Lovely, lovely post! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

You soooo took me back to Elsaß, as the locals call it. Next time you're there, stop in and spend some time in Dambach la Ville, right on the Weinstraße. It's a walled village, with wonderfully narrow cobbled streets, some excellent restos, and great sightseeing. (Plus the most cock-eyed church bell chime you'll *ever* hear: the final "bong" in the final bing-bong-BING-bong is a "bwanck" about two notes flat. A local tourist site, indeed.) I've been going there for 30 yrs, and the chime never changes...

There's a hardware store in Obernai that's fantastic, just loaded with local cooking gear--did you get a chance to visit it?

Damn, I'll be thinking about your choucroute and apfelkuchen all the rest of the evening. Pleasant thoughts, but not when they're unobtainable. Sigh.

Tnx again, lovely piece!!

Geo

Geo wrote:Lovely, lovely post! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

You soooo took me back to Elsaß, as the locals call it. Next time you're there, stop in and spend some time in Dambach la Ville, right on the Weinstraße. It's a walled village, with wonderfully narrow cobbled streets, some excellent restos, and great sightseeing. (Plus the most cock-eyed church bell chime you'll *ever* hear: the final "bong" in the final bing-bong-BING-bong is a "bwanck" about two notes flat. A local tourist site, indeed.) I've been going there for 30 yrs, and the chime never changes...

There's a hardware store in Obernai that's fantastic, just loaded with local cooking gear--did you get a chance to visit it?

Damn, I'll be thinking about your choucroute and apfelkuchen all the rest of the evening. Pleasant thoughts, but not when they're unobtainable. Sigh.

Tnx again, lovely piece!!

Geo

Glad you enjoy it, photos convey so much more than my words can ever do.

We plan to return for another visit, and will definitely put Dambach la Ville on the list, as well as L'Arnsbourg outside Baerenthal, as recommended by kl1191. So affordable by French standards, but yet exceeded my expectations even compared to other French locales that we have visited.

My brother-in-law and his meme spoke the local language, and none of my family who are French could understand but a rare phrase here and there.

We didn't make it to the hardware store in Obernai that you mentioned, but always love checking out the kitchen gear. I did find a home decorating store that has elegantly rustic furnishings with a modern twist while my family sat down for yet another aperitif. I wanted to haul a lot of it home, but could only manage a throw for my chaise.

Hope it is truly not too unattainable in the near future, especially if you have been going for the last 30 years. It's time for another trip. The wine and food are still as delicious, and the scenery has not changed by much in the last thousand or more years.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me, and hope we can make it back to Alsace for another delightful trip.

Have you ever been to the Dordogne region? I'm thinking of going next spring/summer...

Kid Charlemagne wrote:Have you ever been to the Dordogne region? I'm thinking of going next spring/summer...

No, sorry, I missed out on that vacation. My family rented a house there one summer, and I was suppose to go, but had to cancel at the last minute due to work. I think everyone enjoyed it, of course. Don't have any details on it.

However, I don't think you will regret vacationing anywhere in France if your main objectives are food, wine, sightseeing...in that order, and other considerations are secondary, such as being welcomed warmly with open arms.

I have vacationed in Pau/Biarritz/San Sebestian area, Provence/Nice/Cannes/Cote D'Azur, Deauville/Trouville/Honfleur, Geneva/Savoie, and of course, Paris. But totally missed out on the Dordogne region. I would like to return to the San Sebestian, Basque region of France/Spain, the food was incredible. The plan next year is either St. Malo or La Rochelle for seafood. I can share thoughts on these, but not Dordogne, sorry.

I love Italy, too. In fact, prefer Italy if it wasn't due to logistics of getting more than 10 family members together that resides mostly in Paris.

