Biking in the Vosges

The three of us went on a bike ride Wednesday on the "Voie Vert", biking trails that are linked with old railroad lines. It was a lovely sunny day, and we stopped for a picnic along the way. My legs are a little sore, but I earned my potato chips at lunch! (Dad, we had jambon-beurre for lunch. I know you would have loved it!)

Castle Matching Game

We went to Alsace on Monday to visit castles and then to eat dinner with a "true" (14 generations) Alsatian family that Patrick met through his antique postcard collecting. Each picture represents something, and it is up to you to match the picture to the description. Here are the descriptions:

A: "Donjon"
B: Medieval Chapel
C: gate with drawbridge holes
D: sewage system
E: Medieval toilet
F: cannon firing hole
G: Medieval fireplace
H: "Choucroute Alsacienne"


1:



2:

3:

4:

5:

6:

7:

8:

ANSWERS:

1 B: This 11 or 12th century tiny chapel was in the wall of a castle ruin.

2 D: Yes, this is indeed the exterior of an indoor toilet! They would sit down on a stone seat with a hole in it, and go...and it would just all exit out the tower. Sarah, I know you love this one!

3 F: When canons were invented, this castle was updated to allow for holes to fire out of.

4 G: Most castles we have seen had some kind of fireplace in the wall.

5 A: A "Donjon" is the tower that was the last resort when a castle was under seige. It was where the family lived, and where they stayed in a seige.

6 H: Homemade! Excellent!

7 E: This is a different castle but another toilet. Here you get to see the seat!

8 C: This gate once had a drawbridge. You can kind of see the openings where the drawbridge mechanisms were (above the opening).

Sunday Lunch

You gotta love a country that understands the importance of good food as well as France does.

Picture this: Our WWII vet neighbor had brought us a big box of potatoes and green beans from his garden. What to do with them? Invite Patrick's Mom to come have lunch with us on Sunday. So we call the butcher and ask him to set aside a roast chicken for us for Sunday. Done.

Sunday morning comes, and I think, "It would be nice, since it is Sunday lunch and that is traditionally a nicer meal in France, to have an 'entree' before the main meal." (An "entree" in France is the course between the appetizer and the main meal.) I look in the pantry and realize I have all the ingredients for Dotties 4-ingredient chicken salad as long as I use tuna and almonds instead of chicken and pecans. (It was good, Dottie!) Stuff some smallish tomatoes, and you have an entree.

But then we realize that my bro-in-law and his youngest daughter Lea are on their own because Christine had to work, so... let's invite them!

First, though--Ida, do you have any extra tomotoes? Yes, no problem!

Butcher, can you put aside another chicken for us? Yes, no problem!

What about dessert? Quick stop at the patisserie/boulangerie, and voila! A delicious, relatively easy meal fit for the in-laws! (We already had fresh bread from that morning and delicious cheese on hand.)

The meal: appero (nuts, olives, cheese straws, etc. while sipping a glass of port or other such aperitif), followed by tomatoes stuffed with tuna salad, then roast chicken and a side of green beans and potatoes, then a selection of cheeses with fresh bread, then dessert, then coffee. Mmmmmmm!

I love this country! (Pictures below)


An assortment of desserts to share...


Stuffing the tomatoes with the tuna salad in our little kitchen...




Patrick, Philippe, Ida, Lea sitting outside for lunch al fresco (but under the umbrella to keep the temperature down!)

Beignets de Patates a Champdrey (Potato Pancake Festival!)

The now-famous (in our circle of friends) Potato Pancake Festival in Champdrey (the village on top of the mountain show in the quiz) took place last night, and it was, as predicted, a lot of fun--although the general feeling was that the beignets (kind of like hash browns, but better) were not as good as last year. Oh, well--the bacon sandwiches made up for it! (Think thick-cut bacon cooked on an open fire, on fresh French bread--mmmmm!) Patrick, Ren, and I went to 6:00 mass in Champdrey at the church across from the festival. In fact, if you look at the first picture, that's the priest sitting at the bottom right in the white with the glasses. He joined us for a glass of wine and some beignets, and let me tell you, he held his own with the funny stories and jokes! (Thank God, everyone kept the jokes clean, at least while Frere Jacques was with us!) You can just see the church behind our table. Clockwise from left to right, starting at the bottom left: Bertrand Voirin, me, Catherine Voirin, some other people we didn't know, across from Catherine is Christine Jacques (Philippe's wife), Philippe (Patrick's bro), Frederic (Patrick's cousin and close friend), Father Jacques, and Pierre (a friend of Bertrand).



