Can I help you ?
 

Hi everybody, my name is Bertrand and I live in Alsace (France).
I travel around the world as much as possible and I met very helpful people each time I needed. Now it's my turn ! If you need anything to plan your trip in Alsace, just let me know. I'm gonna do my best to be the most efficient.
See you soon.

What are you favorite towns along the Route des Vins Alscae (Alsace wine road - may have French a bit wrong) - or really villages and the best in your opinion wine tasting places and wine houses.

How is 2009 shaping up for Alsace wines

How many people in Alsace speak German as their first tongue - and thanks for your offer.

HI, you are my first one ! Welcome !
My favorites towns along the Route des vins d'Alsace are (from south to north) : Rouffach, Eguisheim, Colmar, Kaysersberg, Ribeauvillé, Bergheim, Barr and Obernai.
I ought to be ashamed but I don't like Alsace wine. It's a white wine and I prefer red.
None of us speaks German as our first tongue.
Our first tongue is French. We have a dialect which is near to German but many of the young people don't speak it anymore.
Bye.

bertrand - you promise to provide a wealth of info for Fodorites on Alsace but i think you thread title is too generic - i'd repost with something like "Alsace - Can I Help" - put Alsace in title as current title many people looking for Alsatian clues may pass over. Just a thot to your expertise can have broader impact. Merci

OK, it's done.
Thanx for the tip.

Hi bertrand. My husband and I are planning on spending three nights in Strasbourg the beginning of Oct. We would like to take a day trip to Obernai, Ottrott, and Klingenthal. We are also interested in Mont Sainte Odile and Haut-Koenigsbourg. If we take the train to Obernai, is it possible to take buses in some kind of order to each place? Then ending up again at Obernai, to take the train back to Strasbourg. The reason for the cities is, I have paperwork showing an ancestor in the mid 1800's living in Ottrott Le Bas, and working in the Klingenthal Weapons Factory. I would like to see the towns and see where the factory was. Then spending some time in the area for the day. Is all this reasonable or to much? Trying to do some research I can't seem to find out if buses even go to these places. Is the tourist office in Obernai near the train station? Would we be better off trying to plan something from Strasbourg? Thank you for offering your knowledge of the area and for any information you can give me.

Hi Grace.
There is a bus line ( n° 257 ) departing from Strasbourg ( place des Halles ) and driving to Mont Saint-Odile via Obernai, Ottrott and Klingenthal. All the cities you'd like to visit with the same bus line BUT ONLY on saturdays and sundays during this period of the year.
You can take the train to Obernai if you prefer and then walk to the tourism office ( the distance is about half a mile ) and once here, they will give you all the informations you need.
I think going to Haut-Königsbourg castle in the same day is possible but you will have to wake up early and I don't know when the first bus leave. You'll feel better to go back to Strasbourg, enjoy the rest of your day strolling in town and visit the castle the day after. Colmar is a city you don't have to miss, why not this day after the castle ?
Bye.

Thank you, this was the kind of information I was looking for. We won't be there on a weekend, so it looks like we should just head to the tourist office in Obernai. From there we can figure out our options. Thanks again.

According to me, renting a car would be more convenient. You will gain plenty of time to see a maximum of things during your stay. Distances are short and roads aren't too busy ( except in Strasbourg but it ain't so bad ).
Don't be afraid of driving, it' pretty easy.

Is there any way you can take boat trips on that canal I keep seeing as my TGV roars through Saverne?

It looks great and I am wondering if you can cruise on it.

Thanks.

Hi Dukey,
Yes you can cruise on it. Take a look at this web-site ( www.boats-in-france.fr ) and search for the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. The site is in french. I will help you if you need.

Thanks VERY much!

bertie - how many times do they cheek kiss in Alsace - 2, 3 or 4 (was subject of a recent thread)? Cheers

Hi Bertrand and welcome on board. It is great you can offer your help with Alsace, the Fodorites loves it and you will have tons of questions! I saw you already met Palenque who likes to tease newbies ;-) Bonne chance!
Coco your neighbour from Burgundy (2 kisses here):-)

bertie: check out Coco's web site www.myhomeindijon.com - lots about La Ville de la Moutard et la chouette!

Generally we cheek kiss 2 times. Yes some people are afraid of the flu but they are very rare so far.
Could you do me a favor, please. I try to improve my english so don't hesitate to correct me. This message is for you and for all the others : show no mercy !!!
Thanx

Hi neighbour,
where are you from and what do you do in Burgundy ? Excuse me if you think it's none of my business. Please to meet you.

I live in a small village very close to Dijon(5km?)and I rent out an apartment in the town center (see Pal's posting :) ). Many Fodorites went to Dijon already and I try to help the new comers the best I can. I wish there were more questions though! A bientot. Coco

bertrand - Votre Anglais me semble parfait - un peu meilleur que celui de Coco!

That's great. I was born and I still live in Mulhouse ( the second largest but the most unknown city in Alsace ).I would be glad to welcome Fodorites in my town, it's not as charming as Strasbourg or Colmar but there are lot of things to do. Just ask !

bertie - i once biked thru Mulhouse but only camped nearby - i will though visit again just to see the great French Transports Museum - any insights on that place?