What drew you to Dordogne? Which town are you considering? Are you thinking of a bed/breakfast or house with access to kitchen for cooking light meals? For how long? No matter where you go in France/Italy, those are things you might want to consider. Especially in France, in our experience. In Italy and Spain, you can easily get a light meals such as tapas or at osterias for one of the meals (lunch or dinner), then dine at a more formal restaurant for the other meal. In France, they are brasseries or restaurants. Besides, it's nice to have the option/facility to prepare light meals with all the wonderful local food products. France as well as Spain and Italy have year round farmer's market, with fresh seasonal even Winter produce.

Sorry for the long dissertation despite having no information to enlight you on the Dordogne region. Good luck!

petite_gourmande wrote:What drew you to Dordogne? Which town are you considering? Are you thinking of a bed/breakfast or house with access to kitchen for cooking light meals? For how long? No matter where you go in France/Italy, those are things you might want to consider.

The things that appeal to me in the Dordogne are mostly the historical sites, but also interested in doign things like hiking trails, horseback riding, etc... I lived in France (near Paris) for 5 years as a kid, and I've been to many of the other regions of France - Alsace, Normandy, Brittany, south, etc. So the Dordogne is something new. I'd be staying in B&B's mostly, renting a car, and probably eating lunches in cafes and such (hitting the saucissons and baguettes for picnic lunches), and saving up for larger dinners. Looking at Castelnaud-la-Chappelle (east of Bergerac) and thereabouts, probably for around a week.

I haven't done any international travel in a long time, and I want to do something that has elements of the familiar and hte new. I still speak pretty good French, but I don't necessarily want to go back to Paris, as that doesn't really feel very new to me. Likewise Normandy and Brittany - much as I really want to spend the night on Mont St. Michel, I've been there several times.

Kid Charlemagne--

If you'd like to try something *totally* different, relaxing, and new, you might think about visiting the b&b a couple of friends of mine have set up in Geniès, their family chateau, in a gorgeous, untouched village in the Lot, west of Cahors. Pascal and Béatrice are retired from the Ecole National Agronomique de Montpellier (which is where I met them), and returned to fix their place up for guests. They are a wonderful couple, and the region is basically undiscovered by foreign tourists.

Geo

Geo wrote:Kid Charlemagne--

If you'd like to try something *totally* different, relaxing, and new, you might think about visiting the b&b a couple of friends of mine have set up in Geniès, their family chateau, in a gorgeous, untouched village in the Lot, west of Cahors. Pascal and Béatrice are retired from the Ecole National Agronomique de Montpellier (which is where I met them), and returned to fix their place up for guests. They are a wonderful couple, and the region is basically undiscovered by foreign tourists.

Geo

Geo, that looks pretty damned nifty! I've bookmarked it, and it looks like it might be a solid option. Looks like they only book it out by the week? For 300 euros if I'm reading it right that seems pretty reasonable.

Glad you liked it, Kid. They're great folks. Here's more on the chateau and the region.

Geo

Kid - Sounds like you have a good plan going. Given your interest for history and the outdoors, I don't think you will go wrong with your plan, whether you stay with your original tentative plan or with Geo's great suggestion.

Geo - Thanks for the introduction to the cool B&B. Yet another great excuse to go for another trip sooner rather than later.

Staying with cool people in non-touristy areas always add so much more to any experience.

Finally got around to spending some time with these pix. So much wonderful stuff. I'll be in Strasbourg for a few days this winter and intend to reacquaint myself with onion tart and choucroute garni, in particular.

Years ago, I went through Colmar, but all I remember is the Isenheim Alterpiece, which was mind-blowing.



I was fantasizing about lunch at L'Auburge, and so appreciate your warning.

This is a heartbreaking thread. I want to retrace your entire journey -- though some alterations would need to be made, not having relatives nearby. But it looks like a gorgeous place. I love charming and historic. And, of course, the food looks amazing -- like you can actually get enough foie gras.

