About the blog

Hello! We created this blog to share pictures from our semester in France with our friends and family. We weren't sure what to call it, but decided to go with Bill's pun on choucroute. Silas's suggestion of "Jerry" was also well received.

We landed in Paris on August 2, and we'll be here until the 8th, then it's on to Saint-Malo for a couple of days before we settle into our apartment in Strasbourg, where we'll be until mid-December.

(And burglars, don't get any ideas: Our house is occupied in our absence!)

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Ribeauvillé 2: Pfifferdaj (by Jess)

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Going back more than 600 years, Pfifferdaj is the oldest medieval festival in Alsace. It's the day when the pipers (the pfiffers, I assume) would pay homage to their lord. So there's a lot of piping! The big draw for the day is a parade. There was a market with handicrafts, too, but it was very small--rather disappointing in comparison to American Renaissance fairs. Instead of shopping, pfifferdaj-goers seem to make a day out of sitting around waiting for the parade and drinking. (After the parade, there's free wine in one of the city fountains, but we didn't make it to the end of the parade.) Ribeauvillé is absurdly picturesque, too, so it's rather nice just to walk around--until the crowds get too dense, anyway. Plus, there are lots of people in costumes just wandering the streets. Skelly in church This dog was too ridiculous not to photograph. Lunch break with some costumed (or at least made-up) parade participants. The crowds are gathering Silas took pictures an...
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