Casino, Fair, and Folk Dancing

Trip Start Apr 30, 2006
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7
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Trip End May 12, 2006


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Where I stayed
private home
(Niederbronn-Les-Bains hotels)

Flag of France  , Alsace,
Sunday, May 7, 2006

      I slept very late (10 am) because I read my book until about midnight. Jonathan and his friends were playing cards by firelight outside. (I would have had marshmallows to toast, but they had sausages instead.)
      For lunch we had tarte flambée, a Lubrez family tradition for Daniel's birthday. He says that he is the cook, but Denise did most of the work and Jonathan tended the fire. The tarte consists of a very thin crust (purchased), a sauce of white cheese and cream, sliced onions, and tiny pieces of lardons (fatty pieces of bacon) and baked in a very hot wood oven. Sort of a mild pizza. Imagine...I came to France and ate spaghetti and meat sauce, pizza, and lasagna. The piece de resistance was Daniel's birthday cake-a black forest cake with chocolate sponge (a European cake much lighter than ours, whipped cream, and dark cherries), It wasn't too chocolatey so I could have some.
      We took naps after lunch, then drove to Niederbronn les bains, about 15 km. from Lembach. They were having folk dancing and a band concert. Eight young people (probably in their teens) from nearby Haguenau performed dances from the 16th and 17th century in traditional Alsatian folk costumes. [From a website on the history of Alsatian costumes (http://costumes.alsace.site.voila.fr/historique/en/index.html): For the Protestants : the skirt is half long, hemmed by a velvet ribbon. Color: green, purple, brown, blue, even red. For the Catholics : the skirt is long, hemmed by black velvet, no ribbon. Color: madder red for girls. The wives and the aged wore deep colored skirts, but never green.] We sat on the curb and watched and listened to a small band (3 clarinets, some cornets, 6 baritones, a tuba, and a drummer) who were quite good. They played waltzes, polkas, and marches. Afterwards I made the obligatory stop at the town's little casino-donating €20 to the local economy. We stopped in to a small trade fair to look at crafts and some new cars-including one with a startlingly gorgeous iridescent paint job-and snacked on glaces (a cross between sorbet and ice cream)-passion fruit, raspberry and strawberry. Unfortunately, I dropped mine-oh well. Back in Lembach, we added to our cholesterol with a fantastic quiche lorraine, salad, and more of the cake and a tiny bit of champagne for his birthday. We talked after dinner for a while and went to bed fat, dumb, and very happy.
 
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