The French idea of camp food

Had a team building event last Monday, which was very nice. Essentially we went out into the country to a little chateau for various leadership tasks - very similar to what they do at Bradford Woods. The setting was pretty rustic and basically kind of a camping situation, even though we weren't staying overnight.

In typical french style, we had to start off the day with coffee. And even though we were basically out in the middle of nowhere, we still had an hour and a half lunch. Nothing special: soup, Alsatian stew, cheese, and fruit with chocolate. The best part was probably the cheese course, since the chef came out and explained what the four cheeses were, and which wines were available. He was recommending (rather matter of factly) to take a specific wine with the specific cheese - I suppose everyone knew not to mix. They followed up the day with another snack at 2, and a little wine and small sandwiches at 6 before heading home. I think the equivalent day in the US would have given us - a can of coke, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a bag of Lay's potato chips.

Grocery Shopping in France

OK, now that I'm in a permanent place and have a refrigerator larger than the one I had in my freshman dormroom in college, I went to the grocery. The one I went to was as large as a typical American one, there just aren't as many of them over here. Two funny stories:

First, I needed a shopping cart, but when I went inside they didn't have any. I finally figured out that they had them all outside, and you were suppose to be smart enough to bring them inside. The other funny thing is that you actually have to pay 1 euro for a shopping cart, which I found the worst marketing practice on the planet (who is the US would pay for a shopping cart). That is until I figured out that you're only using your euro to unhook your cart from the next cart in the stall, and after you're done with it - you can reclaim your euro. It's basically a very simple way to make sure everyone returns their cart to the proper location. Granted if you don't have a euro with you, you're screwed.

Second, went to the produce section of the store which was actually pretty amazing. The quality and selection of the food was probably as good (if not better) than a very good day in Indianapolis Saturday markets in summer. They also make you weigh your own produce and print a sticker for the price, which can be a bit daunting if you forgot the french word for a fruit or vegetable. Plus it's kind of hard because you also have to remember which specific kind of fruit you have - for example, they have about 20 different kinds of apples this time of year. The funny part was that when I went into work, and everyone was asking me what I bought at the store, they said that I should not have bought produce there, since it isn't very good. They said that I should really only buy my produce at local markets - so Anne-Catherine is taking me to one on Friday, and also recommended that I stop by one of the better ones in the area that opens on Saturday morning a couple blocks from me.

All moved in

OK, it was a bit of a drama on Monday night after the team building day, but I finally was able to move in - I'll have to write up the whole story at another time. I sent video to Patrick of the outside and inside of the apartment - it's really quite nice, but they're a bit large in memory, so maybe he can put them on DVD or something.

Basically behind this door is about 500 square meters of courtyard. We were worried that the place was going to be too small, but it turns out to be a pretty nice size. There's an extra bedroom that is a perfect size office, but will be a bit cramped for guests - but hey, it's free. Oh yeah, and the satellite TV gets 400 stations.

Drive along the Alsatian Wine Route

Wine Road to Colmar

Went down the wine road (rue de vin) to Colmar and had a really nice time – see the insider travel blog for the details. I’m sure when people come over to visit it will be a frequent trip – we stopped on the way for a few tastings, but there are literally hundreds of places to go.

A slight run in with the police

One of the latest arrivals from the US is Joe Moeddel, who didn't know how to drive an manual car (which is what they pretty much all are here). Anyway, he arrived yesterday and needed a little help getting home, so I went with him. He actually wasn't doing too bad, until we got to this one road (highway really), where he had to merge into traffic that was moving pretty fast. The major issue was that our road had a stop sign, giving him about 10 meters of space to get his car up to about 70 kph.
Well, I told him to slow down, but not come to a complete stop at the stop sign - otherwise his normal 50 meters of getting out of first gear would have made us all roadkill. He merged onto the road and all was well until the police officer ahead made us pull over. A couple of really bad phrases in french explaining how he was trying to learn to drive stick and showing him our ID, the nice police officer let us go. A couple more stalls later, we finally made it home.
And yes, I drove us both into work today.

Moving Day is Tuesday

Looks like the new apartment is free, and I'll move in on Tuesday. Might take a part of the day off (I'm still pretty swamped) to move everything and get organized. Cross your fingers and hope that the bed is larger than a twin.

Sunday lunch at Phillipe's

If you couldn't already tell, I figured out how to download my photos from my SD chip to my Fascist Lilly computer (that basically doesn't let me change the wallpaper on my screen). Jim Weber and I had lunch on Sunday with Phillipe Faubert,his wife, and 1 year old daughter, Anna. It was also probably the last time we could sit outside until the Spring.

We also had the chance to try the infamous Mirabelle for the first time. It's a local liquor made from a certain type of plum that is not sold in stores - just made by a few people who have a license and consume it for their own use. Phillipe mentionned that his grandfather had a license to distill spirits for one day only for the year - he was basically grandfathered in from a German law. So the local area had one still that they would have on wheels and move from one house to the other.

Rue des Juifs

Here are some photos of the outside of the 'real' apartment. There are cars obviously parked on the street, but I drove around the city all day Saturday and could not find how these cars got there - the island is basically just one huge pedestrian area. I actually had to walk by the place a couple of times before I realized that there was the door to the apartments. Every now and then I walk around and think that this is a little too Walt Disney World / Land of Adventure - and then I realize that this is actually what Walt Disney copied from.

Freezing in Strasbourg

Well, first things first - I'm freezing.

I brought clothes for a late summer/early fall until Patrick and the container arrives with warmer clothes, and I think I miscalculated. Don't really know the equivalent temperature over here, but it's pretty darn cold in the morning, especially if you're hiking 15 minutes to the parking garage without a jacket. Fortunately, co-worker Joe is arriving on Thursday and bringing cashmere - so I should be fine after that.

Car in France

OK, this is a new experience - actually being able to drive in Europe. I think the last time I was living here, we rented a car to the north of France and to go to Nuremburg one weekend - that was it. It's kind of a pain to get used to all the one way streets, but the area's not that big to get lost in for long.

Right now the radio isn't working, which isn't so much an issue for me (who drove without one for 5 years), but I think I'd better figure out how to fix it or get a new car before Patty gets here. The only other issue is that the car is an Opal, which is kind of consider a working class car in Germany - in fact, there's a whole line of joke books on people who drive them. Surprisingly it's a really nice car, and even more surprising is that GM actually makes it.

Temporary Housing

Well the story goes that I'm not in the permanent apartment yet in Strasbourg - instead I'm staying at a place called 'Les Citadines', which basically reminds me of a bad freshman dorm. Don't get me wrong, it's OK for a couple of weeks, but much longer than that I would have to get high maintenance. Total size is 35 square meters (that's about 350 square feet) - so it's not a McMansion, but once you get used to it, it's not so bad.

Even in this place, I like a couple of European features that I need to think about for a future house - namely, the individual heater in the bathroom, seperate water closet, and simple kitchen off the bedroom. I'm actually getting used to the idea of having a refrigerator the size of the one I had in college.

Scope

This is a blog for friends and family to see what's going on with Wade and Patrick. As I write this, Patrick is still in the U.S. working on wrapping various stuff up (packing the container, finding a job, finding another roommate for the house, etc.) - he should be coming over in a couple of weeks.