Further Pieces of Mont Ste-Odile

In the beautiful chapel of Obernai, look who makes an appearance! Saint Sebastian, another of my favorite holy persons, who also figures largely in my senior thesis.







Here I am EXHAUSTED and safely arrived at le Mont, Friday afternoon. (One of the surprising things about perpetually traveling alone is that one gets good at asking strangers to take one's picture.)Can you see the sweat dripping off of me? Because it was.


This "hostellerie" wins my award for Best Room Key and Keychain.



Saturday morning. A strange sort of glass-closet-and-upturned-swim-pool, where candles are lighted for Sainte Odile. This type of devotional practice has always interested me. (Small part of it is certainly the kitsch-appeal of the candles, but clearly there's way more to it.)

Mont Sainte-Odile: The Short Story Version

On the train from Strasbourg, south to the smallish town of Obernai.


Mom’s old Yosemite raincoat, a backpack, and water--it must be an ADVENTURE!

















In Obernai, I had to wait for the TI to open, so I could buy a carte IGN (a topographical map with marked trails). While wandering around the area, I got my first glimpse of Sainte Odile, atop a spindly fountain next to a very old belfry (bellfroi). I was startled when I noticed what she was holding--a book with two eyes on its pages. I had to wait patiently to find out.




















The beginning of the trail.
















A break in the forest. You see that little peak of blue hill, between the two main “peaks”, hovering over the trees? That’s the Mont!

At this point I heard some rumblings, and became convinced that there was going to be a lightning storm and I was going to die all alone in the forest struck by freakish pointy electricity. I started walking verrry quickly, hoping to make it to Ottrott before tragedy struck. But the lightning held off--it didn’t even rain.


The beginning of Ottrott. The whole town smelled like honeysuckle.


The beginning of the Sentier des pelerins (the Pilgrim’s Trail).

You see that little blue and yellow square in the bottom left? That means that this little bit of trail to Mont Ste-Odile is also part of a rather larger path--San Juan de Compostela, or Saint-Jacques de Compostèle.


. . . Which explains the stone crucifixes. I’d seen one before, but not until I came upon this rather startling one (at the end of a fairly steep incline) did I realize it was because of San Juan de Compostela.





Finally, a break in the unrelenting green! Around this point I met a fun older French couple who could out-hike me easily, even while the dame bavardeuse (talkative lady) was chatting away about the coquilles des pelerins and her violinist son. I managed to cheerfully interrupt and found out the names of a few plants: fougères (ferns), broullière (a kind of spiny, pine-like pink-flowered bush), and genet (a yellow flower that looks like a miniature snapdragon).


And then I was in a field! Right below the Mont Ste-Odile.



Ta-daa! I sat down and drank about a gallon of water.

More to come next week.

I made it to Mont Ste-Odile and back without getting lost OR dying

. . . Okay, so this is just a teaser. More to come later!

Except it'll have to wait for next week, because I'm going to Domremy the day after tomorrow! Next updates will be coming from Giverny, land of tourists and poppies.

Adventures in Food

First, the place with the spaetzle that wasn’t.

(Underwhelming, overpriced Alsatian noodles, but good company! And in my beloved Place Benjamin Zix.)

















The best yufka, döner, and falafel in town! And I should know, since I’ve sampled the work of at least 7 different places. Second prize goes to another hole-in-the-wall in Place St-Etienne, who win on the flavor of the sauce but lose on the fattiness of the meat, and the total lack of falafel.


“Le bol de soupe et sa tranche de pain grillé” at L’Epicerie, which is tied with Bistrot et Chocolat for my favorite restaurant. I lived here from February to April, and especially during dinnertime, when I always had this particular meal (only 3,50 euro!).

This is L'Epicerie after the spring equinox, when they stopped selling soup (sadness!) but started putting chairs out on the terrace (happiness!).


France is full of chocolate cereal! This was at Tara’s house, the night we celebrated something (I can’t remember what) with chocolate cereal, palmiers, feuilles de chocolat, a thousand other sweet things--and watching Pineapple Express for the first time. We laughed so much we shocked all the French neighbors, who only chuckle (never belly laugh).

After our Obama-day, we stopped at the grocery store for reviving provisions. Here, I demonstrate the beauty of the coffee aisle.


Beautiful apples from one of my most favorite marchés, just north of the cathédrale.














The “jaffle”, another beautiful cheap lunch found just off Place Kleber, consisting of “American” bread pressed into a grill and filled with chicken and bearnaise sauce. And here I am quite happy after eating the Jaffle! It was a beautiful sunny day and I was taking the day off from work.

And on a final non-food-related note, here is a picture taken by a very kind and handsome Swedish man a few minutes earlier, when I asked for a picture of me in front of the cathedral. He spent about ten minutes talking to me while figuring out how to include “all the beautiful saints” in the background too. Merci bien, mon gentilhomme!



(This picture is related to food in that food makes me grin, and in this picture I am grinning . . . almost as if anticipating lunchtime. Mmmm, lunchtime.)

Playing Catch-Up

After a whirlwind tour of relaxation in Colorado (which included my sister’s wedding!), I’m back in Strasbourg, only to prepare to leave again.

So much has happened since I last gave any significant posts! I’m unsure of where to start talking. The overview goes like this: I went to hear Obama speak in the NATO zone rouge, Palm Sunday!, Easter!, I finished my JP, I went to another museum, and did a lot of eating and walking in between all of this. Oh yeah, and then CAROL W. VISITED ME! It was 2 ½ days of intense awesomeness.

Adventures to come: This weekend I go to le Mont Sainte-Odile, and the weekend after that I go to Domrémy-la-Pucelle. (These trips brought to you by the generous-with-money-sometimes Princeton U.)

In the meantime, here’s what the Botanic Garden looked like in early April. I’m going back tomorrow to see all the camellias and willows and mosses “in bloom”.