rice flavored delicately with thyme. We had a Sylvander wine (an Alsatian specialty), which complimented the meal perfectly and even a “crème de chocolate” and a “crème d’amound” for desert. These desserts had the consistency of a sort of thick pudding, were made out of rice products, and were very true to flavor. Extremely delicious, and it was quite a novelty being able to order an entire meal. On our way out we chatted with Michel (the owner). He asked us where we were from and when we told him the Midwest her said “oh near Obama!” and became very animated. He gave us a peanut brittle bar on our way out and we thanked him gratefully for our wonderful meals.
After dinner I took Kevin over to L’artichaut, one of my favorite bars/café’s in Strasbourg. It is a cozy place with a hippy vibe and many wooden tables and a pool table on the top floor, and the lower floor was a small room for live music. Thursday night was jazz night, so after getting our drinks we went downstairs. The room was absolutely packed, but a group of people was leaving so we grabbed their prime second row seating. The music was beautiful and soothing. Perfect for that space and a wonderful atmosphere. There was a piano, string bass, drum set, singer and guitar. It wasn’t too loud like some big band music can be, but instead quiet and inspiring. It was one of my favorite live jazz performances I have ever seen. The pianist and the drummer seemed to be in sync, almost reading each other’s minds. The string bass player seemed to ride their brain waves, changing chords and sculpting progressions as naturally and reactively as a surfer rides and reacts to the waves of the sea. An absolute perfect close to the evening. After being filled with a lovely meal, wine, images of Strasbourg and beautiful sounds of Jazz, we made our way back, and collapsed into peaceful slumber.
