20170727 Evening with Sabin and Theo

Thursday 12 photos

How fitting that we spend our last evening in Alsace with the Meyers! So like family, sweet, comfortable. Theo and Sabin pick us up at our hotel at 6:00pm and tell us we will eat at their house and see their daughters before they go with their boyfriends. Once again our plans to treat friends to dinner at a restaurant are thwarted.

At their home, we become reacquainted with daughters Goelle 24 and A??? 21. Son A??? is with Sabine's mother just down the street. We see an Amazon box on the table, and Theo says he can order farm parts online for next day delivery. He also says that he learned about a source in Sainte Croix en Pleine when he took us there, laughing that we were responsible for his discovery.

The first bottle Theo opens is cremant from his friend Keyberger-Meyer and snacks accompany, always featuring yummy pistachios to shell. I ask the girls what they think when hearing their dad speak so much English. They say, "very strange," because they never hear this and claim that his English is not very good but amazing to hear. Theo adds that he hasn't spoken English since with us two years ago, but now he will be ready for Castroville this weekend because of practice now.

Eventually the girls leave to be with friends, Goelle to Colmar for a music concert and festival, A to her boyfriend.

A summery meal means a switch to Pinot Gris and different wine glasses. We appreciate his wine opener and tell him how we ordered some from Amazon and gave to family and friends. Plates of cold meats, baquette, and celery root salad call for wine refills.

At the evening's end, we exchange gifts and promise to be together in two years. Theo has said that they are coming to Texas but he doesn't know when. His girls both have apartments he funds for their education and job training, so he says he currently works for them. When they can support themselves, he will work for him and Sabin.

Before we get in their car to return to the hotel, we take a selfie and I take an extra. We leave in the morning for MSP, but part of my heart stays here in Alsace.

20170727 Viewing Collections 6

Thursday 8 photos

Just when we think the end is in sight, steps from outside take us down to the train room followed by the game room. The owner has created a model of the Bridge Over the River Quai for one of the train scenes.

Even if we missed something, time dictates that we leave, and we heartily thank our guide.

Back in Ensisheim, we make a quick stop at the museum near our hotel to see the meteorite and the display for salt mining (no photos, especially sad because it was Jean Michel's career, another reason to return).

20170727 Viewing Collections 5, Marquetry

Thursday 8 photos

The owner has an additional hobby of creating marquetry and has done over 3000 works of art. His workroom has a cute corner booth and kitchenette for entertaining visitors, and the showroom is centered by a huge table for hosting parties.

(missing from previous)

Here is the ship room.
(never can figure out why some photos disappear)

29170727 Viewing Collections 4

Thursday 10 photos

Have you had enough? Most of these photos explain themselves, and we pause to discuss several of the collections while remembering items from our grandparents' time. The room of ships is another reminder that the owner is a man of many hobbies.

20170727 Viewing Collections 3

Thursday 8 photos

(The extra person seen in some photos is a friend of the owner and the Schmidts that the owner asked to show us around since he is away on a holiday. We could never have navigated these collections without a guide.)

The barns are so enormous that different levels were constructed with appropriate stairs. We see household items, bikes, prams, toys, sewing machines, sleds, etc. Finally we descend to the ground floor where this gray truck resides, and then on to the adjoining barn. The sack is from a local salt mine similar to where Jean Michel worked for 30 years.

20170727 Viewing Collections 2

Thursday 14 photos

Next the chapel, a tiny guest house tucked away, al fresco, wall remnant, and many tractors. The gray one was made in Alsace, and only seven are known to exist today.