Funny stories and jokes were told by anyone who had that ability (not me). Here, Philippe tells a good one to Fredo.



Only complaint: long lines for the food! You can just see Patrick waiting in line for the bacon sandwiches, in the right half of the picture behind a lady with a pale green sweater around her shoulders.


Like last year, a clown was present to provide entertainment. I'm not usually a fan of clowns, but this guy is really good. He keeps the kids entertained while still keeping it humorous enough for the grown-ups, and his juggling ability was impressive.

The "after party" was at Bertrand and Catherine's house in Granges. We had champagne and kuggelhopf (don't hold me to the spelling on that). Clockwise starting at bottom left: Pierre, Fredo, Christine, Bertrand, Philippe, Virginie (Bertrand's neice and godchild), her fiance Olivier (a policeman), Monique (Bertrand's sister-in-law's sister and Virginie's godmother), and Patrick.

The funny stories and jokes continued! But we were still home and in bed by 1:00am, which was earlier than last year (and very welcome by those of us who need our 8 hours!)

As they say, a good time was had by all. (Ren had dinner with us, including beignets and coke, and then Patrick drove him down the mountain so he didn't have to hang with the old fogies.)

Dinner in Gerardmer

Last night, we had dinner in Gerardmer with Remi, our nephew (Philippe and Christine's son). Ren enjoyed a fillet St. Pierre with a green salad and some potatoes made in the traditional Vosgian way (lard, butter, herbs...).

I can't remember what Remi ate, but it was good.

As for me, I ordered the Menu du Jour, which started with a beautifully presented and delicious type of pate' made with lentils and thin slices of duck. My main dish was Rognons de Veau. Do you know what those are? I thought I did. I thought I was ordering little veal steaks. I was wrong. Rognons are kidneys....

Since it is considered impolite and bad manners not to finish what is served to you, I ate them. And to be honest, they were really good--once I got beyond the idea of it. (Can you tell how I felt when I figured out what I was eating?)

This morning, the three of us went on a bike ride nearby. After a lunch of sliced tomatoes from the garden, tuna, cheese, and bread, Patrick and I rode our bikes over the his brother Philippe's house, just in time for coffee and chocolate. Then Patrick ran an errand while I picked up our mail from Ida's house--a letter from Lynette was waiting--what a nice surprise! And then I rode my bike to the butcher to reserve a roast chicken for Sunday lunch. We'll have more of the green beans and potatoes that our neighbor Mr. Rouault brought us to thank us for helping him put up his wood, roast chicken, and salad from Ida's garden. Life is good! The only wish is to have more sunshine!

A Quiz About Life in France

(Don't worry--the answers are at the end of this article!) Using the clues next to each picture, take a stab at what these might be, and then read the end to see how close you were:

1) Could this have religious significance?



2) Take a close look at the railings: What is this made of?




3) Yes, that's Granges below, but what is the significance of the mountain behind?




4) Every house had one back in the day. This is only a ruin of the original. What could it have been?



5) Less solid versions of this cross by the road exist in the US too. What is its purpose?

6) Hint: $15.00

7) What is our favorite aisle in the grocery store?

8) What is American Sauce?

9) What is very American about this picture? (Hint: it's pink and not on me.)

10) What is in Ren's collection, pictured here?

Answers:

1) A statue in the wall near the church in Granges, of unknown origin or significance. We guess it has religious significance, but it is odd!

2) The supports for the stair railings at City Hall in a nearby town are made of bomb casings from WWII.

3) The American troops were camped out here as they waited for their supplies to catch up before the freed Granges from the Germans in WWII.

4) The outline of an old bread oven.

5) Called a "calvaire" (as in Calvary, as in this was someone's personal or family Calvary), this marks the location where something significant happened, often the death of a loved one. They are found on the side of the road, and sometimes even in the forest at old crossroads. We found one once that marked where a man was killed in a hunting accident.

6) $15 is what it cost to buy three good bottles of wine and five bottles of Normandy cider.

