Earlier this evening I returned to Le Havre after an epic day of train delays and slow moving TGVs. I had a really really great time in Alsace with Nichole, which turned into something of a culinary tour, due to inclement weather. Early Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Strasbourg, where we caught a train to Séléstat, a nearby town. Séléstat has a population of about 18,000 people and is on the Alsatian Wine Route. Historically, the town is famous because it was academic center of the Holy Roman Empire, AND because it was home to the first recorded Christmas tree in Europe in 1521. Nichole and I spent our time there wandering the Marchés de Noel and trying to find food. Warning: DO NOT try to find an open kitchen in France between 2:30 and 7:00. All your efforts will be futile and people will look at you like you are straight out of the nuthouse if you ask if they know of any place that might be open.
Séléstat was pretty charming, despite the lack of food, and we were able to check out the very old churches there, as well as see an exhibit on the history of the Christmas tree, most of which I've forgotten by now. I can guarantee it was interesting, though.
The next day, we headed back to Strasbourg for the rest of our Alsatian vacation. Our first night, we happened upon an ENORMOUS marché de noel with every type of vendor imaginable. You could get anything from choucroute pockets to vin chaud to boudin noir to paté en croute to boots to mittens to Baby Milo sweatshirts (all my students wear these. Evidently, Baby Milo is a young cartoon monkey that can play baseball, among other things, and he is always in sequins. I have never seen a non-sequined Baby Milo. Also, it's just the boys who wear these. I don't get it). After exhausting the market we headed to a bar called the 12 Apotres right next to the cathedral for some local flavor. German beer is so good!
Monday was really when the adventure started when we woke up to find that it was snowing. Heavily. We had planned a whole walking tour through the city, but we only made it 5 minutes before we were soaked and had puddles in our shoes (and so began my trench foot). Instead of winding through old streets looking at half-timbered houses and canals we had no other option but to go into the cathedral to sit and try and dry off. We got kicked out 5 minutes later, however, because you have to pay to be inside with the astronomical clock goes off, and I couldn't think of a way to justify doing that. Incidentally, I still can't. Is it just me or is the church trying to nickel and dime some tourists? Anyway, still a little bit miserable, we couldn't think of anything else to do but check out a salon de thé to warm up and have some bouche de noel. It was very ladies who lunch of us. Importantly, this is how our culinary tour began. Wanting to avoid the bad weather and trying to give my worsening trench foot a fighting chance to go away, we hopped from restaurant to restaurant and from to winstub to tea house. The next stop on Monday was a place advertising tarte flambée, a local specialty. It's basically a matzoh crust pizza, but made with creme fraiche, bacon, and onions, instead of sauce and cheese. After our two meals we wandered into the Musée Alsacien, which was great. The museum showcased Alsatian life up until about 1900, from the house to the religion to clothing, to cultural traditions. Fun fact: Alsatian Christmas used to involve Hans something or other, a hooded man who looks EXACTLY like the grim reaper who appears to scare bad children. These people weren't joking around. I literally jumped when I walked into the room and saw him. Coal doesn't seem so bad now!
Monday's culinary tour ended with a very fancy dinner at the Maison Kammertzal, where Nichole and I tried choucroute for the first time. Choucroute is THE regional dish, so I would have felt bad if I had left without trying it, but it is decidedly not my thing. When I was in Germany a few years ago I remember feeling like I was having meat sweats from a constant diet of wurst, and this dish brought me way too close to that feeling. The plate is heaped with sauerkraut and then topped with about 3 sausages - including boudin noir - three pieces of ham, and some other cuts of unidentifiable cuts of pig. Nichole and I definitely struggled with this one and were astonished to see everyone else in the restaurant just putting it away. People cleared their plates!
Tuesday, the weather switched to rain from snow. My shoes still hadn't dried from the night before, and I could hear water swishing around in them. Trench foot! Regardless, we walked around La Petite France, a small island right next to the old city (which is also an island). La Petite France was originally the craft-center of the city where the tanners lived and set up shop. Very quaint, very charming, very old! Now onto the important stuff: what we ate for lunch. This was definitely the best meal of the trip. We chose a winstub with a COMPLETELY illegible handwritten menu (a good sign, I think). Ordering was kind of like Russian roulette, since we could only make out about a third of the description of most of the offerings. I wound up with an entrée of super fresh and tender herring over potatoes à l'huile. SO GOOD. It was almost like being at Zabar's! For the plat, Nichole and I both had boar stew with spaetzle. It was super tender and savory and delicioussssss. If you are ever in Alsace, go eat at Le Pont du Corbeau! The rest of the day was spent trying to walk off our heavy lunch, which isn't to say that we didn't stop for cake and coffee when our feet hurt from being so cold and wet...
All in all, the trip was great. The people we met were very nice and warm and excited to speak French with us. And the food was amazing! The only downside was the weather and having to sacrifice a pair of boots. The rest of my vacation will be spent in Le Havre and Paris with my family. I can't wait!
P.S. I'm uploading photos of the trip now - please check them out!
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