First, we had a wonderful visit with Jeff and Judy Berty. For those of who don't know how we came to meet them, Patrick first worked with Judy at CIC (pre-Lilly) - and they have been good friends ever since.After a short couple of days in Strasbourg with them, they were off to Italy thanks to RyanAir, and then they came back at the end of the week for several more days. Of course, we did the wine route and the typical stuff around Strasbourg, but perhaps the most memorable was tracking down Jeff's ancestors.
I'm sure I'll get this wrong, but Jeff's great-great-great grandmother left for the US from a small French town just north of Strasbourg. We drove up there on Sunday, and searched around the local cemetary, where we think we found his relatives. We were also on a search for a 'Red Mill', which had been essentially the family business about 150 years ago. Turns out the Red Mill was torn down about 20 years ago, but we did come across the new owner of the property, who could tell us exactly where it stood.
This picture of Jeff and Judy is not too far from where the Red Mill once stood, and it is a memorial (again, I'm going to throw in too many greats) to Jeff's great great great great aunt and uncle. Pretty crazy.
The story is not finished - still need to chat with the local record keeper of the area, and there is even a book out on all the important mills of the area that we need to track down, which apparently has the Red Mill featured.
Bottom line: most rewarding use of french that I've experienced in the past year.