7) The cheese aisle! This is us with our favorite cheese, called "Caprice des dieux" or a caprice of the gods. It's like butter--and I really mean that, it's like butter.

8)American Sauce is exactly like French Dressing in the US: a mix of mayo and ketchup.

9) Crocks have invaded France! You can see a large pink one hanging from the crock stand at the fresh market in Granges. This is truly one of the great tragedies of modern cultural invasions, following closely behind the popularization of McDonalds in France.

10) Ren's WWII collection: a large bomb casement, a large bullet casement, and an actual German bayonet with sheath, found hidden in a shed under the eaves of the roof where Patrick's family lived when he was growing up. They lived in the old police station that had been converted into apartments after the war. A neighbor found the bayonet and gave it to the Jacques. Ida gave it to Ren, and needless to say, it is a prized possession.

The Resistence Movement in WWII

In June 1944, the word went out to the Resistance movement in a little village about 10 minutes from Patrick's home town named Corcieux, to create a distraction for the Germans. The Resistance throughout the Vosges, called the Maquis here, took their orders seriously and set to work. They were so effective that the German army, believing that something big must be about to happen in the Vosges, left a good part of their divisions here instead of sending them to the beaches at Normandy--perhaps helping insure the success of the Allied invasion. The Maquis were so effective that the German army, infuriated by what the Maquis did, in retaliation, shot hundreds of people, often while families watched, and burned entire towns to the ground. The first picture here is the monument at the location where the Maquis of Corcieux were lined up and shot. Corcieux was totally destroyed by the Germans --there isn't a building in the town that is left from before the war. We spoke with a woman this morning whose father was in a group of men who watched the executions, fully believing his group was next. (For whatever reason, the observers were spared.)

This second picture is on top of a mountain at La Bresse, another city that was a major headquarters for the Maquis in the Vosges Mountains and that was totally destroyed by the Germans in retaliation. This is another site of executions by the German army. The Maquis were meeting here in secret, but someone told the Germans, and the SS snuck up on them, surrounded them, and executed all they found there. It was a foggy night, and some were able to hide in the brush and were spared. The monument says "Never forget that on this spot, the Black Drop Maquis and the Piquante Pierre Maquis, on the 16th, 20th, and 21st September 1944, and soldiers from the 4th Battalion of the French Interior Forces, died for freedom. Honor their memory and keep it sacred." (An interesting note: listed on the monument is a man whose home town is listed as New York. He was listed as one of the French soldiers. Also, as a point of explanation, the battalions referred to here were soldiers fighting for the non-occupied French Army, led by DeGaulle in England. Because they fought more in hiding than in the open, there was a fine line between official sodiers and maquis.)

The last picture is Patrick and Ren at the site in La Bresse. Today we visited with Camille and Lucette Lievaux, a couple who lived through the war. Camille was a prisoner of war and then after escaping, a Maquis fighter with an amazing story of his own--for another day! Lucette is the one whose father witnessed the executions in Corcieux. She was a teenager, and she said to us this morning, "You can't imagine what the fear is like--to live in fear and have no relief from it for so long."

Patrick's father was deported by the Germans on November 8, 1944, just six days before Granges was liberated by the Americans. He was "requisitionned" by the German army: all men in good health between 16 and 46 years old were told to come work to build up defenses against the Allies who were stuck about three miles away from Granges, waiting for supplies to catch up. Of the men called by the Germans, lmost no one came, so the Germans got mad and rounded up the men and took them prisoner. They were forced to walk in the snow across the mountains more than 30 miles. Patrick's Dad Rene spent almost six months as a prisoner of war, forced to work for the Germans. He was part of a group that was on its way to Dachau, an extermination camp, to be executed, but the allies kept bombing the train tracks, and instead the prisoners were forced to repair tracks until April 1945. There is a memorial on the front of City Hall in Granges that commemorates the deportation.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to an outdoor mass in honor of Saint Anne at this little chapel. (I think she is said to be Jesus' grandmother, Mary's mother?) This chapel is all that's left of a small castle (more like a manor house) that was owned by Anne de Martinipre, a noble woman from the early 17th century who we recently learned is an ancestor of Patrick's (and Ren's of course.) Every year they have this "procession" (see picture) and then an outdoor mass.

