Directly after I published my last blog, we were able to
have our first vaccine shot. We thought we were the forgotten age group…but au
contraire! Our wonderful doctor, called us and said she had AstraZeneca, the
only vaccine the government would provide to general practitioners. She was all
prepared with a deep freeze facility for any of the vaccines. However, we
frankly did not care which one we received. We are just deeply grateful we have
been vaccinated, with our second vaccine scheduled for 6 May. We say thank you
to France for allowing us to receive it. Whether at Government run sites or
pharmacies or bureau de médecin, anyone here in France may receive the vaccine.
There is an age order of priority as elsewhere. Vaccines are now being speeded
up after a troubled beginning. And there is need! Cases are rapidly rising, and
hospitals are in overflow, so President Macron has called for further
restrictions across France, not just in the 19 departments that were already
under more restrictions than the rest of the country. Now all non-essential
stores and business will be closed, schools again and travel restricted to 10km
from one’s home address, as of today. That will now prevent us from taking our
long walks in the Vosges and exploring the trails. All this until the end of
April. It also prevents our boating neighbours from moving onward to their
summer destinations. Everyone everywhere is anxious to get back to whatever
normal will be. The only way is through massive, and hopefully total
vaccination.
But despite all the covid and variant worries spring has
arrived as usual with warm days, and blossoms. The roadsides and forests are
veiled in white and the orchards with the sweet scent of blossoming fruit
trees. As of yesterday, the vines are still dormant, and the fields are alive
with workers finishing pruning, securing, and cultivating. The high squared off
furrows of huge fields of potatoes and cabbages are planted for the ubiquitous
sauerkraut, a sought-after specialty of the region. The magnificent chestnut
trees are covered with buds the size of a child’s fist. They are the trees I
love here any time of year but especially in the spring.
Chestnut Buds
From The Jardin Des Plantes in Paris: Chestnuts in Bloom
Painting by Van Gogh
The celebration of Easter is early this year. The bells have
been ringing all week. They are a lovely sound as they rise and fall as a
backdrop to the general noise of the town. So many beautiful churches and
steeples with bells that resound deeply from a great distance, peal brightly,
or boom forbiddingly. They ring at lunch time in small villages and count out
the age of a deceased at funerals. They ring for weddings and saints’ days and
all manner of events. Bells have provenance and history, and they are generally
beloved. It is something I will deeply miss upon leaving. From the stern deck I
often sit out and listen to the French bells tolling in Strasbourg and across
the river Rhin the German bells competing for attention.
Along with Easter weekend comes a deluge of chocolate in all
shapes but primarily bunnies and eggs. This city is mad for chocolate. Windows
are full, chocolatiers each have their forte. One shop makes solid chocolate
bunnies in white, milk or dark or white with milk or dark markings. As the
French say ‘Ils sont très chers!!’ We love dark chocolate and I have invested
in a mid-size egg of the darkest type, to be savoured over a few days with coffee.
And to end this blog here is an article from the Local, a
French online paper, about a French traditional story for children. As you can
see bells play an important role in many aspects of French lives!
( Excerpt from
TheLocal.fr) Flying bells
While in some parts of France, generally in the east,
the lapin de pâques (Easter bunny) or lievre de pâques (Easter
hare) makes an appearance, in most of France the legend is that chocolate is
magically delivered by flying church bells.
French Catholic tradition says that on Good Friday (the
Friday before Easter), all church bells in France sprout wings and fly down to
the Vatican to be blessed by the Pope.
So, no church bells ring between Friday and Easter Sunday
morning, to commemorate the death of Jesus (and because they are all in Rome,
obviously).
After their getaway to Italy, the bells return to France
laden with goodies for well-behaved children – namely chocolate eggs.
Most arrivals from the EU into France need a Covid test, but
magical, non-human travelers are probably exempt.
Photos this time are again a mixed lot as we are range
limited and more so as of today. But mixed or not they still provide a flavour
of the area we where we have spent these past months.
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| A Happy Pruner |
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| Trail Walks |
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| Before the Leaves |
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The Craft of Wood Piling
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| A Few of Our Trails |
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| Storks in Silhouette |
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| Looking for Nesting Material; Stick in Foreground he Discarded |
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| In Flight Looking Like a Plastic Toy! |
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| Waiting for the End of Confinement |
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| The Vines are Bent in Heart Shape. Symbolic Here |
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| Popular l'Agneau Pascal Gâteau. . Yes, Edible! |
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| Decorative Bunnies |
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| Love Blue Shutters |
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| A Foolish Pair Nesting Beside the Canal Path |
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| A Less Foolish Pair Along the Canal Edge |
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| A Wise Swan, Resting in a Safe Place on Eggs |
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| Our Neighbour is a Devotee of Steam Punk |
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| A Nautilus Captain In Every Detail |
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| Anxious for the Green Pasture |
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| Pasture with View & Greenhouses With Plants |
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| Happy Trails |
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| The St. Paul's Church of Strasbourg Built 1892-1897 |
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| Saucer Magnolia Season |
The Cathedral Strasbourg is a Roman Catholic church renovated and essentially rebuilt (from the original church of 1015) at the end of the 12th century in a Gothic architectural style. From 1647 until 1874 it was the world’s tallest building and today it is still the highest structure still standing that was built in the middle ages. The spire is 142 Metres
Victor Hugo was quoted as saying:
'The church portals are beautiful, particularly the Roman portal; there are truly superb figures on horseback, the rose-window is noble and well-cut, the entire front of the church is a clever poem. But the true triumph of this Cathedral is the spire. It is a veritable tiara of stone with its crown and its cross. It is a gigantic and delicate marvel.'
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| Lambs in Bows |
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| Bunnies |
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| Bunnies |
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| Bunnies |
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| Bunnies |
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| Of Every Type |
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| Groupe de Lapin |
