Riquewihr

Newborn Storks-Awww

Muskrats Playing "Scrabble"

Riquewihr

June 9, 2011-French History

We stayed in Strasbourg and took a bus tour on the Alsatian wine road today. I think we've been there but came from the other direction. We were in Northern France around 1994 and went to Strasbourg then. Today we drove through picturesque villages in the foothills of the Vosge Mts. and drank in the quaint beauty of each new place. The custom of one village was to place a heart on the roof if a single woman lived in a house and a bottle on the roof if a single man lived there. We saw one bottle that had a glass over it. The man was now taken. Geraniums rule in this region and have been the window box flower of choice the entire trip. I'm quite fond of them but have never been able to grow them. They were one of my father's favorites and he planted some for me whenever he visited in the spring, but they never lasted.

The Rhine River formed between the Black Forest and the Vosge Mts. during a volcanic upheaval. The Rhine chose to flow to the east into the North Sea and the Rhone flows to the west into the Mediterranean. The volcanic soil adds a special flavor to the wine produced here. Ironically, due to a fungus that devastated the grapes, the majority of vines grown here come from California. Other upheavals involved wars where the area bounced between Germany and France. Towns still keep two sets of street signs just in case. Right now street names are in French. The ones in German are in storage.

On our hour-long drive Dewi reviewed some famous Frenchmen. Charles de Gaulle was mentioned as was Napoleon. Dewi said that Napoleon was the reason most French men were short. I guess de Gaulle is an exception. She said that as a battle strategy Napoleon put the taller men in the front lines to scare the enemy. Bye, bye tall genes. Napoleon changed the organization of bureaucracy and insisted that the people adopt surnames. He also started a system of numbering houses. However, I don't think he was responsible for the present thirty-eight hour French work-week or the law giving an hour lunch break that allows one glass of wine. Bartoli, the designer of the Statue of Liberty is from the Alsace region and the Marseilles, the French national anthem, was composed here. The infamous Maginot Line ran through here but is an embarrassment and not maintained.

Duck, Duck, Stork

Our first stop was at a stork sanctuary. The stork is the national symbol of the region. The red, black and white colors of the bird symbolize blood, death, & peace, respectively. Legend goes that monks care for a well beneath a Catholic church were storks go to pick up babies for distribution. The birds are faithful to their nests and I presume mate with whoever shows up. They take turns building the nest but are not faithful to their partners. They stand about 3 1/2 feet tall, weigh 8-9 lbs., & live around 30 years. The preserve now has 40 couples produceing 100 chicks each year. Storks had been endangered and in 1976 the population in the area had shrunk to 7 or 8 due to pollution and high-tension wires interfering with their migration back and forth to Africa. Activists went to Africa and brought storks back here by plane in an effort to save them. They didn't want to be saved and insisted on migrating back to Africa each winter. The solution was to hatch them in incubators until generations forgot the route. We were able to get up close to nesting birds and chicks of various ages. Very cute. The facility also had exhibits of otters, grand hamsters (looked like a regular one to me), and muskrats. Two muskrats were busy playing “Scrabble” and from the population of the various babies in the reserve it looked like the storks were doing their job. The stork population is now 400.

On down the road we drove to the town of Riquewihr dating from the 6th century. It's basically a huge gift shop housed in exquisitely rebuilt houses. Yes, the war came there too. Today it’s getting rich from tourists and wine. We walked the streets, found Rue de Juifs, took photos and got on the bus. The interesting thing we learned was that half- timber houses were built to be disassembled and moved. In the old days, the military went from battle to battle and the officers took their houses with them. They did number the pieces and it was far better than tents or no shelter at all.

On the long ride back, before my nap, we passed donkeys grazing in a field. Dewi thought they were so adorable. That's when we learned she came from a rather comfortable family and she raised donkeys and owned horses. We couldn't understand what use donkeys would have other than as pets. She explained that here their milk as well as horse milk is used by people who can't drink cow milk. Take note you who are lactose intolerant.

It was the captain's farewell dinner tonight and we had filet mignon. Yum. But the best part of the evening was a show the crew put on. It took place in the lounge where we'd been working feverishly on the puzzle. The chairs were set up in rows for the entertainment and tables were moved out of the way. I couldn't find the puzzle and thought they'd put it away in the box, but when I checked in the library there it was safe and sound on its table. The entertainer who has been watching over it and our work the whole trip came over to personally tell me they took great care in moving it. The show went on and was really good. Some performed songs or dances from their countries but there were humorous sketches, jokes, and just plain fun. They started a chain dance like the bunny hop without the hop and before we knew it we had all danced out the door and to our rooms. A good way to end a lovely evening.

Tomorrow we'll be in Basel, Switzerland, our last port. We'll tour, pack, & get ready to go home.

Toby