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!

Sharing this post for:

Paulita's Dreaming of France

Sally's Blue Monday

~maria

References:

http://about-france.com/regions/alsace.htm

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Pfister

http://www.dolder.fr/fr/le-restaurant.html