This is Ren, Ida (Patrick's Mom), and Patrick inside the little chapel.

We were invited by the property owners (a family from Paris whose daughter, son-in-law, and their three kids live in New York and were visiting) for a glass of champagne after the mass. That's Ren, then Ida, then the man who did a lot of the research about this branch of the family, and me in the foreground.

La Cholande: Village Festival

The story goes that Granges was known for its Cholande, a buttery bread made with bacon, and 16 years ago, they started hosting a village festival in honor of the delicacy. It is a fun event for us--we get to see lots of people all at once; the food is good; and we're within walking distance of our house. In fact, this year, we provided the electricity for the Barbary Organ, parked just outside our door (in front of our "private garden"--see photo on the left taken from our bedroom window).

Some highlights from the day: Where else but in France would you see two wild boars roasting over an open pit? Or dancers from the Loraine region dancing in front of an 900 year old church...

Or eat a lunch of regional specialties including a Salade Vosgienne, a pork chop, and three potato pancakes (plus dessert) for $9?

Patrick and I bought three Cholandes au lard and one au chocolat, along with local sausage and some smoked pork tenderloin. We put that together with the letuce our next-door neighbor gave us from his garden, and invited Patrick's brother Philippe, his wife Christine, their youngest daughter Lea, and Patrick's mother Ida. We had everything ready, but the family hadn't arrived yet... so what better way to wait than to head out into the closed-off street where a stand was set up and friends were relaxing? (You can see Patrick with a friend Bertrand Voirin sitting to Patrick's right, enjoying a beer, only four houses away from ours.) We couldn't have asked for a more pleasant afternoon, and a few minutes later, the Jacques family came walking down the street, ready for dinner. Back to our house for a lovely evening of Cholandes, sausages, and good conversation with the family.

(This is our kitchen. Left to right, Ida--Patrick and Philippe's mom, Lea--Philippe's youngest daughter, Christine, Philippe, Ren, Patrick.)

Strong wind, heavy rain, and cold temperatures greeted us outside our windows this morning, so what better thing to do that go to the garden store and buy flowers to plant in the planter!

That done, Patrick and Ren noticed our WWII vet neighbor loading a huge (5 feet high, 25 feet in diameter) pile of wood that was deliveredto his driveway, into his shed, one wheelbarrow at a time. (He must be in his '80s.) So they went to help. I followed soon after to say hello (my neck keeping me from lending a hand), and our neighbor handed me a basket and said, "I have a little job for you." He led me to his beautiful garden and instructed me to pick as many green beans as we could eat. Once I finished that, he handed me three fresh-picked heads of lettuce and several freshly-harvested potatoes from his garden, and then he insisted on giving us four different kinds of jam he had "put up" this spring. So a dreary, depressing day turned into one of bounty! This is me, sitting next to my newly-planted planter, with the jams and veggies on the table in front.

Tomorrow is the village festival, "La Cholande," and since everyone says it is ALWAYS pretty weather for this day, we're looking forward to it. Tents and tables are already being set up!

Temps de Chien (Dog Weather) for the Tour

To get to the tour, we thought we were going to have to hike three miles across country (to avoid the blocked-off roads) to a place where the riders were going up-hill and around a roundabout (so that we'd see the riders for more than a split second.) But the good part about the weather, which was very cold and very wet, was that it kept people home, and we were able to park within a half-mile of the course.

The caravane, the "parade" before the race where they throw all kinds of junk and some cool stuff at the waiting people, was running late, and we got a t-shirt and a bag (along with a key chain, two cheapo bracelets, and several newspapers), all from sponsors of the tour. The first picture, upper right, is of the "Cochonou" cars, a big sponsor of the race. (They make delicious dry sausage. Unfortunately they were not throwing sausages.)

We placed ourselves up a steep hill with a good view of two parts of the road with a roundabout in the middle. (If you watched the race, there was a giant snow man in the middle of the roundabout. We were just up the hill behind that.)

The first group of three--one of which came in first in Colmar--passed by, and by some miracle my camera actually focused on the riders instead of the spectators (see below).

Below left, you can see the peleton going up the hill away from us, and below right are the overall leaders. One is Lance--no idea which one--and the one with the yellow helmet is the Yellow Jersey.We were soaked but had a great time. Can't wait to take a hot shower!