Bertrand,

Thanks for this very nice offer!

Bookmarking for a trip in December to your "neighborhood".

gruezi

There are 2 museums not to be missed in Mulhouse :
- le musée du chemin de fer ( railroad museum ) web-site : citedutrain.com
- le musée de l'automobile ( car museum ) web-site : collection-schlumpf.com ( one of the largest car museum in the world...really !!! ).

bertie - thanks for the citedutrain.com link - i am a rail nut not so much for cars but have heard about the car museum, which i believe is in an architectural gem of some type - so i'll come to see the museum structure more than to ogle the cars.

Coco Cheri - i was just fooling about your English being a tad worse than bertie's - in actuality you both write perfect English - much better than most of my former high-school English students could! Bravo!

Hi Palenque,
If you are fond of trains, go to this web-site : train-doller.org
This old line runs through the valley about 10 miles from my place, it's very nice and only for tourists.

Je te pardonne chouchou ;;) Did you actually write this French sentence yourself? I suspect Sylvain was around to help you...

How funny the train dooler is going to Beaune in October! What a pleasant way to go from Alsace to Burgundy! :-)

Bertie - merci pour les infos du Train Doller!

Coco Cherie - Pourquoi te me doute? A Le 31em Sett approche! Je ne puet pas attendre! Rendez-vous au Hertoir Quai n 3?

H Gruezi,
are you posting from Switzerland ?

I was in Mulhouse a couple of years ago on one of my road trips to nowhere. About twice a year I take my mother out of the Alzheimer's nursing home for 2 or 3 days and drive her around. As long as she is riding in a car she is happy, but it is impossible to actually visit any of the sights. So I go to places where I would like to go, but I can't actually see anything.

Mulhouse was one of the places we spent a night -- very close to the two museums, but I could not visit either of them! The only important thing is to drive at least 500 km a day, so I have been frustrated absolutely everywhere in France on these trips -- as well as Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain!

kerouac - how about taking the Peripherique round and round? It's touching your excursions with Mom - i cared at home for my Alzheimers mum for several years and she always like to go out driving as well - but i was lucky i could visit things with her and she was always happy going out and about and rarely a problem except when she would say something about someone like the time she saw an obese women in a wheelchair - 'if you weren't so fat you wouldn't need that'. Kudos for taking her on your road trips!

Oh, I could be a taxi driver in Paris by now, having driven on just about every street in the city and the suburbs. When I take her to Léon de Bruxelles for mussels, I take her to one that is 30km out of the city instead of one of the Paris locations.

The only trouble is that I don't own a car and have to rent one for each outing (such as this weekend -- but I have a Smart this time, and that's always fun).

Every mum should have such a son or daughter!

Bertie - arcane question for you - why is the Territoire de Belfort (sp?) a territory and not a department or if it is a dept then why is it called a Territory?

curious

Hi, the Territoire de Belfort is a department (90) located is the southwest of the Haut-Rhin department (68) in the Franche-Comté région. The major city is Belfort (50 000 inhabitants) with a nice historic downtown and the famous Lion de Belfort sculpted by Bartholdi (statue of liberty).
It's called a territory because it was part of Alsace and when Alsace was annexed by Germany in 1870-71, Belfort didn't surrender and became a territory between France and Germany.
In 1918, Alsace came back to France in two departments (haut-rhin and bas-rhin), Belfort also became a department but the name territory stayed.
I hope that's the information you were looking for.
Bye

I thouhgt there was a printing museum in Mulhouse. I seem to remember its one of the best in the world. Am I confused?

hi, in fact there are two printing museums.
One is about wallpaper (museepapierpeint.org) located in the suburb town of Rixheim and the other is about textile (musee-impression.com) and is located in downtown Mulhouse, steps from the main railroad station.
Of course, these museums are some of the best in the world...like everything else coming from Alsace !!!
Did I mention I was born in Mulhouse ?
Don't be confused.

Last night I finished reading Cara Black's "Murder in the Sentier". A character in this novel is from Mulhouse. Have never heard of it before and now I find Bertrand from Mulhouse on Fodors. How interesting. By the way Cara Black is an American author who writes mysteries based in Paris.

kay

Mercie Bien, Bertie!

Trivia Q- Will i see a bundle of Alsatian dogs in Alsace? do these dogs speak English or German?

Anyway enjoying your expertise and insights on Alsace!

Hello, in fact, the name Alsatian is not in use. We call these dogs German Shepherds. They can maybe speak in English but they for sure bite in German !!!
I love your questions, they bring me back to school years !

Ok one more and i do appreciate your willingness to entertain such arcane questions - you say you call them Bergers Allemands? (pardon my French) and i often heard my French son call them "Chiens loup" or to me wolf dogs - is the term Chien Loup only applied to Bergers Allemands or to any large German shephed-like dog?

And i was always amused by the term 'chien loup'

Encore merci bien.

The "chien-loup" is the result from the mating of a wolf and a German Shepherd ( I believe that eastern Europe armies do such a thing ).
We call'em "chien-loup" when we don't exactly know what kind of dog they are, espacially when big and scary.