Cynthia,

If you're looking for a quick fix of superb foie gras sometime before you can make it to Alsace, might I suggest to the French-speaking province of a friendly country to the north? A province where fine, fine foie gras is lovingly made in traditional fashion, and served in some radically delicious ways. Might could hold you off until you head for Strasbourg!

Geo

Geo wrote:Cynthia,

If you're looking for a quick fix of superb foie gras sometime before you can make it to Alsace, might I suggest to the French-speaking province of a friendly country to the north? A province where fine, fine foie gras is lovingly made in traditional fashion, and served in some radically delicious ways. Might could hold you off until you head for Strasbourg!

Geo

Thanks for the reminder, Geo. I'm familiar with the reputation of Au Pied du Cochon. It's on my list, too. (Must try the deep-fried foie gras.) I just need to become independently wealthy so I can travel whenever I feel like it -- because there are so many places and so many dishes and so little time, at least if you have to earn a living at the same time.

For a variety of reasons, for our recent trip to Alsace, we decided to stay at the Mouln de la Wantzenau (http://www.moulin-wantzenau.com/index.php?lang=fr), a location near the autoroute A4 (Reason #1), just above Strasbourg and the wine route (Reason #2--altho to get to the latter one needs to drive through the former, which can be a bit of a struggle during rush hour), but situated along the l'Ill with a pleasant mile-long walking path (Reason #3, especially if you're a jogger or appreciate pleasant walks before and after dinner to help assuage guilt and calorie-intake) into Wantzenau, one of the many Alsatian gourmet villages (Reason #5, altho we didn't take great advantage of this last aspect, for additional reasons given below).

The mill itself proved to be an excellent spot with pleasant, spacious rooms and friendly, efficient service (it seems to attract a lot of business travelers) at a moderate price (102 euros sans petite dej.) It also has an excellent restaurant attached, and although we didn't originally intend to eat there, it turned out to be the site of two of our dinners.

Despite a proliferation of choices, we only dined once in Wantzenau, at the Hotel Zimmer. Although its name would suggest traditional Alsatian offerings, the menu had more of a Michelin one-star ambiance and presentation. The plating was invariably a delight and the menu innovative (scallops paired with boudin noir and anglerfish on a bed of white beans floating on a coconut-cream sauce were our mains), although the seafood turned out to be, for the lack of a better word, "tired," as if the restaurant was driven as much by economy as by art. Our real target in Wantzenau was Le Jardin Secret (see Pudlo), which we discovered had been undergoing renovation for 6 months, reopening on the day of our arrival. Atho we are venturesome this was a bit risky for our first trip to Alsace in 20 years, and since the other restaurants turned out to be pricier than expected (Le Relais de la Poste, Les Semailles) or offered boring menus, we decided to try the Moulin.

This proved, in general, to be a good decision. The seafood was perfectly altho simply prepared, and we had quite a variety including scallops, a carpaccio of salmon, and several filets of white fish (sandre, St.-Pierre, John Dory). Also, I'm not often surprised by chocolate, but my dessert, chocolate mille-feuille encasing a chilled dark-chocolate fondant and chantilly, accompanied by a scoop of mint sorbet, was just that: surprising and awfully good.

All good enough to convince us to return a second night. Moreover, I was very much intrigued by the "healthy" menu the chef was featuring. This turned out, however, to be a serious mistake. The melange of vegetables so interestingly described in the menu turned out to be Legumes bouillis a l'hopital and the magret of duck seemed to be prepared by this master chocolatier with contempt rather than with art. My attitude was not improved by my S.O.'s continual chortling over her distinctly unhealthy torchon of foie gras roti which she was reluctant to share, and altho the dessert of an excellent rhubarb jell accompanied by a yogurt parfait proved some compensation, the experience was enough to convince me to swear off bonne sante menus in France forever.

But not enough to discourage me from returning to the Moulin if the occasion should arise. (And if anyone is also interested in our limited but positive experiences in several obscure regions of Champagne and Lorraine, feel free to pm me.)