Italy, May 2016: Les Plaisirs de Saison

Today (Wednesday) turned out to be much better weatherwise than what was forecast so Sue and I decided to venture over to the Alsace wine road and visit the lovely village (a town, really, I guess) of Obernai. It is about 30 km from their village and takes around 40 minutes depending on which of the many routes you choose. I have been to Obernai many times before but each time I learn something new. The town is surrounded by ramparts and each time I come here I swear I am going to do the walk around them but apparently it takes well over an hour and I never seem to have enough time for that - certainly not today. Sue and I left here saying "next time".

Above and below, some of the ramparts.

A sign I had never noticed before giving some of Obernai's history.

Once inside the ramparts, the town has typical Alsatian architecture and stores. I always enjoy wandering around and checking out the shops, especially one called Dietrich. We stopped in at the Tourist Information Office where I got a map and for the first time learned more about some of the historic buildings.

The Hotel de Ville (city hall)

Puits a six seaux - the Six Bucket Well dating from 1579

Place du Marche - a Monday morning market has been held here regularly since 1301

Halle de Ble (Corn Exchange) on the market square is a
former butcher shop built in 1554

The Synagogue (see below) which I have walked by countless times and never knew it was one!

A sign over the door indicates the synagogue was restored in 1948

Leaving Obernai, we headed back to Rhinau and, because it is "Spargelzeit" (in German meaning asparagus time), Sue had ordered some asparagus from her local supplier for dinner this evening so we could enjoy "les plaisirs de saison". We stopped at the farm and watched the woman load the "asperges" into the machine which peels them and we happily set off with our bag looking forward to tonight's dinner. Asparagus meals are typically just asparagus with hollandaise sauce but often there is an option of having them with ham. Asparagus season is a really big deal in here as well as in German and Switzerland and the prices for a "spargel" meal are high - around $25 to $40! As the sign says "Asperges d'Alsace - plaisir de saison". Bon appetit!!