I enjoyed very much this journey through Alsatia: a region with beautiful landscapes: Strasbourg with its old town, Colmar with its half-timbered houses , the countryside at Kirchberg, the Grand Ballon or the medieval castles.
Some words about Strasbourg , a very attractive town with its old town, its cathedral: we meet people from abroad who feel very well in their new town: Cynthia Dinamarca (who enjoys the bike paths), Young-Min Suk (the South Corean baritone who now sings in the Opera du Rhin) or Albina Ovtcharenko (the Moldavian political counsellor who works at the Council of Europe and likes the ambiance of Strasbourg).
About 800.000 persons speak the Alsatian language: in the "Troquet des Kneckes" the foreigners and French people receive free lessons of Alsatian language and so communicate with Alsatian speaking persons.
Besides Alsatia is famous for its gastronomy :the sauerkraut (in French choucroute) , the Flammekueche, the gugelhuft and also the pork meat. Leïla Martin is a culinary blogger who organizes Alsatian cooking worksops (traditional recipes and also new versions of the traditional cooking).
Alsatia is also famous for its storks: in 1974 there were only 9 stork's nests in Alsatia: then in the "NaturOparc" Jérôme Renaud and his father have created a place for the nesting of the storks and now there are 45 stork's nests in the parc: in all Alsatia there are now about 800 nests, even in the towns and the villages.
Alsatia has a strong Medieval story: there were about 400 fortified castles : now there are about 100 castles, many of them in ruins: but we see the restored castle of Haut Koenigsbourg built in the 12th century: the guide Denis Louchart enjoys to show the castle to the tourists and to speak about the. Middle Ages in Alsatia, besides he goes to the castle of Spesbourg where people organize spectacles (medieval music, medieva cooking ,medieval dresses, jousts).
I enjoy also the travel to the Rhine River where we see the navigation school and then Thierry Jung, one of last professionnal fishmermen; this day he has captured a catfish that he has given to a German fisherman on the other side of the river and perches that he sells to his friend Alexis Albrecht , the chef of the restaurant "Au vieux convent": besides Alexis knows the natural reserve of the island of Rhinau and looks there for several natural plants for his cooking.
The village of Molsheim was the place of the Bugatti cars factory (founded in 1909), many mechanics who have worked in the factory take care for their old Bugatti cars and the granddaughter of Ectore Bugatti, Caroline Bugatti lives now in Molsheim (Chateau Saint-Jean).
I enjoyed very much the encounters of Jérôme with Marie Froelichler (the pleasant Bistrot et Chocolat), with the guide of the "Hôtel du Corbeau", with Anne, Sophie , Sébastien and Jean Kippelen (the transhumance from Kirchberg to Lochberg), with Cédric Schreiber (boat tour in the canal, the resort of Saverne), with Frédéric Cueney (the castle of Haut Barr and La Ferme de Marie in Rangen), with Marc Muller and his wife (the old town of Colmar, the concert and the diving in the Gravel Pit of the Fort), with Serge Dumas , the biologist at the gravel pit and with Joseph Peter,the member of the Vosges club (the excursion to the Grand Ballon): very nice encounters with kind Alsatian men and women.