By: Janet & Brett
We all arrived in Strasbourg at the Chateau de Pourtales, in one piece
with all of our luggage in tow (a minor miracle!). A minor hold up at
customs but nothing we couldn’t handle. We were met by our coordinator
Christina who has taken care of our group for the first week of our
stay.
So THIS is our home for the next seven weeks. Built in the
late 18th century the Chateau de Pourtales has played home to countless
dignitaries. Franz Liszt has stayed here…so has Albert Schweitzer. And
now US so we are in very good company! When we arrived we met a group
of students from Georgia, Houston and Brazil. We’ve been getting to
know them on some field trips and during our OCCASSIONAL visits to
“David’s Bar”. So far so good!
The Chateau sits on the edge of a
forest. Excellent walking/jogging paths. We did a walk on our first day
to discover the art that’s scattered throughout. The “map guy”,
“bowling rabbit”, “the “ears have trees” and the small little community
of brass “gnomes” that sit under the trees at the edge of the forest.
Walking into the forest you come across a series of WWII era bunkers.
They were part of the Maginot Line. We went into a few – ONCE. That’s
enough. A few of us are walking and/or jogging every day…good way to
get rid of the “baguette guilt”.
Our first day in the city. We
had a great tour of the Cathedral and then walked through the city down
to La Petite France. Wandered around and got our IDENTICAL European
cell phones organized. Ten met up before dinner in "Place Klebert".
Christmas is an AMAZING time in the Alsace region – the cities and towns
are decorated to the hilt! In Place Kleberg we came across this Star
Wars Storm Trouper waiting on the big Christmas tree. Not sure why! But
then again, why NOT?
We’re in Alsace so of course there will be
wine. We started with our first wine class and wine tastings at the
Chateau on Thursday afternoon. Our instructor is a man named Albert
Seltz. Mr. Seltz is the 14th generation owner and winemaker who started
running the family winery in 1980. On Saturday we spent the day with
the students from Georgia, on a guided tour of the “Wine Route”.
Visited some small towns along the route and then stopped at one of the
region’s larger wineries – Jean Geiler in Ingersheim. We tasted five of
their wines and bought a FEW bottles to take back to the Chateau. All
in the name of supporting the local industry! We ended the day with a
tarte flambée “frenzy” at a great restaurant at the outskirts of the
city.
