Monday, December 14, 2015

Eguisheim

Dec. 14

Eguisheim (pronounced, to our surprise, Eggis Hime), is a quintissentially small Alsation town toward the southern end of the sliver of France that is Alsace.  To refresh your history and geography, the Vosges mountains run somewhat parallel to and west of the Rhine river.  The French like to think of the Rhine as the border between France and Germany and the Germans prefer to think of the mountains as the border.  Consequently, depending on who won the latest war, the region is either French or German; since WW2 it's been French, and with all the luv in the European Community, it looks like it'll be French for a long time.  But on the streets, expect to hear more German than English; most of the street signs are in big French letters and smaller German letters, and sauerkraut is to the region like green chile is to New Mexico.

The town is easy to explore and impossible to be lost in for more than about five minutes.  The homes are very colorful, and, of course, ready for Christmas.

The one must-have snapshot of the town is the pigeon loft.  It's only a few feet wide, and sits at the fork in the road between the inner and outer "rampart" roads that circle the town and date from the original construction of the town eight or nine centuries ago.  It's called the pigeon loft because that's where their culinary pigeons were raised.  Now for someone who just a few days ago voluntarily ate something called "calf's head", I'm saying that pigeon sounds a lot better if you call it squab.

The other bird strongly associated with this region is the stork.  They nest high, and if you stay alert, you can see nests atop buildings and towers.  These two are of the religious variety, having chosen the bishop's house on the left and the chapel on the right.  By my estimate, the one on the left is about six feet in diameter.  They can weigh hundreds of pounds and be dangerous when they fall.  Some homeowners have addressed that problem by installing metallic frames to provide a solid structure for the birds to nest in.


The chapel was built to honor Eguisheim's most successful hometown boy made good, Pope Leo IX, born in 1002.






The stroll around the city was pleasant, partly because it was a Monday, and the tourist headcount was minimal.  Here is a typical street view, with the farmers' homes on the left and their barns on the right.  I strongly suspect that if you peeked inside the barns you'd see more Peugeots than John Deeres.


The doorframes carried inscriptions, usually bearing the initials of the original owner and date of construction.  In these inscriptions, the leading 1 was more ornate than today's, so this house appears to date to 1620.  We saw several from the 16th century.


Some, such as this cooper's workshop turned modern home, bore the symbol marking the owner's trade.  If the symbol included crossed swords, it marked the owner as a master craftsman, and thus authorized to carry a sword.





And thus endeth our visit to Alsace.  We're headed back to Paris for more Christmas markets, more Christmas music, and maybe a light snack or two.  Come along with us.

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