December 28, 2022
Thursday, December 28 was a long day. We started out early to get to Haut Koenigsburg right after it opened. Haut Koenigsburg is a medieval castle. When we got there the parking places were already filling up. I’m glad we started out early. I’ve been to HK before but I’m still in awe to see the wonders of the construction, and weapons of war in medieval times. When we left at 11:00, all the parking was taken and people had to climb half way up the mountain to get to the castle. OK, they had to walk, not really climb, UP the road a long ways. I’ll just show you some pics…
“Haut” means “high” for a reason….
After leaving Haut Koenigsburg, we went to Selestat. This is the town where my grandmother was born and raised (1904-1918). That would be Sarah’s great-great-great-grandmother. I thought she would be impressed but I don’t think she felt the vibes of her ancestors like I did, My mission was to find the places that made up my grandmother’s life. I had pictures that I took sometime in the 90s. That’s all. We went to the office of the mayor and asked if anyone recognized any of the pictures. The women in the front office did not recognize any of the places in the photos, but they called to a colleague who came out and looked at the photos. Amazingly, he said “Yes, this one is on “such-and-such” a street….and that one is on “such-and-such” a street but it’s been remodeled. He identified about 6 photos…all except one. How did he know? What an amazing man. We set out and found the church and elementary school where my grandmother went.
The school…
Then we used Google to help us find the house where my grandmother’s grandfather lived. It was on Rue de Grenouille (Frog Street). I don’t have the old ones digitized so I can only show the ones we took.
The last time I was here, a woman came to the window and asked us why I was taking pictures. When we told her, she invited us in to show us the inside. This time, no one was home—you can tell by the closed shutters. I decided to commune with the spirit of the house instead….
We next found the house of my grandmother’s grandmother. It’s now apartments…or maybe it always was.
We decided to not look for the other places. It was time for lunch. I had boar, Fabi had pigs feet, Sarah had a hamburger patty. After lunch we walked around a bit and looked at this beautiful old town center. I imagined my grandmother walking…running down the little streets….and they were truly just large paths.
In the evening, we went to dinner at Veronique and Claude’s house.
This is an interesting house with interesting people. They have a menagerie of pets—2 large parrots, 3 African turtles, two dogs and one cat. They also have chickens and other animals at another place.
The Baby….I took photos of the Mom and Dad but don’t have them (????)
Back to the dinner. We had spaetzle and liver dumplings. Both Sarah and I decided that it was surprisingly delicious.
For dessert, we had a nice surprise. It was a Gâteau des Rois. Gâteau des Rois is King’s Cake. On January 6, there is a custom where the youngest child goes under the table and decides who gets the first piece, the second piece, etc. The person who gets the first ‘Fèves’ is the king (or queen?) and they usually get a crown to wear for the evening. (Think Burger King) Ok, Fèves are little tiny figures of characters from stories…like Lion King, or Rapunzel, or Asterix or Tin Tin. It’s all quite fun. Some people collect them. In fact, Veronique gave me a box of them. Claude is a baker so they had lots and lots. Here’s a picture of the gateau and of Veronique with her “crown” on—she got the fèves.
I know it’s not January 6th but they wanted us to experience this tradition. What fun!
Looks like I’m done with Thursday.
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