Dogs
I have always thought of Alsatian dogs as German. But they are Alsatian. There are three in my street, all at the same property. One has finally stopped barking, just gazes in a manner that could be interpreted as slightly friendly. The other two are still barking, but wag their tails at the same time. They are behind a very serious gate, for which I am grateful. I may get to the stage of putting out a hand in friendship before I leave here. But only if they all stop barking.
Handicrafts
Beautiful handworked items for the home are the Alsatian signature product. They are colourful, red predominating, and have an upbeat, cheery sort of character. Lots of cross-stitch, but also more intricately worked items in beautiful linens and voiles. Often the swan, a symbol of Alsace, is featured, embroidered into the design. Or children in traditional costumes, often with geese and carrying tarte flambee. Hearts also, a favourite motif. Houses have curtains made from fine linen with designs worked into them, and often ending with a point. I am wondering if these are “summer window dressing” and heavier fabrics will replace them when it gets really cold.
There are many goods featuring the work of the artist/illustrator Hansi –postcards, placemats, wall hangings – he depicted the everyday events of traditional life, his people always in traditional clothing. There is a museum dedicated to his work in Riquewihr.
Traffic
Street signs defy logic as does all observed parking practice. In truth, in villages where streets are narrow and higgledy-piggledy, and buildings are right on the edges of them, with no footpaths, then no standard rules can be formulated and applied. It is just a matter of everyone taking care of everyone else, and one’s self too, of course. Which is what happens.
Food
Wine, cheese and bread, of course, but after that, Tarte Flambee is the winner. It is very like pizza really; served on a wooden board, it has a very thin bread base, with the edges always burned, and has a huge amount of cheese of various types on it, plus lots of onion and some bacon. A dish to be shared – I could only get though about a third of mine.
Flowers
Some villages have decided it is time, winter is coming, and have removed the flowers. Also some householders –one man was up on a ladder today removing the containers of blossoms from his roof. Perhaps he is preparing for the week of bad weather le meteo has promised. But some villages are being stalwart and replacing their flowers. In Obernai today, council workers were out and about (Monday is quiet, all the shops close, so it is a good chance to get things done) removing spent plants and replacing them with fresh ones in full bloom. Keep the summer going as long as possible!
Pumpkins
Are everywhere. On the steps of the sanctuary in the Cathedral in Strasbourg. At the doorways of the Town Hall in Obernai. Replacing flowers in the window boxes of village homes. Even in the windows of the hairdresser in Rosheim. I have yet to work out if this is all about Halloween or Harvest time. If the latter, why the preponderance of pumpkins. Why not more vines and grapes. (maybe pumpkins last longer?). Witches appearing also. I await 31st October with interest.
Army at railway stations
The forces of the law have not been seen often out and about. Most villages have no police presence. Police are a local thing, set up in places big enough to support them. Law and order in the broader sense is maintained by the gendarmerie, which is actually a branch of the army. The branch of the army that actually does army things is the militaire.
I was surprised on Sunday to find that the Railway station at Strasbourg was being patrolled by the last mentioned – real soldiers, in full gear, sporting automatic weapons (well, they looked like automatics to me). And then the Strasbourg police went through every carriage before the train left the station. Wonder what was going on.
Roads
Once off the autoroutes, which are wonderful to get somewhere quickly, but not scenic really, and heavily populated by big trucks, roads seem to be a series of roundabouts, with a few hundred metres of connecting tarmac in between. The Voice says “Enter roundabout, take the third exit, drive 600 metres, and enter roundabout……”. Sometimes there is excitement for the fly when the voice says “Drive 3 kilometres and then enter roundabout…. Great, get into top gear for a change. There are hundreds of villages, but they are often only a couple of kilometres apart. A benefit of our distances at home is that at least, after negotiating one populated area, the driver can sit back and enjoy at least one CD before having to tackle the next one.
School
School starts at 8.30am. The fly is still in bed, as it is not really quite light by then. But I hear the kids going doing the road – the school is just three doors away from here. They break again at 11.30, when they all come home for lunch. And the shops close too of course. School resumes at 1.30, and goes through until 4.00. At 5.5 hours, it is a slightly longer time in class than our schools have – 5 hours. But the schools close for the 2 hour break in the middle, there is no option for the kids to stay there and eat their lunch and play. As with the Kitzbuhel situation, (7.30 am to 1.00pm and then home) I had wondered about how working mothers cope with this. In Kitzbuhel, the answer was simple. Mothers don’t work. Here, you see mothers at the school to meet the kids at 11.30 and then bringing them back at 1.30. But some mothers do have jobs, and from a TV program about mothering in France I learned that what they do is pay another woman in the community – perhaps an older retired person – to meet the kids, bring them to her home, give them a meal, and take them back again. This happens even for kindergartens. I remember being in the same situation, though not because of a long lunch break. Kindy finished and 2.30, and I paid another Kindy mother to pick up mine with hers, and drop mine back at their day-care mother. There are a lot of logistics to manage when both parents are working.
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