Bonjour, ya'll!



I have spent so much time translating in my head, I just couldn't resist a little "Southern" French! So today was all about history. We met early in the morning at a little square beside the school and boarded a big tour bus for Haut Koenigsbourg. This is an enormous chateau (castle) high in the Alsatian mountains. We have already been through the Black Forrest on the other side, but for this trip, we stayed in French territory.

Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg sits on the very pinnacle of Stophanberch Mountain (755 meters) and dates to the 12th century. It is built on a rocky spur, and stands at the junction of what was once important trading routes: the Wheat and Wine road from North to South, and the Salt and Silver road from East and West. It has been bombed and destroyed at least three times, changing hands to families from both France and Germany. Eventually it was abandoned for more than two and a half centuries. Since the Treaty of Versailles (1919), it has been in the hands of the French, and has now been partially restored and is opened as a museum.

This fantastic old castle is complete with drawbridge, uneven stone spiral staircases, and midieval knights. It was EXTREMELY cold on top of this mountain, and was overcast and misty, leaving me with few pictures of the magnificent view. It cleared up later, but by then, we were back on the bus, and could not take very usable pictures. Here is some of what I was able to take:

Castle Entrance This wall shows the three layers of retoration efforts

Most doorways are ornate, This Eagle has an interesting history, too long

and bear the lord's name or date. to recount now, but look at a couple of close-ups:

Look just above the eagle's two head feathers on the right and see if the symbol at the end of the Castle Lord's name does not resemble a modern swastica?And this chained dog- look at it's head, short legs and body. Do you see the Dachsound?

Remember our time period, folks. These murals were painted around 1500.

One huge cannon: see the student next to the wheel? We were very high

up in the castle. How did they get it there?

A view straight down the muzzle of that same cannon.
Yes; there are cannon balls.

Armory room


A view from a castle wall

Vinyards and wheat. We were surrounded by them!

I'm sorry- but you just had to see! Even in the restrooms you are surrounded

by curved stone walls.

After our tour of the castle, we had lunch at their picnic tables in a courtyard. Following that, we rolled down the mountain a little ways to the charming village of Keiserbourg. (It's very late at night- I'm not sure of the spelling) and if you will remember Murray's history, this is the village where Colonel Murray fought off the German regiment single-handedly from the mountain side. In this beautiful place, we were to meet the mayor, but he was not able to show up for some reason. (Politicians are the same the world over- their time is their own! He's known of this meeting for a very long time!)

Keiserbourg home. Note the rounded doors. They are all over the place in the Alsace region.

The date on this door lintel reads 1594- one of the oldest villages we

have visited.

At the reception at the Mayor's office.

American teachers and the Mayor's assistants.

Third from the left is Caroline Engels, the

French teacher who has worked with

the rotary club to set up our trip.

Imagine that! I'm in this one!

Look for the stripes.

We concluded our visit to Keiserbourg with a few moments in the cemetary for

those who had died in the region during the war.

One beautiful group: this is the entire group of kids- French and American.

Some parting thoughts about history- Tomorrow we are going to meet President Obama. The French teachers wrote to us that he would be here for a NATO summt during our stay. One of our teachers then proceeded to write a letter to Obama asking to meet him. One thing, as they say, led to another, so we are invited. I do not need to point out the historical significance of this, but I do want to close tonight with reassurances to those of you who are fearful of saftey. There are literally millions of police here. They are on foot in large groups, in huge vans, in tiny cars, in hundreds of helicopters, and today I saw a squadron on hoseback. For our meeting tomorrow, we are told that there is one policeman for every single person in the meeting. We can carry nothing accept our passport, money, and camera. We are not allowed any purse or bag, and every section of the city is "zoned" off, and the citizens have zoning cards to allow them access to their homes. You cannot leave your home unless you have legitimate reason. No one is working tomorriw, schools are not in session, and we are essentially under lock-down. Tonight, I concluded my day with an evening out with just the teachers, and Cathie was not able to come pick me up at the school. She was stopped by a group of policemen, and was refused access to the area. We had to walk about three blocks to get where she was. Streets are blokced off, even the trash cans have been removed or sealed off- some of them now for days. I have watched the preparations for this since I arrived, and truthfully, I'll be glad when it's over so this fantastic place can begin moving about like normal. We were met by reporters when we got off the bus this afternoon, and paraded around for photography session for the National news. I stood on a bridge (that we were paraded over three or four times for different shots!) and just watched a flock of swans glide silently up the L'ille river. It made me realize all over again that I am in an incredibly historic place, yes, and about to make more history, yes, but the timelessness of my surroundings reminds me that history is ever evolving, and never complete. We learn from our past, and prepare for our future. That's entirely the reason for our visit.

I have tons of pictures, but my internet connection has broken four times in the last hour, and here it's now almost 2:00 AM. I've got to get some sleep! We've got some history to make tomorrow!

Bonne Nuit!

Blessings and Peace from France!

I love you all-

Bonnie