Monthly Archives: September 2006

Further to my previous post on this matter, Strasbourg excelled itself last weekend. The main Festival of the weekend was Rhine Fest (a Franco-German knees-up either side of the Rhine) and there was also Musica 2006 (the Strasbourg Music festival), both of which are ‘biggies’ on the annual festival calendar. So – you would have [...]

When it comes to making soft cheese, the French are world-beaters. Camembert, Munster, and Brie, for example, have to be some of the tastiest ways of serving up rotting milk that have ever been invented. So I am having difficulty in understanding why, when you ask for a cheese-filled sandwich anywhere in France, they give [...]

Yesterday was the first time, since learning to walk, that my son managed to step in a dog turd. Given that there is so much doggy excrement about, he’s done pretty well to avoid it until now. But the good news is that he stepped in it with his left foot which, as any one [...]

Today I ventured out to the post office with a parcel. On the way I bumped into my French teacher – who used the opportunity to test my off-the-cuff French conversation. If it had been a real exam I would have flunked with flying colours. We swapped pleasantries, but the look on her face said [...]

I got caught out yesterday. Due for a meeting in Cronenbourg at 12 midday, I scooted out of the house some ten minutes late to catch the tram, and so arrived at my appointment some 30 minutes early. Yes, early. Having spent ten years in London I’ve got so used to adding a certain amount [...]

In my last post I unfairly referred to the local specialty ‘Tarte-flambée‘ as a ‘Pizza’. May the gods of Alsace strike me down for my blasphemous words, the humble Tarte-flambée is nothing like a pizza! While both Pizza’s and Tarte-flambées are generally circular and edible, that is where the similarity ends. While a pizza base [...]

One of the most wonderful things about Strasbourg is it’s amazing capacity for springing events and festivals. On any given weekend you can more or less guarantee that there will be something going on in the city, but the chances are that you’ll be totally oblivious to it until you stumble upon it. Today it [...]

It is peculiar the way the French regard many things, that you and I might class as German, as ‘Alsacienne’. This is particularly true when it comes to food. While some things such as Sauerkraut/Flammekuche are known by their equivalent French names (choucroute/tarte flambee), other things seem to be simply adopted with the prefix ‘Alsacienne’ [...]

At times Strasbourg is so full of coach parties – it seems that the entire population of the city has decided to spontaneouly divide itself into, and move about in, groups of 54. It isn’t uncommon to find the traffic being held up by 54 German pensioners crossing the road at the same time; the [...]