We are at it again: Home Swapping with another family. You just can't beat it when it comes to economical ways of planning a vacation abroad or the States - no contest!
It's our 5th season. We had 4 years in a row of successful home exchanges.Well, one turned out to be a bit itchy but the others were all wonderful! I think we had 9 so far!
Our destination this year is France again but a part that is not well known here in the US unless you are a wine aficionado. The Alsace area produces wonderful wines that are similar to German wines but to some drinkers maybe a little less suspect...:) As a former wine importer and distributor, I had plenty of opportunity to sample and compare them. Rieslings, Pinot Blanc and Noirs, Sylvaner and the inimitable Gewűrztraminer.
And the Alsace region is gourmet country! The cuisine is a little hardier than the typical French haute cuisine or cuisine nouveau you find in Paris or Lyon, again resembling German country fare. If you look at the proximity to my home country on the map, that is not surprising. The other factor is that Alsace belonged to Germany until World War II. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles. For history buffs and other interested parties, there is more on Wikipedia.
It's our 5th season. We had 4 years in a row of successful home exchanges.Well, one turned out to be a bit itchy but the others were all wonderful! I think we had 9 so far!
Our destination this year is France again but a part that is not well known here in the US unless you are a wine aficionado. The Alsace area produces wonderful wines that are similar to German wines but to some drinkers maybe a little less suspect...:) As a former wine importer and distributor, I had plenty of opportunity to sample and compare them. Rieslings, Pinot Blanc and Noirs, Sylvaner and the inimitable Gewűrztraminer.
And the Alsace region is gourmet country! The cuisine is a little hardier than the typical French haute cuisine or cuisine nouveau you find in Paris or Lyon, again resembling German country fare. If you look at the proximity to my home country on the map, that is not surprising. The other factor is that Alsace belonged to Germany until World War II. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles. For history buffs and other interested parties, there is more on Wikipedia.
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