FR Lunch 9/29

Our host speaks French to the woman who comes to our table, and she responds in Alsatian. He quickly switches and we tease him that he must have an accent. With the menu also in Alsatian, daughter and I attempt to translate but eventually accept help from our host. We agree to order a variety of Alsace farm cooking and a favorite beer on tap from the Black Forest in nearby Germany.

The first course of soup is served family style and identified by the woman as Halloween soup. Delicious pumpkin! Crudités include ham, shredded carrots, shredded celery root, beets, and pickles, Main dishes of beef rolls (fleischsnacka like my grandmother made), venison, potatoes sautéed with lardons, red cabbage, salad, spaetzle, and mushrooms soon appear. Dessert is a layered ice cream tarte and a crusty fruit tarte. We did our best!

FR Ferme Auberge 9/29

Late in the morning we drive to the Vosges Mountains to have lunch at a Ferme Auberge (farmer table), one of several perched here and there up steep curving roads. To acquire this label, at least 80% of the food must be grown on the farm locally.

FR Tractor President 9/28

Our host, an avid collector of old tractors, takes us to meet the president of the antique tractor club. Although busy harvesting his vineyard, the president insists that we see his collection, some stored in hangers (barns) where he lives, others where he farms, and many in some stage of restoration. His granddaughter proudly shows us her favorite.

The club travels throughout Europe to buy, trade, and show their tractors. They joke that they have too many to count but ask if they can send us a container of wine and then have us fill the container with old tractors to send to them. Hmmmmm.

After the tour, the president insists that now we must drink to the tractors and to tractor friends from Texas and Alsace. Not wanting to be rude, of course, we follow him back to his home compound. There we meet his family and workers and see part of his collection of toy tractors, mostly John Deere.

We all go inside his caveau, sit around a long table, and taste whatever he pours. He sells his grapes to a large winery and makes wine only for him and his family.

First is his secret recipe from spicey fruits which he slams like a shot of tequila. Strong, semi-sweet, lingering spice pungent enough to be an aperitif. Any glass that touches the table gets a refill. Second is his experimental wine made from green walnuts. Dark brown, strong, semi- dry, herbal. Hold wine glass above the table or risk another pour. Third is a white wine he makes as a family favorite. Soft, full, buttery, fruity. His wife passes bowls of salty snacks as he opens new bottles.

All conversation has been a mixture of French, English, German, Alsatian, and hand gestures. Translations are sketchy at best. Daughter receives an offer to work for the family farming operations, we think. Stories and jokes become funnier and longer as the tasting/drinking continues. Only one person, the president's young son-in-law, understands every word said in every language, and he is too busy laughing first at everything for whatever reason.

When we decide that host dad should not phone host mom to postpone dinner again, we say our thanks and goodbyes amid much protest from the table group. During the drive home, we attempt to recap events and conversations to assuage our daughter's concerns when she asks, "Am I betrothed?" Funniest line of the evening!

Dinner is homemade pizzas piled high with smoked meats and fresh garden vegetables, abstract art and delicious. We entertain the family with our versions of an unforgettable visit as guests of the tractor president.

FR Winery 9/28

At their winery in the village, the auger cart unloads the grapes into the stainless steel crusher, so no foot stomping involved. The juice leaves the crusher through a wide hose and enters a tank inside the winemaking room. Eventually the product becomes thousands of lovely bottles of lovely wine.

The five male tasters are the vintner, vintner's dad who handed down the business, our host, vintner's brother, and my husband. Final six are host dad, husband, host mom, host son in front, daughter, vintner's son.

FR Alsace Vineyard 9/28

At 4:30 we meet hosts' friends and go to one of their vineyards where a mechanical harvester picks the grapes. Our daughter climbs up for a ride and a better view of the operation and how the two hoppers fill and later dump . The process reminds me of picking cotton. I walk behind the machine and find the grapes gone and the vines in tact. Some vineyards continue to pick grapes by hand for tradition, others because slopes are too steep for the machines.

Next stop? Their winery!

FR Family Church and Property 9/28

For lunch our host mom serves tomatoes stuffed with a seasoned pork and veal mixture and a huge bowl of creamy, buttery smashed potatoes they grew. A rare nap time is a happy hour.

Ready to go again, we travel about fifteen minutes to Sainte Croix en Plaine, the village of some of my ancestors. Being there again is both comforting and challenging. Comforting because the St. Barthelemy Church of my family remains the same, the old well from centuries ago outside, the baptismal font used by my family inside. Challenging because part of the family property has become a business and another part a newly constructed home. I compare my photos taken on previous trips to what I see today and hope future years will be kind to these old buildings.

FR Coffee and Farming 9/28

Morning begins with wonderful coffee from hosts' Senseo machine. I soon covet this sensational cup filler and put it on my wish list. Breads from the local boulangerie wait for us at the table.

Today's first activity is to tour the farms and hangers (barns) belonging to our hosts. The biggest and newest tractor belongs to the mom (her "baby"), and the antique machines are part of the dad's growing collection. The hosts label farms as his and hers, and corn harvest has been interrupted by rains (hopefully not due to our visit). Corn cribs dry the crop economically.

Host mom has a green thumb, and flowers thrive everywhere. A careful look at the last photo will reveal chickens perched in the window of the henhouse.

FR Family Kugelhopf 9/27

Leaving H-K, we have a little picnic along the wine trail and head for Reguisheim to meet our hosts. With rain falling again, we drive to their home and get comfortable in the glassed veranda.

Welcoming us is a table centered by the traditional Alsatian kugelhopf, a cake-like bread having plumped raisins and whole almonds. The family mom uses an ancient pan inherited from her grandmother to bake this treat, and it is as beautiful and delicious as any we have ever tasted.

As is the custom for this time of day, the kugelhopf is served with white wine in small, green stemmed glasses like ones we have bought here and use rarely at home. The family dad selects a local Gewürztraminer from his friend's winery to pour, and we know exactly where we are. Alsace!

Emphasizing our location again, the dinner prepared by hosts is the Alsatian traditional dish of choucroute, rinsed sauerkraut cooked with cured meats and sausages and served with boiled potatoes. So delicious on this cool rainy night! (Since I hesitate to take too many food photos so early in the visit, this post uses one from a recipe.) The family children join us, and we use our languages for conversation about school, farming, genealogy, barbecue, history, wine, geography, friends in common, and plans for our days together.