Monday May 6, Rain on and off
Mary’s favorite stop along the Rhein happens to be our only port of call in France, Colmar. The town has a fairytale appearance, with its winding cobbled streets and half-timber houses with steep roofs. In various years it has been alternately annexed by the Germans and the French; so much so that children are often sent to bilingual schools, where half of the day is taught in French, the other in German, even advanced subjects.
Beneath this fairytale surface there appears to lie a strong feeling of the preciousness of freedom. I think it’s no coincidence that this is the home of Frederic Bartholdi, the creator of the Statue of Liberty. In fact, a version of her stands in the middle of the city’s largest traffic circle. I think this is illustrated by the signs hanging above the city’s shops, mostly designed by someone who signs them “Hansi.” An example is the sign above this German butcher’s shop. The girl leading the pig to market has a French cockade in her hat, a tiny but clear sign to the townspeople during their German occupation.
After a morning of walking about the town we climbed aboard buses to take us on a ride along the “Alsace wine road.” We were then treated to lunch at a “biologic” winery, i.e., one that makes addressing environmental and health problems a priority. They made a local dish for us, called “fire bread” — Feuerbrot in German, pain de feu in French. It’s a paper-thin flatbread covered with a mixture of cheese and sour cream with various additions: pork lardons, arugula, mushrooms, and so on. Their typical size is that of an oval serving platter, and they were baked on the spot in an outdoor pizza oven. Delicious!