Monday, November 18, 2013

Dreaming of Alsace, France

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting not just the big shots in my profession 
from all over the world. I also had the chance to meet and spend some lovely time 
with a very nice woman, Khadoudja. She's the wife of the chairman of the meeting
we hosted here in the Philippines. Her and I share the same sub-specialty.
She's also Diagnostic Radiology Medical Physicist, but is no longer practicing.
She's now teaching Mathematics and traveling with her husband instead.
She's born in Paris, later moved to Algeria, and now resides in Vienna.
Her husband and her generally speaks French. I had a great time learning
some French words and phrases from the two of them.


Meeting Khadoudja was a very rewarding experience for me.
She's very down to earth, I didn't know she's got a doctorate degree
until I looked her up on Google for the papers she published. She's gentle
and soft-spoken. There's a spark of warm kinship between us since day one.

We talked a lot about many things French and of course Paris, her birthplace.
I told her I am curious to see the "City of Light" on Christmas season. At the same time, 
I'm also very keen about visiting the Germanic region of France, Alsace in the east.

Facebook Swap, Sender: SébastienSent: 9 Sep 2013 from Cadillac, France
Received: 18 Sep 2013, Traveled ~11,526 km in 9 days
Alsace is made of two departments, the Upper Rhine and the Lower Rhine.
Colmar is the capital of the Upper Rhine. It is the best preserved historic city centre
in Alsace. On the postcard above is La Maison Pfister, a historical monument in Colmar.
It was built in 1577. The name Pfister came from the family who occupied it from 1841-1892.

Facebook Swap, Sender: Sébastien
Sent: 9 Sep 2013 from Cadillac, France
Received: 18 Sep 2013, Traveled ~11,526 km in 9 days
The most beautiful villages in France are found in Alsace: Eguisheim and Riquewihr. 
Apart from being famous for the half-timbered houses, Alsace is also famous for its wine. Riquewihr is part of the Alsace wine trail. On the postcard above is shown the Hotel- Restaurant Dolder
in Riquewihr that boasts of serving the best Alsatian dishes and wine.

Facebook Swap, Sender: Ulla
Sent: 19 August 2013 from Marly, France
Received: 1 September 2013, Traveled ~10,900 km in 14 days
More than the delicious wine and the sumptuous dishes, Alsace is famed for its villages
which are 'une symphonie de couleurs'Alsace is of brightly painted, steep-roofed, half-timbered houses. Historically, the paint color of the houses were significant; the houses
are painted according to the type of shop or boutique they have 
on the ground floor. Nowadays though, they are free 
on what color to paint the their houses.

Merci infiniment to Sébastien and Ulla! They are my postcard swap
partners who introduced me to the beauty of Alsace!

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~maria

References:

13 comments:

  1. Oh how lovely! This takes me back to some wonderful holidays in the Alsace - I loved seeing your postcard swaps through Facebook. I hope you get to enjoy the Alsace soon!
    Wren x

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  2. The half-timbered houses are so quaint and colorful. It would be fun to visit Alsace and wander around the streets. Happy Blue Monday!

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  3. Maria, How great to meet the chairman's wife and find out about all of her accomplishments. Soft spoken brilliance, like yourself? Are you going to France for the holidays with your French bf? I can't wait to see photos. Thanks for playing along today. Here’s my Dreaming of France meme

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  4. oh that does look like a beautiful little village!

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  5. Oh Maria,

    Thanks for sharing this picturesque blue. How I'd love to go there!

    I'm looking forward to seeing that Christmas blue angel you promised.

    Happy Blue Monday!

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  6. I want to visit Alsace, too, since I found out some of my husband's ancestors are from there. But I had no idea it was so beautiful! Thanks for sharing these postcards.

    I love that you had such a great experience at a professional meeting. I'm always amazed at the wonderful connections I can make.

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  7. do visit the Alsace region. Colmar is another quaint town. The Christmas villages are darling.

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  8. Really amazing...all of the colors on the blue of the sky!! nice instants...

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  9. Thanks you for sharing this great event with us. It is always nice to meet people like this personally.

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  10. Hi Maria, thank you for your sweet comment.
    How wonderful to make such good friends with the chairman's wife. Your special visit sounds lovely. I hope you get to Practice your new French words. Smile.
    We took a Riverboat Cruise on the Rhine last Dec. It was wonderful. I loved visiting the Christmas Markets and the beautiful towns and Churches. The colorful homes were so charming. I would love to see Paris anytime.
    xo, Jeanne

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  11. Hi Maria, I came over to visit you here from Random Hearts. Nice to meet you. Terra in California

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  12. Preciosa fotos, una delicia contemplar este bello lugar!

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